Securing plywood decking to aluminum framing

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Jake2250

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Just a quick question. What type of screw or rivet is ok to use when securing plywood decking to an aluminum frame work?
 
I used SS flat head screws (#12 I think) and they worked fine, pre-drill and then seal the holes in the plywood, every time you drill a hole into the plywood you compromise it.

You might need to put some locktite on the threads, mine would back out in some areas.
 
Rivets, exterior deck screws, and stainless screws are all acceptable.

In salt water aluminum rivets are preferable, since they will not react like dissimilar metals.
 
Ok,, thanks for the info. I wasn't sure what metals would react adversely with the aluminum. I won't be running in salt water so SS should be a good deck screw, The boat does sit out in the weather all year so I might look into getting some aluminum rivets.
Will post pictures when I get to that point!
 
Jake2250 said:
Ok,, thanks for the info. I wasn't sure what metals would react adversely with the aluminum. I won't be running in salt water so SS should be a good deck screw, The boat does sit out in the weather all year so I might look into getting some aluminum rivets.
Will post pictures when I get to that point!

Stainless will react with aluminum when submerged in an electrolyte, unless isolated.

The coating on exterior deck screws is supposed to prevent a reaction. I used them because they're cheap and easy to find, and also easy to remove, if you need to pull the deck for any reason.
 
I'm using a ceramic coated concrete self tapping screw, flat head on painted marine plywood. It will get a dab of sealer.
 
jethro said:
I'm going to use aluminum rivets when I do mine.

What Jethro said. And just for the task I plan to use a pneumatic riveter as the handheld ones get tiring fast!

Haven't decided yet on whether to dip them in a sealant like 5200 before inserting, to retain the integrity of the plywood (which has been coated with old timer's formula on the outside)
 
Self tapping ceramic coated screws is what I typically use. As stated above, put a dab of sealer on top, if needed.
The ceramic screws I use are stainless underneath, by the way.

I love using rivets, but not for putting down plywood.

FWIW. I have a threaded insert gun, and it works great, but is too time consuming and expensive for a whole deck, in my opinion.

-TH
 

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