Brad Nailer Vs Finish Nail Hardwood Floor

But when working with hardwood there is a unique and important consideration.

Brad nailer vs finish nail hardwood floor. Flooring nails have special qualities that make them suitable for the job. For correct use make sure the tool s nail shoe is well positioned on the tongue angled at about 15 degrees inward and downward as if moving to the plank. Finish nails or finishing nails are generally made of 15 or 16 gauge steel wire making them slightly thicker in diameter than brad nails. The brad nails will not penetrate easily through the tough hardwood.

If you want to lay inch plywood as a subfloor or another inch flooring over a subfloor you should use an appropriate size of nail to ensure the flooring stays in place. A finish nail gun designed for trim work shoots a near headless nail that does not mar the surface look of the wood which makes a finish nailer effective for installing hardwood floors as well. Concrete floors can be laid in basements or at ground level while upper level subfloors generally consist of wood. A 15 gauge may initially appear to have the advantage in that a sturdier nail should logically afford a stronger fastener.

Types of nails for laying hardwood floor. A 16 gauge finish nailer is more than adequate to hold down 5 16 inch hardwood which is the usual thickness of retrofit panels. Hi i just put down a 15 x 27 1 2 x3 7 8 strand woven bamboo down on 3 4 subfloor with 1 1 2 brads using a freeman 4 in 1 with angled flooring shoe placing brads every 6 inches. Use the specific gauge of nail recommended by the manufacturer.

The higher the gauge number the thinner the nail. Among the most commonly used nails in nail guns are 16 and 18 gauge nails the 16 gauge nails are shot from finishing nailers while the 18 gauge nails are fired from a brad nailer these two nail guns have different objectives and it all depends on the holding power of the respective nails. A finishing nailer will also do a decent job on the hardwood floor by shooting almost headless nails and it will leave no traces behind as you move. This makes them useful for heftier applications with thicker material such as cabinets or baseboards.

The downside is that flooring nail guns can only be used for this specific purpose. The humble nail has a long history of craftsmanship behind every bag or box. In my experience a 15 gauge finish nailer can work well for hardwood floor installation. The two gauges of nails typically used for hardwood floors are 16 and 18 gauge.