Screw hooks are great for hanging up tools and other items in your workshop or garage. Here’s a fast and easy way to power drive screw hooks into a wall stud or ceiling joist using a drill and screw eye.

To power drive screw hooks:

  1. Drill a pilot hole a bit smaller in diameter than the screw hook shank.
  2. Start the screw hook in the hole.
  3. Chuck a screw eye in a variable speed drill.
  4. Slide the eye over the screw hook.
  5. Use the drill on a low speed to drive the screw hook.

You can also reverse the procedure to install screw eyes by chucking a screw hook in the drill. Watch this video to find out more.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Joe Truini: Screw hooks are great for hanging up all sorts of items around the shop, the garage, even the basement. Simply a big steel hook with wood threads. The challenge is if you have more than one or two of these hooks to drive in how do you do it quickly and without tiring your arms or your wrists?

The first trick is to always bore a pilot hole first, just drill a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the shaft. And then, to drive it all the way in, we’re going to use a screw eye, which is simply an enclosed eye, not a hook, that you can chuck into a drill.

We’re going to power drive that hook right into the wall. Tighten it up, and then use the eye. So just hook it on to the hook, pull back slightly, and run the drill in a forward direction. There you go.

And it’s okay that it’s not perfectly vertical because you can come back with a screwdriver and straighten it right out. And these come in all different sizes, so you can hang up pretty much anything.

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Joe Truini

Radio Show Co-Host

Joe Truini is a contractor, author, and the host of “Simple Solutions” on Today’s Homeowner TV and the weekly Today’s Homeowner radio show. He has worked on both large commercial projects and residential remodeling, and has written for national publications such as This Old House and Popular Mechanics. He has also written eight books, including three best-selling shed-building books. Joe lives in Connecticut with his family and enjoys hiking, traveling, and baseball in his spare time.

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