Nail Guns

[JasonJ75]

I need to get a nail gun for the house. I'm going to be nailing down hard wood floors and mounting trim. I plan on renting a floor nailer, but for the pieces that butt up against the wall I'm going to need a regular gun. What will work? Will 15ga. work for both flooring and trim?

[OI812]

Yes and no. 15 ga nailer will work on most of the trim, but not all of the trim. How thick is the trim and how high is the trim? What type of wood? I actually use my 16 ga nailer more. 15 ga nailer won't work for the floor you need a special nailer for that, and you did say that. IMO I just find the 16 ga to be a little more versatile.

[updmst]

I installed a 1,000 sq. feet of cherry flooring in my home. I didn't care for the exposed face nail look.

I used 15 ga to face nail the first row. The face nails are covered by the trim. The next couple of rows were left unnailed. I used a regular floor nailer on the fourth row. Also, on the fourth row, about 2 feet away, I screwed a 2x4 to the floor, and used spreaders to tightly press all the rows before nailing.

The final rows are the same except use a pry bar and 1/4 inch plywood against the wall instead of the 2x4.

Picking straight boards for the beginning and ending rows make the whole process much easier.

After 5 years, zero problems.

Also, read "Hardwood Floors" by Don Bollinger on Taunton Press.

[chaotik]

I use my Porter Cable finish nailer for baseboard, crown molding, building subwoofer boxes, etc.

But for smaller stuff, like quarter round, I use my Porter Cable brad nailer instead.