How many deck screws for a 12x16 deck

Q: How many deck screws for a 12x16 deck?

About 28 boards, including a waste allowance. 26 boards (boards to cover the deck). 26 (rows of decking). 0 ft (offcut left per row). 676 screws (deck screws). 2 boxes (boxes of screws).

Change the numbers to match your project

Deck length (the way the boards run) Deck width (across the boards) This is the dimension the rows stack up across. Decking size Gap between boards 3/16 in is the composite standard. Set 0 for wet pressure-treated boards — they shrink to a gap. Board length you can buy Joist spacing, on centre Only used for the screw count. Screws per box Deck screws are sold by weight but the box prints a piece count. Read it off the box — it varies by brand, gauge and length. Extra for waste % 5% for straight-laid boards. Use 15% for a diagonal or herringbone layout.

Deck boards to buy 28 boards

Boards to cover the deck 26 boards Before the waste allowance.

Rows of decking 26

Offcut left per row 0 ft Zero means the stock length fits exactly.

Deck screws 676 screws Two per board at every joist crossing.

Boxes of screws 2 boxes

The screw number above is settled. The box number is not, because this one product is sold in two units at once and the shelf does not convert between them.

Simpson Strong-Tie publishes the bridge. Its Deck-Drive DSV sheet carries an "Approx. Count per Pound" column, and it is not a single figure:

#10 DSV	Screws per pound
2 in	113
2-1/2 in	91
3 in	76
3-1/2 in	66
4 in	59

The #8 trim sizes on the same page run higher again — 159 per pound at 1-5/8 in, 194 at 1-1/4 in. So a 5 lb box holds roughly 455 screws in 2-1/2 in and about 295 in 4 in. Same weight, same box, a factor of 1.5 apart on length alone.

Set that against this deck's total:

2-1/2 in — 7.4 lb, so two 5 lb boxes with half of the second one spare.
3 in — 8.9 lb. Still two, but only just: 10 lb is about 760 screws.
4 in — 11.5 lb. Three. Ten pounds is roughly 590 and falls short.

The same page lists the identical screw in 350-count boxes and in mini-bulk, and the mini-bulk is 1,750 pieces up to 3 in but 1,000 at 3-1/2 in and 4 in. By count this deck is two 350s, or one mini-bulk with a thousand left over.

Pounds are not even a universal option. CAMO's product catalogue lists its deck and trim screws by piece only — 100, 350, 700, 1,750 — with no weight anywhere in the ordering table.

So the box field above wants pieces. If your box is marked in pounds instead, multiply by the count-per-pound for your length, and pick the length before you price anything: it moves the pounds and the pieces in the same direction.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31