

Low-quality screws are easier to strip, and more likely to break if you put a ton of pressure on them. And if you’re working with low quality screws, this is important. Screw QualityĪs mentioned, pilot holes make it easier to drive screws into a hole. Therefore, if appearance of your final product is important to you, it’s worth the time to drill pilot holes before driving your screw. Other times, the screw doesn’t drive quite as far into the wood as it would’ve with a pilot hole, making it stand out from the wood just a little. When I skip the pilot hole, often times my drill bit slips off the screw and makes an unsightly dent in the wood. Because of this, often times the end result is less attractive. It is more difficult to drive a screw into wood with brute force than it is to drive a screw into a pilot hole.
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It’s much easier to drill a pilot hole first, plus you can guarantee your hole/screw ends up exactly where you want it! Appearance Considerations Instead, the screw wiggles around a bunch without actually entering the wood/laminate.

Therefore, if you try and drive a screw without drilling a hole first, it’s difficult to start the screw. It’s hard to dent that surface, or make the first impact to drill through it. Laminate is often a flat, smooth surface. Drilling a pilot hole creates space for the screw, and therefore reduces this pressure.īecause of this, if you’re working with hardwoods, you’re better off drilling a pilot hole before you start. Hardwoods are also denser than softwoods, and so therefore the screw and sawdust combo creates more pressure inside the wood if there isn’t a pilot hole. Therefore, it’s more likely your drill will slip and damage the wood, or your screw will wiggle around and not enter the wood at the right spot. It takes a lot more force to drive a screw into hardwoods than it does into softwoods. This makes the wood less likely to crack.

Pilot holes remove the excess wood before the screw is inserted, so that when the screw enters the wood, there’s space for it.
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If you’re inserting a screw in a small piece of wood, or near the edge of a piece of wood, drill a pilot hole first.īecause your screw is closer to the edge, the addition of the screw to the piece creates force that could crack the wood. Therefore, there are a number of times you should absolutely drill a pilot hole, and a couple times you can skip it. Additionally, since wood is removed to make room for the screw, the wood is less likely to crack when the screw is inserted. This makes it easier to drive the screw into the wood.īecause of this, screws in pilot holes are often neater than those driven with brute force. So, as you probably knew, pilot holes remove material from wood to make room for your screw or nail. If you click and make a purchase, I may receive compensation (at no additional cost to you.) When to Drill A Pilot Hole Note: This blog contains affiliate links. You can skip the pilot holes when doing a rough build with softwood where appearance isn’t important.īut as always, there are exceptions to these rules. They’re also recommended if the wood is likely to crack, or if appearance is important. Pilot holes are necessary if you’re drilling into hardwood, laminate, or need a precisely located fastener. If you only have one drill, pilot holes are an annoying and time consuming extra step when building with wood.
