# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  How best to attach Merbau to steel gate frame

## danovich

Hi all, 
Long time reader, first time poster. 
I am looking at replacing the old pickets on my driveway gate with some nice merbau ones. The frame of the gate is fine, I will sandblast that to get the surface rust off it and then reuse it. 
My question is how best to attach the merbau screening planks to the steel frame? What type of screws should I use and should I be pre-drilling the frame and the timber? 
Thanks.

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## Kaptan

Hi danovich,
I have made a few decorative/privacy screens using Merbau slats on steel fence posts, so your job would be similar.
I found steel self drilling tek screws with countersunk heads the best for this job.
I tried the timber specific ones with the little 'wings' that break off as you drill through the timber, but the Merbau was too hard, and so the tek drilling tip was almost blunt when it got through to the steel post!
You will have to pre-drill the timber pickets, but not the steel frame; the tek screw is designed to drill into that.
I didn't worry about countersinking the holes into the timber as the tek screw pulls itself in quite neatly.
I would recommend using an impact driver for the job, as a standard drill gets pretty tough after a while. (My pushing arm ached for a week after my first job.)
Good luck and post a picture of your finished gate.

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## danovich

Thanks for the quick reply Kaptan, very helpful. 
I was looking at 70 x 10mm finger jointed screening, do you think this will be ok? Or should I be looking at 65 x 15mm? 
I'll head to Bunnings to take a look at some impact drivers.....

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## Yonnee

Welcome aboard danovich. 
I used hexagon headed screws on both my cypress pickets on steel gates as well as my screened merbau fence extension on steel posts. Eliminates the issue of varying countersink depths as well as snapping phillips head bits. The hex-heads are usually a larger guage screw than phillips heads too.
Whichever way you go, use Galvanized screws. 
And slightly off topic, be aware that Merbau bleeds tannins ferociously.

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## Lexi01

> And slightly off topic, be aware that Merbau bleeds tannins ferociously.

   :What he said:  
Ya huh... I had some delivered once and they dumped it onto our newly laid exposed agg driveway. We then went on holiday for a week, got back and found that we now had a not so nicely red-stained driveway! 
Used about 10 large bottles of undiluted Domestos to get it off.

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## nickykat

Sorry to hijack the thread but would this work drilling in to tubular steel?

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