I am wondering what if any advantages there are for using an air floor nailer over a manual floor nailer that would outweigh the disadvantages of having the air hose to contend with. My experience with floor nailing is that occasionally the shear force of hitting the plunger extremely hard is needed to nail a crooked piece of floor up tight, so if you need to hit the plunger on the air nailer with the same amount of force, how can the air power be any advantage? Alan
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Few people understand it. Nobody agrees what it is, how to learn about it, or who's responsible for it. It has never been more important
Featured Video
How to Install Cable Rail Around Wood-Post CornersHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
My experience is that I never want to use a manual nailer again. Air nailers are great after an hour straight of nailing. I understand your point about sucking the joint together, but the air nailers do it just fine. I would strongly recommend getting an air nailer.
Thanks for you quick reply. I received 6 replies, all like yours. Looks like I'll add another air gun to my collection.
Go air nailer! I'll never lift a manual again. The tool pays for itself in one job. To torque curved pieces you can hit the thing as hard as you want, but in general a tap drives the nail home. You do have to contend with a hose, but its much easier than bending over and pulling out half driven nails every so often. (Too often in my book.) I bought a Stanley stapler and it does the job great.
I did about 700 square feet with an pneumatic floor stapler last summer. The air hose does get in the way a bit, but that's mostly a problem when you're near a wall.
As for having to hit it as hard, you can close a small gap with a light hit, just enough to trigger the nailer. If you have a bigger gap, you can hit it harder, but with any luck, you shouldn't have many boards like this.
Air.
You can still tap the nailer's shoe to tighten joints before nailing. The benefits of air far outweigh any negative that I can think of.
Air.
air any day, your shoulders and back will thank you
closing gaps with the air tool is no problem
I can't remember exactly where I saw it, but I saw a tip that might help you close up gaps in boards.
It was a rectangular piece of wood probably 1x8 about a foot and half long, cut diagonal to create to create two separate triangles.
Screw one down just outside the board you are trying to convince to bend, and use the other as a wedge. Not for every joint, but sounds like a good idea for stubborn ones.
While the tapered wedges work well in a pinch the best solution to warped flooring is to chop it up and burn it. Oven dried for great kindling.
The strips work well for areas near walls or other obstructions. Even if you have nice straight flooring, it is difficult to suck up your gaps when face nailing.
Jon Blakemore
We've done some big jobs where we've had two air nailers and two hand slammers on the job so everyone can stay busy. Anytime there's a slowdown or someone goes to get coffee or answer a phone, it's always the hand nailer that stays in the corner, lonely and crying her eyes out. I've never heard anyone complain about the hoses.
Both same speed and quality of work produced as long as you are in shape. Persoannaly, I don't mind the hand nailer but I'll admitt that on a hot day, that mallet gets a little heavey by midafternoon.
Excellence is its own reward!