Anybody had this happen?

[428PI]

Old wood is so much better than new stuff. That's why the shed I'm rebuilding got by with 2 2x8 headers over 16 ft openings.

 

[Old tool guy]

If that’s the nail that came with the box, it’s cheap metal.

 

[Spud McGee]

OP's just that bad at hammering.

 

[cvairwerks]

Had some very old Doug Fir studs in a project one time. Nail gun just bent the nails long before they were fully set. Ended up switching to drilling holes for screws.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

If that 2x4 is old-growth and has been in-situ for years it's probably as hard as steel, so I could understand bending those nails when trying to hammer them in. I can't swing a hammer to save my life in tight spaces so I tend to use something like the box below when needed:



Cheers

Jim

 

[428PI]

I tend to use something like the box below when needed:

I saw those but those were 4 bucks a pop and my cheap one was only .68 cents. I got a budget to meet!

 

[cmandp]

Honestly its hard to beat the nail in boxes for speed and solidness once installed. Of course this only works if you have access to the studs. You could predrill the nail holes if you go to install more of these so the nail doesn't bend.

I used the once Jim quoted in a bathroom once to try it out. Easy to install, wobbles all over the place. Did not like.

 

[Metallitubby]

OP's just that bad at hammering.

Now now, let's not get too personal.

 

[428PI]

Easy to install, wobbles all over the place. Did not like.

The .68 cent nailed box actually is pretty solid with the bent nail. That's why I left it.

 

[Old tool guy]

I saw those but those were 4 bucks a pop and my cheap one was only .68 cents. I got a budget to meet!

Yes but the advantage is that you can turn the screw and adjust the depth. Handy for tile backsplash.

 

[dougf]

Some things you just don't cheap out on. Women, tires, and booze yes, electrical components and conduit, hell no.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

The .68 cent nailed box actually is pretty solid with the bent nail. That's why I left it.

Some side nail boxes also have angled screw holes inside the box to further secure it to the stud.

Jim

 

[driftpin]

Dade County Pine, a Florida wood, termites look for something softer. 16d sinkers better be plated, because cement coated ones will often bend first, before being set. Go 'a bit-further south,' to Lignum Vitae Key, and that's some hard wood!

Lignum Vitae | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

I use exterior grade construction screws instead of nails. I'm only doing my own projects, and not on jobs.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I had a house built in the early 80 that had rafters so hard you had to pre drill them for screws.

 

[73project]

OP's just that bad at hammering.

There's a fix for that in tight spots! I bought a palm nailer in the middle of a remodel where I was doing a bunch of blocking between floor joists in a 1965 rambler. I break it out anytime I'm forced to nail something in tight spaces.

 

[FredWanaker]

There is a game sometimes at the county fair. It is called drive a nail. The guy running it drives a nail and then hands the hammer to the person paying to try it. They bend the nail. Then the county fair guy takes the hammer back and shows it can drive a nail. What no one notices is that the fair guy has a piece of sand paper in his hand an that he roughs up the hammer head after the mark tries is. The next guy comes along, gets a fresh hammer and bends a nail. The county fair guy says, "Let me show you how it is done," and drives a nail into the wood. Again no one notices that he sands the head of the hammer so it doesn't slide on the nail. At night all the hammers get polished again to a mirror finish so they slip off the nail heads and bend them

 

[Kuma601]

That old stuff doesn't bow, twist and in some builds has resisted being a munchfest for the termites. The old Douglass fir is like hard maple now.

 

[nadogail]

That is called seasoned dried lumber.

 

[Firebrick43]

Sort of like having to predrill for fence wire staples on hedge fence post. Its such hard and tough wood that it wil wear out at least 3 fene post holes!

 

[Mike65]

If that 2x4 is old-growth and has been in-situ for years it's probably as hard as steel, so I could understand bending those nails when trying to hammer them in. I can't swing a hammer to save my life in tight spaces so I tend to use something like the box below when needed:



Cheers

Jim

I do not think our local Lowes sells these anymore.

 

[Skooterj]

My last house was built in 1900. It had actual 2x4 studs. They were definitely not pine. I am not sure what kind of wood, I suspect oak from the looks of them. They were like steel. Only way to drive a nail was to pre-drill or use a nail gun. I was driving a 16p nail, only pre-drilled an inch, and that was all it would go in. Never bent, just stopped and would not go any further. Probably hit it an extra 10 times, never budged. I assume they hardened over time, no idea how they would have build it back in 1900 if everything was that hard.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Try some wax or soap on the nails. I've used oil but probably wouldn't in your situation.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

My last house was built in 1900. It had actual 2x4 studs. They were definitely not pine. I am not sure what kind of wood, I suspect oak from the looks of them. They were like steel. Only way to drive a nail was to pre-drill or use a nail gun. I was driving a 16p nail, only pre-drilled an inch, and that was all it would go in. Never bent, just stopped and would not go any further. Probably hit it an extra 10 times, never budged. I assume they hardened over time, no idea how they would have build it back in 1900 if everything was that hard.

It was harder than pine but wasn't that hard in 1900. It gets harder as it ages.

 

[mike93lx]

Hope that header isn't supporting any real weight.

 

[428PI]

Hope that header isn't supporting any real weight

I don't know what you mean by any real weight but I figured about 250 lbs where the truss ride on them with no snow load. It did have some diagonal braces but for years one side brace was loose and not doing anything. I put an LVL header underneath (just one 1.75 x 12) to give it some strength when framing in for a garage door. The other side of shed has the same 2 2x8's spanning over 16 ft and one cripple coming down to a sistered in 2x10 which also supports a 14 ft wide lean to roof rafters. That's getting a wall put up with full length studs.

 

[mike93lx]

I don't know what you mean by any real weight but I figured about 250 lbs where the truss ride on them with no snow load. It did have some diagonal braces but for years one side brace was loose and not doing anything. I put an LVL header underneath (just one 1.75 x 12) to give it some strength when framing in for a garage door. The other side of shed has the same 2 2x8's spanning over 16 ft and one cripple coming down to a sistered in 2x10 which also supports a 14 ft wide lean to roof rafters. That's getting a wall put up with full length studs.

That's a far larger span than I would do with 2x8, but if you have no snow load and you are happy with it, send it.

 

[RPH]

I got some cedar boards here in the house about 120 years old. Dry, hard, tough stuff that can break things.

 

[nadogail]

Sometimes I find it helpful to first put a little wax on a nail before driving it.

 

[nadogail]

I have been known to shoot nails in a Ramset.

 

[Sumboodie]

Old wood is so much better than new stuff. That's why the shed I'm rebuilding got by with 2 2x8 headers over 16 ft openings.

I've done that with poplar and it's not "good" wood.

 

[CraigStu]

It is funny you show that bent nail. Over the winter I built a typical 2x4 wall in our basement to create a lockable storage room. I put in a couple of boxes like that for outlets and a wall switch. Of course I needed to move one of them and couldn't believe how easy it was to pull the nail out. I was able to grab the head w/ a pair of vise grips, twist back and forth while pulling and out it came in maybe 15 seconds. Yeah new wood isn't much especially box store 2x4s.

 

[mike93lx]

It is funny you show that bent nail. Over the winter I built a typical 2x4 wall in our basement to create a lockable storage room. I put in a couple of boxes like that for outlets and a wall switch. Of course I needed to move one of them and couldn't believe how easy it was to pull the nail out. I was able to grab the head w/ a pair of vise grips, twist back and forth while pulling and out it came in maybe 15 seconds. Yeah new wood isn't much especially box store 2x4s.

Pro tip, the 2x4's at the box stores at the same as the 2x4's at your beloved local lumber yard