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Flooring nailer

I have a coupon to get this pretty cheap:

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Can you tell me if this wil work for layign about 500 square feet of

3/4 inch solid flooring? It says it will do 1/2 and 25/32. DOes this mean it wont do 3/4? I have never heard of 25/32 flooring.
Reply to
stryped
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If it handles flooring 1/32" over 3/4, it should handle 3/4 just fine.

Look at it this way, if it doesn't do the job and you have to rent for a day, you're still cheaper than buying a bostich pneumatic.

Reply to
Joe

My problem is it will take me many days due to time constraints.

Reply to
stryped

.

How does this thing work? It uses air, but you still have to hit with a hammer?

Reply to
stryped

Good grief, Stryped, don't you EVER think for yourself? If it will nail through 25/32" boards, why on earth do you suppose that it might *not* nail through 24/32" (3/4") boards???

Reply to
Doug Miller

...

When you whack the nailer with the mallet the tongue is driven into the groove of the previous board and then the cleat is driven through the next tongue securing the new board to the floor. Air helps with the second part and gives a consistent depth of nailing with minimal splitting caused by an off-center blow or repeated blows.

Reply to
keith

Try downloading the product manual, it explains all.

Other things for your consideration...

  1. At some point, you will have to face nail. That means the cleat has to go in vertically through the plank's top rather than at an angle through the plank's tongue. You will *have* to face nail the last few planks as there won't be enough room between them and the room wall to use the nailer.

It is also customary to face nail the first few 3-4 courses of planks. That is because you have to leave an expansion gap between them and the wall and the lateral force of the nailer would move them. If you provide a solid shim between them and the wall I guess they could be nailed through the tongue.

IMO, it is better to use screws for face "nailing" as they can be easily countersunk and filled with a face grain wood plug.

  1. It is paramount that your first courses be perfectly straight and parallel to the starting wall; if not, nothing else will be.
  2. Since there has to be a gap between the flooring and wall, you'll be installing base boards to hide the gap. It isn't hard to get the floor planks flat along the walls parallel to them; it can be more difficult to get them flat on the end walls, especially so if the surface to which you are nailing isn't flat. As you lay boards, use a long straight edge to make sure that the flooring is flat along the walls at the end; if necessary, shim under the ends. If you wind up with highs and lows there, you will have to spile the baseboard bottom.
  3. Your last floor board will have to be ripped because it is highly unlikely that the room dimensions are such so that you wind up fitting a full one. It will also likely have to be tapered because rooms are seldom square; even if it is, it is highly unlikely that you willbe able to lay the flooring so that they are perfectly aligned.

What you *don't* want is to wind up having to have a real narrow board as your last one; plan ahead, it may be better to skinny down the last 3-4 boards instead of needing to install one very narrow one.

  1. Once you get it all laid, you'll be sanding and finishing it? If so, do
*NOT* rent a drum sander. Dollars to doughnuts you would cut all sorts of divots in the floor. Instead, get the big (10" x 18"?) vibrating ones. Yes, they take longer but not that much. Sand the hell out of the floor with the coarsest grit you can get to get it flat and smooth; once it is (takes a LOT of sanding), work up with the finer grits to just remove scratches from the coarser sanding.
Reply to
dadiOH

I have one of these and just finished installing about 500sf of engineered flooring in the living room and entry. Worked GREAT! And it was almost as cheap as renting. My son previously used it to install solid oak flooring with no problems. We both used 2" staples.

As previously mentioned, the first and last two rows will probably need to be face nailed due to clearance problems.

Catwatcher

Reply to
Catwatcher

How does this thing work? It uses air, but you still have to hit with a hammer?

The hammer is the trigger. You hit with hammer, nail goes in.

Pneumatic means you don't have to hit as hard as manual.

Given the number and type of questions you're asking, I think I lot of research is in order.

Reply to
Joe

I actually have a finish nailer air operated but have not used it in several years. I used it for basboards years back. Is it better to use this to face nail the first few boards or to go by hand?

Reply to
stryped

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That is why I am asking the questions:

One thing I noticed in the directions it says: "The nailing machine MUST HAVE a protective foot attachment to prevent edge bruising and finish damage. Use one of the following: Stanley Bostich (multiple models with millifootkit Powernailer with nailershoe, etc."

Does the harbor freight one have what this is tlakign about? I am not sure what it means.

Reply to
stryped

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has downloadable instruction manuals for all their tools.

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Reply to
Bob(but not THAT Bob)

.com...

de quoted text -

It does not say anythign about a "protective foot attachment

Reply to
stryped

It is referring to a plastic shoe to prevent damaging a prefinished floor. You will probably have to check it out in person to see. It does seem to have plastic strips under the base, which may be part of the system, but it should also have a plastic strip on the dropped edge that slams against the edge of each board. The better units like the Bostitch or Powernailer have an optional, large plastic shoe that snaps over the base.

Look at this Bostitch nailer, click to get a bigger picture, the shoe is that unattached plastic piece:

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Reply to
DT

I've done it both ways. Using a Porter-Cable 15ga finish nailer with 2" nails leaves a slightly smaller hole to fill than using 6d finish nails.

I actually have a finish nailer air operated but have not used it in several years. I used it for basboards years back. Is it better to use this to face nail the first few boards or to go by hand?

Reply to
Catwatcher

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