To know if drywall screws are rustproof we need dive a bit deeper.
Drywalls were invented as far back as 1916.
This wide whiteboard made from wood pulp, plaster, or some other materials did not gain the acceptance of people as they found it so cheap and somewhat “boring.”
Nevertheless, there was a noticeable number of people who made use of this material, and today, it seems few people still do.
Well, our focus is not on drywall itself, but the screws used on them.
These screws are called drywall screws.
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Most screws (if not all) are named after the materials they are used on.
Just the way we have wood screws, deck screws, etc., we also have drywall screws because they are used on sheets of drywall.
All these screws mentioned, including drywall screws, all have their imperfections.
One of the questions that disturb the minds of homeowners is if drywall screws rust.
No one, not even your woodworker, would want to use screws that would leave ugly stains on your beautiful walls after a while.
Well, before we provide the answer to this prevalent question among homeowners, let us get to know a bit about our subject.
Drywall Screws: What You Need to Know
When dealing with drywalls, the standard and acceptable screws to use on this material are dedicated drywall screws.
Drywall screws are the standard screws for securing sheets of drywall to wall studs.
Most people prefer to use drywall screws for their wood because of their shapes and how inexpensive they are.
You know, one of the limiting factors with wood screws is that most of them get pulled through the woods while using them as fasteners; this is as a result of their wedge-shaped heads.
Drywall screws are, however, different because of their flat heads.
They have relatively large flat heads that hinder them from sinking into the woods.
Have you ever been in a situation where the screw you intend using as a fastener ends up splitting your wood?
Other types of screws may be too big and have a high possibility of damaging your wood, but for drywall screws, such is not the case.
The screws are fairly thin enough for them to fasten sheets of drywall to ceiling joists without damaging the materials.
Drywall Screws: Any Downside?
Well, a thing cannot be all good, there will surely be a downside or something like that.
One downside of these screws that you should know is that they are very brittle.
This means they easily snap rather than bending. They are not bendable.
You can try bending them, but before you bend as far as 90 degrees, they break. They are not designed to hold overly heavy items.
These screws come in different lengths, thread, and gauge.
Asides this, one needs to study the gauge and thread to know the right one to use for building materials, depending on the thickness of such materials.
Drywall screw thread can either be coarse or fine.
Drywall screws with coarse threads are best for fastening drywall to wood studs.
They will help the wood have a firm grip on the drywall sheets.
But when working with this type of screws, you should be extra careful because of the metal burrs.
Fine-thread drywall screws, on the other hand, are the best to use when fastening drywall to metal studs.
Drywall screws gauge has to do with the diameter of the screws, which gets larger as gauge numbers increase.
The length also varies. Most screws are from 1 to 8 inches long.
Uses of Drywall Screws
As said earlier, drywall screws are mainly used for securing sheets of drywall.
You can use them to fasten full or partial sheets of drywall to wood or metal studs.
Also, in the case of nail pops on your wall, you can also use these screws to repair the nail pops.
These screws are mostly used for indoor projects and for light or temporary construction.
They cannot be used on heavy or modern building constructions because of how easily their heads snap.
Leaving a broken shaft embedded in the woods can disfigure your building, causing the project not to be neat.
You can also use them to fasten creaking floors to joists.
Just find where the floor and the joists meet, then drive in a drywall screw halfway into the floor.
Since drywall screws snap so easily, you can snap off the protruding head underneath the carpet with the help of a hammer. They can also be used to lay deck boards evenly.
Asides building construction, drywall screws can also be used for some little improvisations.
For instance, if you have a tube of glue you would love to preserve, just screw in a drywall screw into the tube’s nozzle to act as a stopper.
Having known this much about drywall screws, let us get back to what brought us here:
Are Drywall Screws Rustproof?
Drywall screws come in different colors, and they are mostly given zinc or phosphate coating to make them rustproof.
Black drywall screws are more common.
The black color is a result of phosphate coating, which is used to help prevent rusting. Without the phosphate coating, wet residues from the drywall can cause the screw heads to rust (well, drywall sheets are meant to be kept dry anyways).
The phosphate coating does prevent rusting to an extent, but drywall screws have the tendency to rust.
This is why it is only suitable for indoor building projects.
Using them for outside building projects can cause them to rust as they would be exposed to elements.
Also, how rust-resistant a drywall screw is depends on where it was produced.
Research has it that drywall screws produced in the U.S or Canada have higher quality.
Final Thought
In summary, drywall screws can be rustproof, depending on their quality and mode of usage.
However, they will get rusted after a long time. Furthermore, the ones used on wet drywall sheets would definitely get rust.
Also, the ones used on outdoor buildings might possibly get rusted too.
Here are some good drywall screws with Phosphate coating.(link to the screws on Amazon)