Drill pilot holes for screwing down cross battens?

[MightyMousette]

Hi everyone,

I'm never sure whether I should drill pilot holes before putting screws into wood or if it's ok to just screw straight into the wood. I'm putting cross battens in our loft and then chip board. If I do need to drill first should the drill bit be just a bit smaller than the screw? Cheers, MM

 

[JohnD]

pilot hole is best

drill size should be no bigger than the solid part of the screw (if you hold the drill in front of the screw you can see the threads past it)