For structural connections, the cheapest Simpson Strong-Tie part is usually the most expensive one. That sounds like a line from a sales meeting, but I mean it in the most literal way possible: total installed cost. A $2 Simpson Strong-Tie deck bracket installed with the wrong fastener becomes a $400 inspection failure. A $4 wedge anchor ordered without checking edge distance becomes an $890 rework. In eight years of ordering structural connectors for contractors, I have made both mistakes. This article is the checklist I wish someone had handed me in 2017.
Why I stopped comparing unit prices
I'm not an engineer. I'm the guy who takes the phone call, opens the project spec, and orders the hardware. In my first year (2017), I made the classic assumption: all 1/2-inch wedge anchors are basically the same if the outside diameter matches. I didn't verify the evaluation report, minimum embedment, or edge distance. The tension test failed, and we drilled out 30 anchors and started again. That mistake cost about $890 in materials and labor, plus a one-week delay.
In September 2022, I ordered a $3,200 batch of galvanized connectors. The invoice said "HDG." The parts that arrived were electro-galvanized, not hot-dip galvanized, and the project specification required hot-dip. It looked fine on the crate. It wasn't fine in the engineer's review. Straight to the scrap pile.
Since Q1 2024, we've caught 47 potential order errors using the checklist at the end of this article. The lesson is simple: for structural hardware, price per piece is the least reliable number to compare. What matters is installed cost—hardware, labor, inspection, and the risk of doing it twice. Total installed cost = hardware price + shipping + labor + inspection time + the probability of rework. In my experience, the probability term is the one that kills budgets.
Simpson Strong-Tie deck brackets: tiny steel, big TCO
Deck brackets are small pieces of steel that carry serious loads. A connector like the Simpson Strong-Tie DTT2Z deck tension tie is one of the first parts I bring up when I train new buyers. It is not a $2 piece of steel. It is a component with published load values, and it only gets those load values when it's installed with the specified nails in the specified locations.
The question everyone asks is, "Which one is cheaper?" The question they should ask is, "If this connection fails, what does the rework cost?"
Most buyers focus on the price difference between a listed bracket and a look-alike bracket. But the price difference is small compared with the cost of removing and reinstalling a connection after an inspection failure. Here's a number that stayed with me: a contractor once sent back a set of joist hangers because they used the wrong nails. The hangers were fine. The labor was already done. The redo cost $400 in labor and two days of schedule. A $4 box of correct nails would have prevented it.
Simpson Strong-Tie wedge anchors: the "same spec" illusion
It's tempting to think a 1/2-inch wedge anchor is a 1/2-inch wedge anchor. But the diameter is only one dimension of the decision. Embedment depth, edge distance, concrete condition, coating, and the current evaluation report all affect the load value.
I use Simpson Strong-Tie wedge anchors like the Wedge-All when the project needs a tested, listed anchor. According to the Simpson Strong-Tie anchor systems catalog (I checked the online version in January 2025), anchor selection starts with the load table and the concrete conditions, not the unit price. Simpson Strong-Tie publishes ICC-ES evaluation reports for many of its anchors, and those reports are what inspectors check. If an anchor doesn't have published load data, it doesn't go into a structural drawing. Period. Most U.S. jurisdictions enforce a version of the International Building Code, and inspectors usually want to see a listed anchor with a current evaluation report.
My mistake in 2017 was assuming the crew would read the technical data sheet. They won't. Now I include the TDS in the order and text the foreman the embedment number. I still can't guarantee they read it. (I really should put it on the concrete plan, too.)
Accessories that don't look structural but are
The counterintuitive part: the cheapest items in the bin often cause the most expensive field problems.
The fender washer 6705 that shouldn't matter (but does)
A 1/4-inch fender washer—item 6705 in our parts bin—costs pennies. It isn't a load-rated structural component by itself. But when a bolt bears on a slotted hole or soft wood, that washer spreads the bearing load. Skip it, and the bolt head can crush the wood, change the connection's bearing condition, and turn a routine inspection into a repair. The issue isn't the washer. It's the assumption that such a small part can't matter.
Keep a stripped bolt socket set in the truck
A stripped bolt socket set is one of those tools you don't need until you absolutely need it. It bites into the head of a rounded-off or stripped bolt and lets you turn it out. I started carrying one after I rounded off a 1/2-inch hex head on a hold-down anchor in August 2023. The socket set cost about $18. The service call it saved would have been $150. (Still haven't bought a spare. I really should.)
When to use an impact driver instead of a drill
The tool also affects total cost. Use an impact driver when you're driving long structural screws or hex-head fasteners, because the hammering action delivers torque without twisting the fastener head off. Use a drill/driver when you need a controlled pilot hole or when you're driving small screws where over-torque is a real risk. For structural deck work, an impact driver is usually the right call. A stripped bolt socket set works best with one, too.
The checklist that caught 47 errors
Here's the pre-order checklist I've used since Q1 2024:
- Match the exact product code and finish to the approval, not to the description. "Wedge-All 1/2″ x 5-1/2″ zinc" is not the same as "1/2-inch wedge anchor."
- Check the evaluation report or load table before quoting. If the connection is structural, the published load value needs to exist.
- Put the technical data sheet in the order and send it to the crew lead. Assume nothing.
- Confirm the tools on site: impact driver, stripped bolt socket set, and the right washers. If the crew can't install it correctly, the fastener price is irrelevant.
- Calculate total installed cost: hardware + labor + inspection + rework risk. Compare that number, not unit price.
When to ignore this advice
Not every fastener needs an engineered connector. A planter box, a furniture jig, a temporary shop shelf—use whatever works. Total-cost thinking matters most where failure is expensive: decks, structural connections, concrete anchors, anything that can hurt someone or stop a project.
One more boundary: I'm not a structural engineer, and this isn't engineering advice. Verify current products, load values, and building-code requirements with the manufacturer and your engineer of record. Prices and catalog details here are from memory and current as of January 2025; things change faster than any of us would like.
