Incorrect. Coated Deck Screws (which I'm using that terminology because that's basically all we use here In Cincinnati) will rust and cause board rot with the current treatment in pressure treated lumber at some point in their life. If they are coated over and protected by a #highbuild deck coating they will last longer, but at some point, they will rust, and board rot will set in. The coating on the screws come off when driven into the wood via friction and heat so it does very little to delay this EVENTUAL FATE. Coated or Uncoated the fate is the same - rust- then board rot. How we prevent this is a to move to stainless steel screws or galvanized nails. If a deck owner has coated/ uncoated steel deck screws we act to propely cover them with a industrial deck coating, then as the boards return bad and rotten a couple at a time annually we switch them over to stainless 316 grade. Im pretty sure Galvanic Rot is caused by the sacrificial layer on galvanized steel decaying and being compromised and exposing the raw steel....... in turn causing board rot...... and while this is a real situation its a much much slower process. ......... what were witnessing here is a radical departure from that 10-20 year breakdown of that sacrificial layer..... coated deck screws (or uncoated steel) are causing rust to rot in 24 months or less with the new treatment in pressure treated lumber.

I agree 💯. I built a deck 22 years ago, nailed the deck boards down Senco bright framing nails (not galvanized). I added a small section to the deck 3 years ago, I used the DeckMate coated screws. Recently I decided to rip all the decking off and replace it so the sections are uniform. I was surprised that the 20 plus year old nails had less rust on them compared to the 3 year old DeckMate coated screws specifically for decks. They are the torx head and were so rusted I couldn't unscrew them. I put the new boards back on with galvanized framing gun nails.