Not all wood requires pre-drilling. Most soft woods such as pine are easy to nail together without pre-drilling holes. But many hardwoods and seasoned wood do require pre-drilling to prevent the wood from splitting. Pre-drilling is the process of drilling a hole for a nail or screw before installing it. The hole is made slightly smaller than the body of the nail or the thread diameter of the screw so they will grip the wood.

Many DIY homeowners are under the mistaken impression that pre-drilling is only for installing screws. This is not correct.

Drilling holes in wood before nailing is not generally necessary for rough framing carpentry. However, you should consider pre-drilling whenever there is a chance of cracking or splitting the wood and when cracking will make a difference either structurally or aesthetically.

For example, I recommend that you always pre-drill for small 4d and 6d nails placed near the edges or ends of thin wood moldings to prevent splitting. The same applies for larger 10d or 16d nails when nailed into 2x4 studs or pressure treated decking or railings. You may not be concerned if the very end of a wall stud splits slightly, but you certainly don’t want to crack a piece of oak railing by nailing too close to the edge. Edge cracking or split-out will occur in both hardwood and softwood.

When working with older wood that is often very dry and sometimes unusually hard, such as with antiques, old salvaged molding, plank wood and barn board from old barns, pre-drilling is nearly always a must to avoid splitting or cracking. Even some new wood boards just love to split. Anytime there is a possibility of splitting the nail hole should be pre-drilled.

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