Rust Free Nails, Metal and Hardware for Outdoor Use
When you build an outdoor project – a deck, picnic table or garden shed, for example – ordinary steel fasteners and hardware just won’t do the job. The same is true if you are nailing up siding or shingles. Tackle any of these jobs without carefully selecting your hardware and your work will soon be streaked with rust stains. A few years down the line, things may actually begin to fall apart, when your fasteners are eaten away by the elements.
To prevent this, fasteners and hardware are made in a variety of metals and finishes that can postpone, or even totally prevent, the onset of corrosion. Which particular metal alloy or surface coating is best really depends upon the application. Let’s take a look:
Cadmium plating – This is the common finish found on screws, bolts, lag bolts and other threaded steel fasteners made for outdoor use. You’ll also see it on most outdoor hinges, hasps, and similar hardware. It gives the piece of hardware a shiny silver look, often with a slightly blue tinge.
Cadmium does a fairly good job of protecting the steel beneath it. But as with any plating, if it becomes scratched, nicked or worn through, it will allow rust to start. And once rusts gets a foothold, it become difficult to stop.
Cadmium-plated hardware will hold up much better if you can protect it with paint. Even so, if long-term rust protection is important to you, look for something better.
Galvanizing – This is a coating of zinc, most common on nails, and it comes in two types: Hot-dipped, and electrogalvanized.
Hot-dipped galvanizing is best. In this process, the hardware is actually immersed in molten zinc. The result is a heavy coating that provides lots of corrosion protection. Because the coating is also somewhat rough, it also increases the holding power of nails.
Hot-dipped nails are often used for fairly rough construction, such as decks, and to put up siding or shingles that will later be painted. Once puttied and painted, these nails are well protected from the weather. I would not, however, use galvanized nails to put up cedar or redwood siding that will not be painted. It may take five, 10 or even 15 years, but eventually, rust stains are almost sure to result.
Electrogalvanizing (often known as EG) chemically plates a layer of zinc onto the fastener. This layer is thinner and smoother than a dipped coating, so it provides less protection and holding power. I see no reason for buying electrogalvanized fasteners when hot-dipped alternatives are available.
Aluminum – Nails made from aluminum are 100 percent rustproof and are excellent for outdoor jobs on which rust stains would be unsightly. Putting up siding or shingles that will be left to weather naturally is one such job. On the down side, aluminum nails are more expensive than steel nails and not quite as strong.
Stainless steel – This is the premium rust-free material for outdoor hardware. It is completely rustproof, and also extremely strong. Screws, nuts and bolts are fairly easy to find at good hardware stores and especially at marine outlets. Marine outlets also have hinges and hasps if you want the ultimate in rustpoof hardware for gates, shed doors and so on.
Finding stainless nails is a bit more difficult. A lot of hardware stores don’t carry them. One great source for a high quality ring-shank siding nail is Ebay.
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