Floor boards star head screws, no screwdriver to fit

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ShowerWoe

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Carpenter used star head spax screws to fix trad floorboards to joists.
i don't have a star screwdriver so what do I need to buy if I need to raise a board? Totally confused as not much clarity about what size these screwdriver kits are and if compatible. I don't speak the language

Do plumbers generally carry star headed screwdrivers ?
 
Will be Torx. Probably a T20 Size
Quite common now. Less likely to strip the head.

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Or you can buy individual screwdrivers
 
Assume that they won't (have a Torx bit set) and buy a set of bits for yourself. Plumbers always seem to use odds and sods screws that the joiners or dry liners leave lying about (these days mostly Pozi and Phillips heads respectively) so I'm pretty sure if they hit a Torx they'd soon come and borrow off one of us wood butchers. Most of the flooring screws I put down are Pozi or inset square drive heads - Torx screws are more expensive and in any case you can't get them for a collated gun

Despite already having a set of Tx bits, I bought a set of long 75mm Tx bits off Amazon to install two Velux blinds - 50mm or longer bits were needed to avoid marking to anodised aluminium frame
 
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Thanks for input and helpful info.

I read somewhere that when a plumber needed to raise floorboards on an install they used a crowbar to raise the screwed down floorboards and ruined the boards/joists.

So I need to have the correct screwdriver ready ! just in case
 
ShowerWoe said:
I read somewhere that when a plumber needed to raise floorboards on an install they used a crowbar to raise the screwed down floorboards and ruined the boards/joists.
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Not exactly unknown. If they are ever allowed to take a saw to a floor it can be as bad - and as for how some of them "make good" afterwards :eek: (but as a joiner I would say that - it's my floors they are making a mess of)

I'm not saying they are all bad, though. There's the odd one here and there who can actually saw a straight line, and does a make-good which doesn't sink 10mm about 10 minutes after they've left the building
 
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A screwdriver or bits will cost nothing compared to the hassle of struggling with the wrong tool, just buy a set of electric screwdriver bits if you have the driver as I will bet the plumber used them
 
foxhole said:
Allen keys of correct size can also be used to remove torx screws .
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I admit that I have used allen keys to remove torx screws but it can mess up the heads particularly if the screws are quite stiff.
JobAndKnock said:
Despite already having a set of Tx bits, I bought a set of long 75mm Tx bits off Amazon to install two Velux blinds - 50mm or longer bits were needed to avoid marking to anodised aluminium frame
Click to expand...
I routinely carry the 75mm bits with the hole in the middle (in my rucksack). I often have customers saying, whilst you are here can you fix my hedge trimmer/etc. The DIY Bosch hedge trimmer uses regular torx screws but the one buried the deepest is the type with a pin in the middle.

I really don't understand why appliance manufacturers bother using "anti-tamper" screws to prevent owners from fixing devices. I recently had to buy a set of triangular screw drivers to fix a food processor. It didn't stop me from fixing it, but it cost me an extra £11 to do so.
 
JobAndKnock said:
Not exactly unknown. If they are ever allowed to take a saw to a floor it can be as bad - and as for how some of them "make good" afterwards :eek: (but as a joiner I would say that - it's my floors they are making a mess of)

I'm not saying they are all bad, though
Click to expand...

The price drop in oscillating saws over the years has helped a lot.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
Aldi/Lidl often sell bit sets quite cheaply, sets of almost every type of bit you might come across including many you will never come across.
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When Maplins still existed, I purchased a set of security bits. The set included bits such as tri-stars and the offset variants. I have never used those particular bits, but it good to know that I have them.
 
opps said:
The price drop in oscillating saws over the years has helped a lot.
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But IMHO it's still the wrong tool, as was the jigsaw before it. A straight batten (pinned of screwed to the floor), a smallish circular saw (i.e 150 to 165mm) and learning how to plunge in to start a cut (admittedly pretty dangerous with a non-plunge saw if you don't know what you are doing) will do the major part of the job - a hand saw or a multitool will finish into the corners of the cuts. These days you can substitute a plunge saw and rail for the circular saw and batten. That way you get nice neat cuts...
 
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