Ordering Simpson Strong-Tie Products: A 6-Step Checklist for Office Buyers

I handle purchasing for a regional contractor that does commercial and residential structural work. It's not a huge operation—about 60 to 80 orders a year across lumber, concrete, and connectors. Over the past five years, I've ordered more Simpson Strong-Tie products than I can count: screw anchors, outdoor accents screws, structural connectors, post bases, you name it.

If you're an office administrator or procurement coordinator who buys structural hardware and fasteners, this checklist is for you. It's six steps, in order, and it covers the decisions that actually cause problems on a job site. The goal is simple: don't order the wrong part, don't pay the wrong price, and don't run out of necessary tools.

Step 1 — Get the exact product number before opening a catalog

This is the step everyone thinks they can skip. You get a call: "We need half-inch anchors, about 20 of them." The foreman already knows what he needs. But what he says and what the plans require are sometimes two different things.

A Simpson Strong-Tie screw anchor like the Titen HD comes in multiple diameters, lengths, and head styles. The 3/4" x 5" Titen HD is not the same as the 3/4" x 4-1/2"—and that half inch of difference can mean a failed inspection, a re-drill, or worse, an engineer on site re-reviewing the connection.

Here's what I do now: I ask for the item number from the project spec sheet, or the catalog cut page, or a photo of the product packaging. If none of those are available, I ask for the engineer's plan page. It takes ten extra minutes, and it eliminates an entire category of expensive mistakes.

Step 2 — Select the right product series for the application

Simpson Strong-Tie makes more fastener lines than most buyers realize. They're not interchangeable. This is where you have to make a quick judgment call:

• Outdoor accents screws are designed for non-structural and light-structural outdoor projects: deck boards, railing, lattice, and landscape structures. They're corrosion-resistant and color-matched to look good on exterior work.
• Structural screws like the Strong-Drive series are engineered for load-bearing connections. These are often code-referenced and listed in the manufacturer's load tables.
• Screw anchors—like the Titen HD or Wedge-All—are used for fastening into concrete and masonry, and they each have specific substrate requirements.

From the outside, it looks like one screw can work for everything. The reality is that structural fasteners are engineered for specific substrates, load ratings, and failure modes. I paid for that lesson in my second year on the job when I ordered a box of non-structural screws for a load-bearing railing connection and the inspector stopped the work.

Step 3 — Check the coating before you check the price

This is the step I ignored the longest. The price difference between zinc-plated, hot-dip galvanized, and stainless steel can be significant. But the installed cost of a corroded connection is significantly worse.

What most people don't realize is that coating selection is a real engineering decision. Simpson Strong-Tie publishes a corrosion guide that maps product coatings to exposure conditions. Exterior use, coastal environments, and pressure-treated lumber contact each push you toward a specific finish. If you skip this step, you're not saving money—you're deferring a much bigger bill.

I once ordered electro-plated anchors for an exterior seawall project without thinking about the coating. The corrosion was visible from the street before the warranty period ended. We had to replace every single anchor. If I could redo that decision, I'd have upgraded to hot-dip galvanized at a fraction of the replacement cost.

Step 4 — Verify on-site tools before delivery

This one is slightly embarrassing to admit, because it took me years to learn. Simpson Strong-Tie structural screws are designed with specific drive systems. Many of them use hex drives that require a T-handle hex key set or a hex driver bit on the crew's drills. If nobody has the right driver on site, the installation stops while someone runs out mid-task.

A quick question to the crew lead before you order—"what drive sizes do you already have?"—prevents this. Also worth checking: if the installation includes prepping concrete or steel before setting anchors, the crew will often use an angle grinder with a grinding wheel. In NCCER construction curriculum, one of the first practical skills students learn is what an angle grinder is used to grind: cleaning weld spatter, removing burrs, and prepping surfaces for connection. If your team does metal-tied work, make sure grinders and wheels are in the tool inventory, too. Ten seconds of checking saves a half-day delay.

Step 5 — Run a quick recall and compliance check

This one sounds overly cautious, but it's part of my routine for any structural product purchase. Recalls happen in construction hardware. Remember the pressure washer recall wave in 2024? Several manufacturers had to pull models after safety issues were reported. Fasteners and anchors can have batch-quality issues, too.

Here's my five-minute check before I place a significant order:

• Search the CPSC recall database for the product line.
• Check the manufacturer's website for product alerts and technical bulletins.
• When delivery arrives, compare lot numbers on the boxes against any open alerts.

Simpson Strong-Tie has a solid track record for quality, but no manufacturer is immune to a flawed batch. Catching a problem before the order ships is nearly free. Catching it after installation, as I've seen with other products, is a financial disaster.

Step 6 — Price the total cost, not the unit cost

This is where I sound like the office veteran who complains about "the good old days," but I'm not wrong. The lowest unit price is rarely the cheapest order once you include everything around it.

What I count in my total cost calculation:

• Shipping. Heavy anchor boxes are not cheap to freight. A $30 box of anchors can cost $25 to ship.
• Lead time. A two-week delay on a $40 anchor is a $4,000 schedule problem on a commercial job. In my experience, the schedule cost always outweighs the parts cost.
• Minimum order quantities. Over-ordering "just in case" becomes scrap, and we all know it.
• Mis-order costs. Restocking fees, return shipping, and the staff time to process a return.

Here's something vendors won't tell you: published online prices for Simpson Strong-Tie products are MAP-influenced. If you're a consistent buyer—even a small one—ask for a project quote or a better freight tier. We consolidated our fastener ordering to one distributor in 2024 and asked for volume pricing. It saved us roughly 8% on annual fastener spend without changing a single product on the order. Well, nearly 8%—depending on how you count the freight credits.

Common mistakes that still cost people money

Three patterns keep showing up in my conversations with other office buyers:

1. Substituting generic fasteners. If the plans specify Simpson Strong-Tie, a look-alike off-brand can trigger an inspection failure. The savings on the part is nothing compared to the rework.
2. Ignoring the coating spec. If the project calls for stainless, don't buy zinc to save $1.50 per anchor. TCO thinking: the replacement cost will be 20 times the difference.
3. Not confirming the substrate type. Concrete, brick, block, and CMU each behave differently with anchors. A wedge anchor that works fine in concrete can fail in brick. When in doubt, ask for a photo of the installation surface.

There's something satisfying about an order that goes through without a panic call before inspection. After a rough 2022—two failed orders and one corroded install that cost the company real money—I turned this checklist into a habit. It adds maybe twenty minutes per order. It's saved us at least ten times that in rework, returns, and restocking. If you're in a similar role, steal the checklist and adjust it to your own products. The structure transfers.