Which screws for fibre cement cladding

[mg123]

Hi guys,
I've just taken delivery of marley cement cladding boards to clad my extension. I'm now looking to find the best (also good value) screws for attaching the cement boards to the battens. There are various options (some eye wateringly expensive) but I'm not sure which to go for. The tanalised battens are 50, 75 and 100 x 38mm to allow air circulation behind the boars.
Does anyone have experience with this at all and any advice?
I also need to source my battens again as the rubbish builders merchant has sent some random timbers that aren't up to required spec, and worst of all, the 75mm lengths appear to be 150mm lengths ripped in half. Which has resulted in only 3 of 4 sides that are tanalised.
Much appreciated

 

[niall Y]

I suppose " you pays your money and you takes your choice".

I believe life of a new building is rated at around thirty years, before remedial work of sorts will have to be undertaken. The more heavily plated, steel screws, sold specifically for this work, should last that long . The stainless steel ones will outperform them corrosion wise, but do you want to pay that much extra?

I have always found with stainless screws in general, that the heads are a lot easier to break off, and that ordinary steel ones area lot more robust.

 

[HOJ]

I only use galv ring shank nails to bang them on, but I do have a collated nailer for that purpose, + I use the Gecko tools for setting them.

 

[Spectric]

Having just constructed a wall using cement board and metal studs I can say that it is not as simple as the you tube videos would have you believe. There was also some cement board screwed to wooden studs and again not an easy process. The screws I used for the wood were cement board screws from Timco

https://tradefixdirect.com/p/timco-...MIqcu9yd2LiAMVUp1QBh2NnigYEAQYBCABEgK60vD_BwE

 

[mg123]

I suppose " you pays your money and you takes your choice".

I believe life of a new building is rated at around thirty years, before remedial work of sorts will have to be undertaken. The more heavily plated, steel screws, sold specifically for this work, should last that long . The stainless steel ones will outperform them corrosion wise, but do you want to pay that much extra?

I have always found with stainless screws in general, that the heads are a lot easier to break off, and that ordinary steel ones area lot more robust.

I've looked at some spax, stainless or their wirox coated version. Like you say, my worry with stainless is the tendency to snap or shear off. Price wise, £22 for 100 of the stainless, or £8.50 for 200 wirox. Leaning towards the wirox for price and performance. Other benefits of spax are the star/torx head.

 

[mg123]

I only use galv ring shank nails to bang them on, but I do have a collated nailer for that purpose, + I use the Gecko tools for setting them.

Have you fixed cement cladding with ring shank nails?

 

[mg123]

Having just constructed a wall using cement board and metal studs I can say that it is not as simple as the you tube videos would have you believe. There was also some cement board screwed to wooden studs and again not an easy process. The screws I used for the wood were cement board screws from Timco

https://tradefixdirect.com/p/timco-...MIqcu9yd2LiAMVUp1QBh2NnigYEAQYBCABEgK60vD_BwE

View attachment 186669

I believe you in sayings it's not a simple process. It'll probably take me quite a few full days to complete this task. It's also quite high, approx 5.5 metres at the gable end. Which of course, brings the issue of angled cuts as well as lifting the weight of the boards without breaking them. I'm cautious of the job, but i really can't afford a professional to do it.
How did you find using Philips head fittings on the timco screws? I'm not a fan of these due to the tendency to cam out.

 

[Spectric]

You do not want to go to cheap as it would cost a lot more to put right latter. This might help



or the fixing guide

 

[Spectric]

I'm not a fan of these due to the tendency to cam out.

Yes that was a right PITA and I ended up having to predrill the board which soon blunted even titanium coated drills.

 

[cmoops2]

Hi guys,
I've just taken delivery of marley cement cladding boards to clad my extension. I'm now looking to find the best (also good value) screws for attaching the cement boards to the battens. There are various options (some eye wateringly expensive) but I'm not sure which to go for. The tanalised battens are 50, 75 and 100 x 38mm to allow air circulation behind the boars.
Does anyone have experience with this at all and any advice?
I also need to source my battens again as the rubbish builders merchant has sent some random timbers that aren't up to required spec, and worst of all, the 75mm lengths appear to be 150mm lengths ripped in half. Which has resulted in only 3 of 4 sides that are tanalised.
Much appreciated

I'm a bit baffled by your statement:

"the 75mm lengths appear to be 150mm lengths ripped in half. Which has resulted in only 3 of 4 sides that are tanalised."

Unless somebody can correct me, I'm pretty sure that 'tanalising' isn't a surface finish, it describes the application of a liquid preservative under pressure - ie: the preservative penetrates the timber completely - if you have 'fresh' timber showing on the ripped face, I'd be checking my invoice/receipt to establish whether the battens were sold to you under the wrong description ...

 

[Spectric]

These cladding boards are man made, they are not wood and therefore are not tanalised to protect. They are a cement board with a fake finish to look like wood cladding but unlike wood will never rot, they are the same material as used in bathrooms like No more Ply and such which are tiled over to finish.

The issue is that being a cement based product which you cannot use a hammer action to drill they can cause issues with fixing.

 

[mg123]

Yes that was a right PITA and I ended up having to predrill the board which soon blunted even titanium coated drills.

That's a concern I had too. Trying to do it right but keep costs to a reasonable level

 

[mg123]

I'm a bit baffled by your statement:

"the 75mm lengths appear to be 150mm lengths ripped in half. Which has resulted in only 3 of 4 sides that are tanalised."

Unless somebody can correct me, I'm pretty sure that 'tanalising' isn't a surface finish, it describes the application of a liquid preservative under pressure - ie: the preservative penetrates the timber completely - if you have 'fresh' timber showing on the ripped face, I'd be checking my invoice/receipt to establish whether the battens were sold to you under the wrong description ...

Tanalising only penetrates part of the timber, and any cut ends need to be treated again. Looking at these timbers, you can see the non treated edges of the timbers that have been ripped in half.

 

[HOJ]

Have you fixed cement cladding with ring shank nails?

Yup, miles of the stuff, along with the fixing clip option.

My gate to my fire wood store is an example:



Nails & gun I use:

 

[mg123]

These cladding boards are man made, they are not wood and therefore are not tanalised to protect. They are a cement board with a fake finish to look like wood cladding but unlike wood will never rot, they are the same material as used in bathrooms like No more Ply and such which are tiled over to finish.

The issue is that being a cement based product which you cannot use a hammer action to drill they can cause issues with fixing.

The tanalising issue is on the timbers, not the cladding boards.
I will be avoiding hammer or impact driving when fixing the boards for sure.

 

[Dave Moore]

Yes that was a right PITA and I ended up having to predrill the board which soon blunted even titanium coated drills.

Hi,
You would need cobalt drill bits for best results drilling, available from good bolt suppliers.

 

[mr rusty]

Cembrit cement board cladding (same as hardie plank) is recommended to be fixed with these special self-drilling screws https://www.cwberry.com/cembrit-zytex-screws-for-timber and they do colour matching cap screws https://www.cwberry.com/cembrit-cladding-facade-screws

I've used both. If you use ordinary fully threaded screws you rely on stripping the top thread in the board to pull in whereas the special screws have dual thread.

You can nail gun, but I don't like it 1) because it's a bit brutal near the edges of fairly brittle board and 2) no control over the "pull in" with nails, whereas with screws you can leave a tiny bit of slack if there is a slight flatness variation in the underlying battens.