No, not the whole floor! I’m not that much of a glutten for punishment, but…
The air nailer at the rental store is very nice, but because of it’s size, it cannot blind nail the first four and the last five rows of flooring. That’s nine and eleven inches of face nailing. That just seems sloppy. I figure that if I hand nail those rows, then I only need to face nail the first row and the last two rows.
Would I just use a finish nail for this?? If not, what nail do I want? The nails for the nailer don’t take well to being nailed by hand.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Replies
That's what I do. Hand nail with 8d finish or just bang a few of the power nails out of the unit and use them - except for the face nailed rows.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
I've had good luck using my 15g and 16g air guns when there's not enough room for the floor nailer. You still have to hand nail the last couple of pieces, though.
Good. Nice to know my thinking is tinged with validity. Thanks.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Edited 11/26/2002 11:41:16 PM ET by Rich Beckman
Rich,
I never face nail more than is absolutely necessary. Once the flooring nailer becomes obsolete I hand nail using the same flooring nails. Predrilling makes using the flooring nails easier. I understand it takes a little longer, unless you have a helper to predrill ahead of you, but I dont trust finish nails to hold flooring tight. Way too much expansion and contraction.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Had to do the whole floor a few weeks ago. Some kind of Brazilian hardwood. Tried to use the nailer but the nails would bend!! Took 2 days of drilling 5/64 holes in the tongue then driving in the nails, to keep it interesting all set at 45 degrees!!
Rich,
I like to screw and plug the first run, then hand nail until the floor gun takes over. Screw and plug the last two runs or so. But I am anal.
KK
An 18 ga. brad nailer will nail all but the last 2 courses. glue them and put them both in at the same time and face nail with brads close to the wall on last course.
If you leave the dry wall up 7/8" and use a shoe mold you can cover 95.67345% of your face nails and hide the rest will filler.
Of course this is a production flooring technique and some out there may feel the need to spend more time to try and hide more nails.
To each his own.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!