How to Drive Screws without Splitting the Wood

The importance of pre-drilling holes prior to power-driving in screws

Hello and welcome to Joe Shows How! In this week’s video, I share a simple solution to a very common problem: how to avoid splitting the board when driving in screws with a cordless drill. This is especially a problem when screwing close to the end or edge of a board. Fortunately there’s an easy way to avoid splitting: pre-drill the wood.

Get a drill bit that’s slightly smaller in diameter than the screw’s shaft, and bore a hole through the top board. Then, drive in the screw without fear of splitting the board. The other advantage of pre-drilling is that the screws go in much more easily, which causes less strain on the drill’s motor and battery.

Hope you like this video, and be sure to watch the Bonus Tip at the end for more helpful screw-driving tips. Thanks for watching!