Nailing Into Cinder Block

[MikePA]

Can I use an air nailer for this? I don't have an air nailer yet, but I am looking for one and it's first job will be to attach 2" x 4" pressure treated furring strips to a cinder block wall.

Is this possible/recommended?

 

[shoppintractors]

Power Hammer...

The Deluxe Hammer

The line up

These use 22 caliber shells to shoot the nails into cement.

Don

 

[BigDave]

Possible, but not recommended. One of the things that helped me make my decision to buy my nailer was that one review had a guy who put nails into concrete on a regular basis using the nailer. It told me that it was one tough unit. The nails usually compatible with the nailers won't be strong enough. I tried to drive a couple of framing nails into concrete for amusement, the nail ended up doing a 90 degree turn when it hit the concrete. I would recommend using the 22 caliber loads and the proper nails. It would save a lot of wear & tear on the nailer.

 

[yooperdave]

I bought a cinder block building and have attached several thousand feet of 2x2 wood nailers to the walls.

I used 1/4" diameter tapcon anchors, but the original 1x2 wood strips were attached with 8 penny nails. Most of the time the nails were located in mortar joints, but some nails were in fact in the cinders.

Nails do not have much pullout capacity in cinders, where screws will not let go without a good fight.

I might be concerned that the cinders might spall off with a air nailer. Borrow or rent a air nailer first to see how it works.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

 

[_RaT_]

Mike, check into Hitachi or Makita. I believe both make air powered nailers now for concrete. The gun may be expensive so that could be an issue. They put the nail in with a series of blows analogus to a impact wrench on a bolt. They are supposedly very fast and on cinder block would be a snap. My Hilti would push nails through cinder block like a nailer does through pine. Rat...

Makita air hammer

I checked into the Hitachi and either they stopped making the air strip concrete nailer or simply do not list it on the website.

 

[JDgreen227]

It MAY be possible, but I have never tried it. The only nailing I have ever done into concrete is with the special cut masonry nails, and I doubt if there is an air nailer available that will even accept those type. We have a block basement,
during this winter I have been studding some of the exterior walls for insulation and drywall application. What I do is fasten down a pressure treated 2X4 to the concrete floor for a sill, using concrete screws (which require drilling) and construction adhesive. I then build the stud wall lying flat on the floor, but make it an inch and a half shorter than the actual floor to ceiling measurement. Once it's done I set it atop the treated sill and fasten it to both joists and sill. It's not required to fasten any of the vertical studs to the blocks using this method.

If someone else knows a better way to do this, or if it is possible to use an air nailer on concrete block, let me know.

 

[BigAl]

Mike ,
I would use 2 1/2" concrete nails on about 24" centers and use PL500 caulking glue on the backs of the 2x4's . You won't ever get them to release once they are setup . At the price of 22 powered Ram nails you could go broke before your done . Mine have been in place 13 years !
Big Al

 

[jpr62902]

I just finished by basement remodel. To frame my walls, I just bought a cheapie powder actuated Ramset. Have to hit the thing with a hammer to fire the load into the nail (make sure ya have hearing protection) but it goes a lot faster than drilling Tapcons. The nails are probably a little sturdier than Tapcons, too. I've torqued the heads off of too many Tapcons in my limited experience.

 

[JDgreen227]

Thanks for advice, I was aware of the Ramset tools but since I only used about 20 of the Tapcons for 60 feet of sills I didn't think it was worth the expense of buying or renting for the one use. I have rarely broken a Tapcon, usually the hex head will round off before the screw breaks.

 

[PBMAX]

jpr62902, just bought one at HD for $22 and it came with a few samples works great...Besides I love the Smell of gun powder /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif used it to anchor the 2 short walls I have put up so far...Plan to add wall along front but will be attaching to rafters for the moment and contcrete floor not the sindernblock. Will be leaving a gap to create a channel for any leaking to floow out to garage... Plan to use 2 foot centers as well.

 

[johnday]

First off, are they concrete or cinder blocks. If I'm not mistaken, cinder blocks haven't been used for building for many years, they just don't have they strength or longevity of concrete. That said, Tapcons are the only thing I use for fastening to any concrete, I gave up on masonry nails years ago after I drove my first Tapcon. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MikePA]

They are cinderblocks. This is a garage that's over 30 years old.

 

[Libertine]

MikePA:
Never used nail gun for concrete, however, I occasionally have to attach/drill into granite (a bit more brittle-harder than concrete). I use a rotary impact drill (have Bosch, but other brands around) with an SDS bit. If attaching something, I drill hole then insert a sleeve and screw into that. Works great and is fairly quick, does not damage the granite (fracture it or chip it). It's no doubt slower than a nail gun, but does a nice clean job. If I were attaching (mechanical as opposed to "gluing") wood to cement, that's what I would use if I did not have a huge number to do, or, I was not in a "production" mode. Also, an impact/rotary drill can be used for other stuff as well unlike a straight nail gun that is more single purpose.
JEH

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> I use a rotary impact drill (have Bosch, but other brands around) with an SDS bit. If attaching something, I drill hole then insert a sleeve and screw into that. </font>
I've been trading emails with someone at Awesome Garage about their products. They recommend 2" x 4" PTs ripped in half secured with Tapcons. I'm partial to your solution of sleeves and screws.

 

[Libertine]

MikePA:
Don't know what "tapcons" are, but name sounds ok. Thanks for ref to awesome garage-gee, everything is specialized! If can drill into granite, going into cinder block should be like cutting warm butter. Popping in sleeves easy enough and can pull (unscrew) the stud off easy if needed. Of course, if you were in production (rather than a home project) something else might be a lot quicker (though, as some others have mentioned in this thread, a nail gun is, well, a gun). Good luck.
JEH

 

[jdmar]

Last fall I put up furring and vinyl siding on a 30 x 40 or so older house. It had started life in the 50's as a cinder block garage...but now is a house. I bought a bunch of tapcon...and very quickly tired of the drill and drive routine...yes I am easily bored.

I then bought a $18.00 22 cal hammer fired driver....WOW. This is a tool that works and is cheap. It is easy to use, drives consistently and is very fast. I tried to pry off some "sample shots" first and couldn't budge them. Yes, I occasionally had a weak fire or loss nail...but VERY rarely. The house is now sided and nothing is loose. This is now a favorite tool of mine...and so cheap too!

Peter