Finish nailer Choice

[AlanB]

Alan, What do you use for the end pieces? Finish nails, brads or what? What guage? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new at this.

BTW, how do you like the bamboo? I was thinking of using vertical ply bamboo flooring.

This is the finish nailer I used. (have)

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I also used to have (redneck word I think) a Senco SFN-1 which I imagine this was copied from.

For me, and the amount of work I do, the HF tools work, I jokingly call my house the house that China built.

Where there was room, I used that finish nailer turned at an angle and drove through the tounges of the bamboo, hazy memory, but about three rows from the end you had to switch from the floor stapeler too the finish nailer.

Then the last row, or maybe two, I just face nailed through from the top, in the bamboo we just plugged a nail in each "knot" hole mark, or growth ring mark or whatever the heck you want too call it, then a little smear of putty over the hole and they almost (not entirely) disapear.

We did the bamboo from Sam's club in both our houses, probably about 1000 sq ft. I would do it again in a minute.

About $2 square foot if I remember right, was one of the cheaper floorings I could find. That # may be off.

It is documented here in the projects section as Al B's house rework or something similar, with pictures and diagrams with circles and arrows to be used as evidence against us...

We used the HF floor stapeler to put it all down with as well.

 

[sunspot]

Everyone, Thanks.

I now have plan A. I was going to go with Eddie's suggestion but I had to modify that after Alan gave me that HF link.

When I come to the end rows, I'lll use my new finish nailer until the row becomes too tight to fit. Then the plan is to pre-drill the tongue with a drill until the closest to the wall row where I'll use the gun if it can be covered by the baseboard.

Pictures to follow.

 

[PILOON]

The most important actually be the guage of nails the gun shoots.
For flooring you want 16g and 2-1/2", the finer and cheaper 18g will fold in hardwoods and composits.
Straught strips are cheaper to by, easier to store than angle.
Generally angle type is more desirable for 'toe nailing'.
For floor edging, deffinately 16g 2.5". and shoot (as much as possible) angled in the tongues and grooves.
Generally I saved shorts for edging and shoot from the ends as then no nail heads show-also nobody actually walks along the edge plus furniture covers most of the last foot anyway.

TIP; To tighten joints along a wall use a 30 or so inch of 2 x 3 (long enough to transfer pressure to studs) that you place against the wall about 3" high and lever the flooring tight by prying with a length of flooring before you nail the edge flooring strips in place.

Be careful and try to not shoot nails into surface at an angle in flooring as they will usually glance off of the hard finished surface and fly all over the place and be deadly missels.

How's your back?
Tough when you don't do this every day! I know.

.

 

[sunspot]

How's your back?
Tough when you don't do this every day! I know.

LOL, my back is fine but my knees are killing me and I use knee pads, at least after day one.

 

[texbaylea]

I have started using trim head, square drive screws from McFeelys for trim work. I have a DeWalt kit that has a pilot drill holder that you can chuck up in your drill/driver. There is an extension that slips over that with the driver bit. You do not have to exchange the drill bit and driver in the chuck at all.

Very easy to use: drill pilot hole, slip the driver extension on and drive The screw, pull the driver off and drill the next hole, etc. I use square drive (roberson) screws almost exclusively. So much easier to drive and much less cam out. Plus the screw stays on the bit to start it.

Vernon

 

[dynasim]

The big box stores have trim nails(with #1 square head drives).

Chris

 

[2manyrocks]

Try sitting on your bottom on a thin cushion like those dense cushioned pads that go under sleeping bags.