Very interesting. I've never done any framing. I would have expected screws or nails to be fine (and would have expected screws to be better), but that makes sense and yes, screws seem much more likely to break than nails. Of course, Cali may have good reason to specify nails vs screws based on the whole shaky ground phenomenon that they occasionally have going on.

Toe-nailing splits the wood on both ends.
It shifts the materials when attaching.
And nails also rust through.

Couldn't they specify a better screw with certain self-tapping/strength/durability characteristics?

Thanks for the comments Greg. Good points to consider.
I've been using good quality screws.

John 70T, yes a lot of the framing is replacements of sections that are damaged and need replacements that must be toe fastened , so with the screws pre drilled and fastened into place seems a good way to fasten them.
Or are Windows or big doors installed, also requiring fastening pieces into existing structure. Again using the screws seems to me the best fastener to use.

As for the extra cost of the screws, it's about a wash with the cost of gearing up for air driven tools.

Thanks for the input.
Cheers Richard

As I said earlier, there are proper screws sold for this, probably intended for non load bearing walls. Regular cheap deck/construction screws shear pretty easy.

GRK R4 or RSS are intended for structural use.

I haven't had a chance to check back to the thread.

Its a reality TV show. Stupid people like fooking drama. The days of This Old House are for people who are willing to spend a day of just absorbing info. Now days, drama is the key to keeping the checks flowing or ratings up just like any other info based shows. I like that Stacy dude with the cars, just simple info, no drama, no bearded tatoo guys hanging around arguing about some mindless things like scheduling.

Right, the missus used to watch one that was so scripted it was scary, but it was successful enough (despite every episode being a carbon copy of the last) that it spawn at least one spin-off show in another area that was again, the same show over and over again. In every case, there were the same arguments that were "off camera" but the cameraman was still filming them from a distance.

To get back to closer to on topic.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...ape-drains.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...ner-Toilet.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...oilet-Tank.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...ted-drains.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...mber-Putty.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...10/ABS-PVC.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...ple-Primer.jpg

Where did you find those pics, Steve:eek:

Nice to see something that makes my work look professional. :eek:

One more comment on Holmes: he may be overly dramatic, but I never heard of a single complaint about workmanship, and I knew people who worked on set. (They did work ling hours for very low pay).

He also knew the local building codes inside and out.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...on-760x506.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...on-760x506.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...1024x683-1.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co.../stairwell.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...Inspectors.jpg

https://www.familyhandyman.com/wp-co...rs-760x506.jpg

Crazy stuff, right.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/13-cringe-worthy-home-improvement-fails/
This site often has lists of crazy photos or stories.

I know, totally scripted fake money making crap. I worked on a "this old house" project in SF years ago.Transforming an old church into a single family dwelling. Norm is cool and has 0 ego. Bob Vila is a no nothing putz. Norm doesn't think so highly of him to put it mildly and I suspect that's why Bob was replaced. Norm f'd up the original double doors on the house, drilling holes in the wrong location. Everyone makes a mistake every now and then, even Norm! (this got edited out) He came up with a brilliant solution though (a good craftsman knows how to fix his mistakes). I have the utmost respect for the guy. Funny, we were walking down to grab some lunch (on a non catered, non shoot day) and someone on the street says "Hey, aren't you Norm Abram?" "Nah, I get that all the time" and he does too.
You're right, this old house never really did the drama thing.

The only way that would work is if he can ditch the New England accent at will! :)

Great story about the church though. I vaguely remember that build.

I used to do some charity labor before these shows started on tv. Every year I would volunteer for "Christmas in April" in Napa where an unfortunate family was picked and we would blow out a quicky remodel in a weekend. 5 of us who do it for a living and 60 do gooders good at nothing but getting in our way. Their hearts were in the right place though, we let them paint and plant flowers. When the miracle TV shows hit (unlimited budget and a hundred pros on the job) I stopped doing it. We would put in 30 hours on a weekend to make it happen with donated stuff, and no money. It was cool, we really would make a small miracle happen. But when the big budget TV shows started we noticed a tiny bit of disappointment in the eyes of the recipients. That was it for me and some of the other guys. Work your ass off for that?

Why do you think they were disappointed?

He should, shouldn't he? Workmanship better be good because its aired throughout N America or the world. Still, I enjoy the old how to TV series so much more then today's drama injected BS. I remember seeing one about a guy that flips homes in Vegas. He drives a GT3 to his job site. For a 30 min show, 5 of those minutes is with him on the phone in car or off yelling at his workmen or at suppliers. In real life, that yelling keeps up, he will be doing all the work himself. The could have cut out all that crap and show us the numbers and what he's done to the place before putting it on the market.

Like with many of these shows, many times, there are trades guys turned actors or actress.

What we did was a super improvement but paled in comparison to the huge budget TV show projects. When people got hooked on watcbing these shows I think they kind of expected what they saw on TV.
Oh well, no good deed...

True but he's got a cool car and a hot wife! That's good TV right there

I get it. I thought you were talking about the big budge recipients.

Yeah, expectations vs reality, right? Of course we all know the big budge final product was almost certainly a slipshod disaster with oodles of work yet to be done and a huge tax bill for the family. But at least they had granite countertops in the kitchen and 12 spray heads in the master bath.

A house down the hill was involved in those shows. I saw the film crew filming guys cutting and building stuff outside. All the staged cutting of materials made me sick to my stomach. They all stress the whole remodel took two weeks, they were there over a month filming. This was a time when I was really involved in rehab/flipping homes. Thought that show, I got hold of the furniture/ staging company they hired near Hollywood, Silverlake to be exact, about 2 miles where I grew up. The staging company and pricing was listed in the credits so off I go to chat up a deal for one of my homes that's coming up on the market within a month. Before I had a chance to talk, when I mentioned, seeing them on HGTV, the owners was already swearing away at them. The squeeze him so much that he had to stage it for 1/3 of what he normally charged. The offer of free advertisement was BS because the credit only lasted only 1 second as it rolled up the screen. People stop by waste his time, demanding the same amount to stage their own homes. What a bunch of BS. I felt bad for him because the way the studios spun his wheels. That's pretty typical of Hollywood?