I finally switched from glue blocks to screws for face frames

Last month I lost a whole row of face frames when a glue block let go on a job in Tacoma. My buddy Dave told me to try pocket screws and I fought him on it for years, but after that mess I gave in. Anyone else find that glue blocks just don't hold up in damp climates like the PNW?

3 comments

3 Comments

robins831mo ago

Oh man, you had glue blocks let go on a whole row? That's brutal. My buddy Tom had something similar happen in his shop up near Bellingham. He built this whole set of cabinets for a kitchen remodel, used glue blocks like he always did, and then three months later the homeowner called him freaking out because some face frames were pulling away from the boxes. Tom said it felt like the wood just kept swelling and shrinking with all the rain and humidity, and the glue never stood a chance. He tried pocket screws after that too and said he'd never go back, even started using them for everything he builds now. I don't even use glue blocks for anything in my shop anymore, just not worth the headache in this climate.

wren6381mo ago

Heard something similar from a guy at a lumber yard not long ago. He said even in dry climates glue blocks can be hit or miss if the wood isn't perfectly acclimated. He was talking about how some of the new high strength glues still fail when the humidity swings hard, and that pocket screws give you that mechanical hold that glue just can't match. Makes sense to me. Living in a place where the seasons change from wet to dry, I can see why your buddy Tom switched over. I'm all for whatever keeps the cabinets from coming apart on a customer.

simonp761mo ago

Yeah, that thing about the wood swelling and shrinking... that's exactly what got me too. I'm over in Oregon and last fall I had a whole pantry cabinet face frame pop loose in a customer's house, right in front of them while they were showing me a different problem. Talk about awkward. That glue just couldn't handle the way the wood moves here with all the rain, then the dry spells in summer. Pocket screws saved my bacon after that, but I still have a box of glue blocks sitting in my shop that I look at and just shake my head.