Question:
What would be the typical maximum depth below the wood surface that a gun driven nail head should go when framing with dimensional lumber?
I understand from searching on this site that sheathing should generally not have nails driven through the surface sheet product.
How about when framing a wall? plate to studs? studs to headers? etc.?
It seems that flush would be ideal, but, if the head is buried 1/8″ or more, is that a problem from a Code standpoint? What is considered good practice?
Thanks for considering this question.
Replies
Greetings c,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
Perhaps it will catch someones attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
It shouldn't be driven farther than the far side of the lumber.
happy?
Ideally, when nailing sheathing (which I assume you're asking about), the nail head should be flush with the surface of the sheathing.
Since plywood (my preferred sheathing material) has voids and defects (OSB can also have varied density), the occasional nail head will countersink itself.
The best way to deal with the potential problem is to use a nail gun with a flush-head adjustment (pretty common on the newer ones), or lower the air pressure a bit and hand drive the few that stand proud.
The last home I built had a lot of shear walls and the building inspector was pretty anal about sunken nailheads and created a lot of grief among the local builders. Fortunately, I had a "heads up" and had a clean framing inspection, but knowing what I was facing, I bought an extra nailgun with the flush head adjustment.
No problems.
Notchman,
Thanks for the sheathing words.
What has been your experience regarding regular framing. Say top plate to stud or bottom plate to stud? Header connections, etc?
I've seen guys bury nail heads 1/8" to 1/4" deep and say that they do this to get the nail out of the way. Seems to me that this is not such a great idea as it tends to cause more spliting of the wood and leaves the nailed connection "spring" loaded which might cause spliting to continue while in service. Not that it matters much once the sheathing is on.
Have you heard of guys having framing rejected because of over driven nails in wood other than sheathing?
I'm just trying to get good general practice for nailing with a gun....and hope to not have a problem with the inspector(s).
I have a clear preference for slightly proud (finish with a hammer if necesary), flush nailing or slightly recessed to make sure the head of the nail is in play but don't want to ask someone helping me to back off a bit if it isn't really an issue.
Thanks again.
Chris.
Overdriving in the framing scenario you describe has never been a problem in my experience.
To avoid splitting, it's always a good idea to hold the nail line back from the end of a board as much as reasonable and to avoid knots at the ends of abutting members.
I wouldn't worry about the idea of a nail head being buried in, for example, a top plate. Sometimes, an electric plane may come in handy for knocking down a high spot, so having the nails below the surface is helpful.