I’m about to put oak hardwood flooring down throughout my house, one room at a time of course! The wood is oak, Chinese Red oak, some hickory, likely one or two other species, 3/4 inch thick of random widths. My question is simple and directed at those of you who do this sort of thing as a profession: I have a Thompson air compressor and would like to know 1)which nailer will (I am not interested in the cost – I buy the best and I’m only disappointed once!) do the job, 2) is there such a thing as a nailer that will shoot staples and nails?, 3) is one fastener i.e., nail or staple, or perhaps another type of fastener(?) superior over another, and lastly, 4) what padding or material should I place between the hardwood flooring and the 3/4 inch plywood sub-flooring? Question 3) is asked because I’ve heard of a quality nailer that will shoot both nails and staples. I’ve had a bad neck injury corrected by surgery so swinging a hammer is not within my capabilities anymore but I enjoy all facets of woodworking and my own remodeling projects. I don’t mean to sound snobbish regarding the price of things but I’ve learned the very hard way that there is so much
out there on the market that my best defense against it is buying the oldest and best brands, or those brands featured in magazines like FWW and FHB.&
#160; Thank you all in advance for your recommendations. I will respond to all your responses and will likely establish a dialogue with those of you who need more info or wish to expand on your response.
Replies
Waljay,
I've recently used a 15g nailer from Bostich that has a nose piece that is replacable with a rubber tip that allows you to register to the tongue on tongue and groove flooring. Used it with a friend to do an entire condo in bamboo and it was flawless. After you're done you have a great (quality) nailer for general use with larger trim, casings etc...
I've never used staples to install flooring and would be interested in hearing if there are any cons to this over nails. I'd be leary of the quality of any nailer that also shot staples as they do not strike me as being very compatable fastners?
As for padding... I've used padding under laminate - but for solid wood I would just lay it down with a thin line of construction adhesive underneath. I'm not a flooring professional though so...
Matt
Staples vs cleats/nails ... that's the same argument as Ford vs Chevy ... either answer is correct, especially for 3/4" material.
I have always used a nailer. But I think I'm right that you still have to hit the stapler with a hammer ... it's not just pulling a trigger. But as long as you use a pneumatic nailer/stapler, it's not like pounding nails.
I think the Bostich MIIF or similar is considereed the best stapler. I have the Porter Cable nailer and I am very happy with it.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I did a rustic oak floor a few years ago, with a bostich pneumatic stapler. I rented because I didn't expect to need it again.
You don't have to whack it that hard to trigger the stapler, but you do have to hit it hard enough to pull the flooring tight to the previous piece, and you spend a fair amount of time pounding just to get the flooring fit together before you nail it.
I'm assuming that the wood you have it tongue and groove. If it isn't, you are probably looking at face nailing or screwing with dowels to cover the holes. You can get a nice result from that, but my understanding is that it's really labor intensive.
The only nailer I've ever used is the Powernailer. I run it on a small pancake compressor, unless your Thomson is that little trim unit you should be fine. Check the SCFM's at 90 psi for your compressor and look at the manufacturers specs, that should tell you. The nailer actually belongs to a close friend that, like you, only buys the best. There may be perfectly good flooring nailers made by other companies, but like I said, I've only use the Powernailer.
I would not recommend using a finish nailer to install 3/4" flooring. Look at a T-head Powercleat (Powernailer's floor nail) next to a 15 ga. finish nail. There's no comparison with the amount of holding power that T-headed flooring nail has. Also, the mallet that you swing at the flooring nailer does a great job of pulling the flooring tightly together. A finish nailer is just going to nail the piece of flooring where it sits.
Finally, you do need to lay either 15 lb felt or rosin paper between the plywood subfloor and the flooring. Butt them next to each other (not overlapped) and staple it down. If you don't you will get squeaks as the two materials (plywood and flooring) rub against each other.
Hope this helps - Jamie
Jamwats: Thanks for the info. I should have said Thomas T-2820ST compressor. I had heard rumors about laying a felt "liner" between the hardwood flooring and the subflooring. This I will certainly do because the main reason I tore up the original flooring was all the squeaks. Actually when you said "do not overlap" the felt, I had to laugh because I was actually trying to figure the width of the rolled material and how much to overlap the felt when laying it down. Now that you mention it, the overlap would be kind of stupid; what would you do with the "hump" when trying to lay the oak boards over them. For me, the huge advantage of this site and the FWW Knots is all the experience that is available just for the asking! Thanks again for your response.