Your Guide to COOWIN® Hidden Fasteners

The fasteners you use for your deck actually do more than you would imagine. They can influence the overall looks and feel and affect the durability and longevity of your deck, and that’s why we’ve chosen hidden fasteners for COOWIN® decking.

Hidden fasteners give your deck a clean, neat, and fastener-free surface while securing the decking boards firmly in place. There are many kinds of hidden fasteners. Some are bare screws hidden by color-matched plugs, and some have their wings fitting into the grooves of decking boards, fixed to the joist with screws located in the center. Keep in mind that hidden fasteners are only available for premium hardwoods, most wooden decks are top fixed with screws showing on the surface.

The hidden fasteners that we use for COOWIN^® decking fall into two categories: plastic hidden fasteners and metal hidden fasteners. The plastic hidden fastener line contains models TS-F and TS-H, while the metal hidden fastener line contains TW-C, TW-H, TW-D, TW-C. Now let’s look at them one by one.

Plastic Fasteners

Plastic fasteners are made of ABS and come as an economical option. They are lightweight, versatile, and easy to work with. They create uniform and even gaps for decks that are slightly wider, thus suitable for applications where drainage is crucial.

The difference between TS-F and TS-H is that TS-F is used on decking boards 25 or more than 25 mm in thickness, whereas TS-H is used on decking boards less than 25 mm in thickness. Decking boards that are compatible with TS-F are TW-02, TW-02B, TS-03, TS-04, TS-07, TS-08, CD-03, TW-K03, and TS-06. TS-H, on the other hand, only works with CD-01, CO-02, CO-05, and CO-03. It’s of a smaller size compared to TS-F, and has a pair of distinctive “swallowtails”.

Metal Fasteners

Metal fasteners are made of stainless steel, more durable, suitable for applications where highly anti-corrosive materials are required. They create gaps that are narrower than plastic fasteners.

What makes metal fasteners different is also the thicknesses of boards they’re meant to work with. Decking boards that are compatible with TW-C are 25 or more than 25 mm in thickness, and decking boards that are less than 25 mm in thickness generally work with TW-H. Note that TW-D is exclusively designed for CO-02 and TW-K is for CO-04.

How to Install Hidden Fasteners?

Hidden fasteners can only work with groove-edged boards. We’ve made the installation as easy as possible so it won’t take much effort to get it done. Check out our installation guide to find more information.