Pocket Holes for Pros

This is a woodworking technique piece, not really about home energy upgrades, but here's what it covers for anyone doing carpentry or cabinetry work around the house.

Pocket-hole joinery is a way of joining two pieces of wood by drilling an angled hole into one piece and driving a screw through it into the other, hiding the screw head inside the hole. It's popular because it's fast, cheap, and strong, making it common for cabinet building and other trim work. The tradeoff is that the drilled holes are fairly large and hard to disguise, so it doesn't work well anywhere the joint will be visible.

A finish carpenter interviewed for the piece uses pocket screws often for hidden work, such as the back of wainscoting, blocking between wall studs, or attaching stair treads from underneath where nobody sees the joint. He also uses pocket screws alongside glue, letting the screw hold pieces together with enough clamping force while the glue sets, which skips the need for separate clamps.

The method dates to a 1989 jig design and became widely known in the 1990s through Kreg Tool Co. Basic handheld jigs still work well for occasional use. For faster production work, there's also a machine version called the Kreg Foreman, priced around $400, which speeds up drilling multiple pocket holes.

None of this involves rebates or energy efficiency — it's a carpentry method relevant mainly if you're building cabinets, shelving, or trim yourself.