I ran into this very problem, with the homeowner helping, and we went ahead and slipped a metal cutting blade for the reciprocating saw under the board, between the board and joice and just zipped them off. We didn't do the whole deck though, just those boards that needed moved temporarily .

The heads were seated into the decking a bit and the decking has swelled over them. There is 1/2 the screw head size hole above the screw heads so you cannot really see the heads very well.. The screwdrivers work fine. Its really not fast work anyway you do it. Clean em out and lean on the impact good...low speed for torque until it get going. I may get some of those extractors tomorrow when we pick up the material for the new stairs. Adding a stair to a balcony style deck.

I am within the time that I allowed for it on my bid price..so far. Bout 1/3 done with the deck removed.

Its the first edition trex decking. 15 years old. The first edition trex was a wood/plastic composite that absorbed water.

Good luck on your endeavor Marty .

Hope all goes well and you make some money..........good to be booked months ahead !

Appreciate that.

may be able to get the dirt and such out with just a hose and a jet nozzle, jet chokes the hose size down to an 1/8th inch hole.cheap to buy and won't hurt the deck.
found this example by searching ....jet nozzle for hose.
good luck,hope that is not the 1.5 inch decking.

Are you saving the decking for some reason?

If not, we just pry the decking off leaving the screws in place, then remove.

We pried a few off and found that then you need to break the screws off. Half the screw then breaks off, half of those fall into the deco rock under the deck....or fly somewhere else and leaves a screw in the joist which can be in the way to screw in the new decking.

I think removing the screws is really the most efficient way in the end when you take unto account the downfalls of other methods.

Appreciate your comment.

So, here is a picture of what we were dealing with.



Two screws that have not been touched by us.

I still say, the Sawzall method is fine if salvaging the old decking isn't important. And a 4 1/2" grinder, say a small Makita like mine, for buzzing off any stray metal with the cutoff blade. It's much quicker than trying them dirty old square (should be outlawed) screw heads.

With the right size small flathead screwdrivers to clean out and a pick for final cleanup on some of them and then the Rigid impacts set on low speed it goes pretty fast.

Once you get em started you can go to a faster speed and zip em out. We reused some of those screws already.

Reusable screws go in one can and trash in another. Screws ain't cheap!

The old Trex decking is trash, thou.

I have been known to bury old/good screws back on the job. Thing is, it might be cheaper to just use new screws/time wise than mess with taking them out one by one. Especially if you bid the whole thing.

I would animalize that deck, and pry it all off, and buzz off the remaining metal if I had just threw a price out there.

That composite does not pry up that easy and I am not trying to save $ by salvaging screws but if they can be reused we save them.

Tried the prying and all things considered its a toss up. I am good on time so far.

is that decking just down over just the joists or is it over wood decking also ?

if it wasn't over other decking , I would have grabbed my chain saw and started about 2 inches to the side of the screws and cut it free then come back and cut the screws with the sawzall, run the screws over with the grinder , then maybe spray the joists with a sealer stain and gone home , day 2 put new deck on.

2000 screws to saw off and grind......plus the composite is tight to the joists and the joist tops have a waterproofing sheet on them, something like ice and water shield.

It really comes down to pry or unscrew. Unscrewing is really not that bad.

Get-r-done

Something i learned when i went into business along time ago.....People want you in and out as fast as possible, or in my case, their vehicle back fast even if costs alittle more to do so.

Marty, why is the trex decking shot?

Also, if you did pry (sucks cause the screws hold so well,) don't the screws just snap off with a good wack from a hammer?

The deck screws we use are brittle and can't be bent to 90 degrees without snapping off clean. That's why they are not able to be used for house framing. You can bend a nail back and forth about all day and it won't break. Often I kick half exposed screws off with a good hit from a steel toe boots.

The customer is your employer, our jobs are in jeopardy unless we provide a quality product for competitive prices.

That wording is on a big decal on the inside lid of my job box. Been there since 1989.

Picture tomorrow.....

I appreciate all the input and will admit that I am bullheaded when it comes to how I do things.

If you talked to my worker he would confirm that...

The trex is the first edition that was a plastic and wood composite but not wrapped in plastic...so it absorbs water and swells. A 6' handrail section made from 3 2x4's and 2x2 ballister weighed around 80 pounds. The decking was around 3x heavier than what we will put on..5/4 x 6 cedartone premium treated. The trex was all shot, deck and railing.

Yes, the screws can be broken with a hammer.

Seemed to me that unscrewing was about 25% more time than prying but 50% less effort. Plus if all the screws are out we have an easily removable work area as we install the new decking.

I will say that the Rigid impacts which have a 3 speed option are absolutely awesome.

i'm just like ya,ask my wife.