Installing vinyl siding with nail gun?

[Notgrownup]

I saw a video about some guy installing vinyl siding with a nail gun and commented about not wanting that guy installing mine and I got flamed… I just think installing it by hammer n nail is better. I a nail gun this adjustable that it will leave a piece of vinyl enough slack to move?

 

[Old tool guy]

If you use a roof or fence nailer that uses large head / short nails, and set the air pressure and depth of drive so it leaves the nail slightly proud … in theory it would work.

 

[The Cobbler]

set the air pressure and depth of drive so it leaves the nail slightly proud … in theory it would work.

not repeatedly , and I've not seen a roofing nailer or siding nailer that will adjust high enough to leave the nails proud.
I would not use, nor permit a nailer for that use on my house , unless it was proven to work constantly , not have nails miss the nailing strip, etc etc.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I’ve not been in construction so long that vinyl siding was then considered a cheap crappy siding, but wouldn’t it be possible to have special nails for vinyl siding?

Maybe kind of like a duplex nail, but with a shoulder instead of a second head? The shoulder would fit through the slot in the vinyl siding, but be bigger than the shaft of the nail. The shoulder, along with lower air pressure, would stop the nail head from contacting the siding.

Ok maybe I should have applied for a patent before I let this idea out..lol

All that being said, I think I could consistently run a nail gun in such a way that the nail would not go all the way in, but like I mentioned, it’s been decades, so maybe I’m delusional.lol

 

[cgrutt]

Senco sells an adapter for vinyl siding.



Believe Bostitch sells a similar adapter. They're used with their roofing nailers.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Well damn, there goes my fortune in new nails..lol

 

[cgrutt]

Yep, this one works with Bostitch guns. I think i might have to buy one ha ha

 

[Old Man Roger]

Dream killer

 

[cgrutt]

Dream killer

Design an attachment for house wrap/roofing underlayment plastic caps to fit a roofing gun instead.

(Yes I know they make cap staplers already.)

 

[Notgrownup]

Ok, well now I know. I still wouldn’t . I see so many houses with buckled walls. I believe the video I saw was in Canada. I know they make some siding that is backed like a foam or something like that but not down here.

 

[PCustoms]

Ok, well now I know. I still wouldn’t . I see so many houses with buckled walls. I believe the video I saw was in Canada. I know they make some siding that is backed like a foam or something like that but not down here.

Have you tried an actual building supply?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.gpvinylsiding.com/siding/georgia-pacific-vinyl-siding/caliber-high-performance-insulated-siding/&ved=2ahUKEwiXgbzo74iJAxUqL1kFHTrWJb8QFnoECD0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3DWwa1Xx98doZ8CYpgjII7

 

[Jim greengo]

I’ve not been in construction so long that vinyl siding was then considered a cheap crappy siding, but wouldn’t it be possible to have special nails for vinyl siding?

Maybe kind of like a duplex nail, but with a shoulder instead of a second head? The shoulder would fit through the slot in the vinyl siding, but be bigger than the shaft of the nail. The shoulder, along with lower air pressure, would stop the nail head from contacting the siding.

Ok maybe I should have applied for a patent before I let this idea out..lol

All that being said, I think I could consistently run a nail gun in such a way that the nail would not go all the way in, but like I mentioned, it’s been decades, so maybe I’m delusional.lol

I'd be more worried about the nail gun then the nail myself.

 

[loganb]

Lots of siding guys put on vinyl siding with nail guns. You can overdrive a hand driven nail just like with a nailgun...it takes practice and paying attention no matter which way you go.

 

[joe49]

In 1994 got tired of hand nailing siding. Is currently set for sheathing to just set nails.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Nice.

 

[Notgrownup]

In 1994 got tired of hand nailing siding. Is currently set for sheathing to just set nails.

Nice. I guess you have get used to aiming it right in the slot.

 

[mrvm]

One big benefit to using nail guns for vinyl siding installations would be fewer ceramic tile cracks

 

[PCustoms]

One big benefit to using nail guns for vinyl siding installations would be fewer ceramic tile cracks

Whut?

 

[The Cobbler]

Whut?

X2

 

[joe49]

Nice. I guess you have get used to aiming it right in the slot.

Only left to right, mine it sets right on the lower lock on siding.

 

[mrvm]

Whut?

Sorry stepped away from the thread for a bit. When the contractors finished installing vinyl siding on one of my rentals a few years ago many of the ceramic tiles on the bathroom walls were cracked from the heavy hammering. The impacts from driving in the nails with hammers rocked the 2x4 walls. Pneumatic nail guns would have been a better choice.

 

[Notgrownup]

Sorry stepped away from the thread for a bit. When the contractors finished installing vinyl siding on one of my rentals a few years ago many of the ceramic tiles on the bathroom walls were cracked from the heavy hammering. The impacts from driving in the nails with hammers rocked the 2x4 walls. Pneumatic nail guns would have been a better choice.

Damn, I don’t know what to say about that.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Damn, I don’t know what to say about that.

Termites?

 

[PCustoms]

Termites?

24" OC 2x4 framing and ****** tile install?

 

[mrvm]

24" OC 2x4 framing and ****** tile install?

No termites ....16" OC 2x4 framing and builder grade ceramic wall / bath tiling on green wall board. The outer sheathing was not plywood but a fiber board. I recall hopelessly leaning/holding the inside walls as the men were wailing away with their hammers. Without a doubt the pneumatic nail gun would have delayed a bathroom restoration.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Weird

 

[PopcornSutton]

No termites ....16" OC 2x4 framing and builder grade ceramic wall / bath tiling on green wall board. The outer sheathing was not plywood but a fiber board. I recall hopelessly leaning/holding the inside walls as the men were wailing away with their hammers. Without a doubt the pneumatic nail gun would have delayed a bathroom restoration.

I caught all kinds of hell from my wife when I redid a bathroom in our house. Just using a sawzall cutting out an old style fiberglass shower/tub unit, and knocked every picture off the wall on the other side.

 

[Garage Junkie]

Milwaukee cordless nail gun has a hold-off adapter for installing siding.

 

[dcg9381]

I know nothing about installing vinyl. But installing zip, I know there are attachments for nail guns that prevent the over-driving of nails..

 

[DGZRT]

When I did a 2 story rental by myself I found a star drive 1.25” long big head screw so much easier!

I didn’t have scaffolding so hanging off a ladder and using roofing nails was almost impossible. These self tapping screws were the cats azz.

I could adjust them in seconds if too tight . I found them to be a lifesaver. Yes they were more expensive but worth it .

 

[PCustoms]

When I did a 2 story rental by myself I found a star drive 1.25” long big head screw so much easier!

I didn’t have scaffolding so hanging off a ladder and using roofing nails was almost impossible. These self tapping screws were the cats azz.

I could adjust them in seconds if too tight . I found them to be a lifesaver. Yes they were more expensive but worth it .

How did the smooth shank grip the sheathing?

 

[Homebody]

Is it easy to see the elongated slots in the siding with the head of the gun in the way? I mean - they ARE putting them in the slots correct??

 

[DGZRT]

How did the smooth shank grip the sheathing?

There was plenty of smooth shank to leave a gap for expansion. It was an old house with 1” oak boards underneath. Trying to hold a roofing nail and drive it into oak was next to impossible. These screws with a Milwaukee M12 driver was very easy . With a good star bit you could load it onto the bit and not have to hold it . The whole process was much faster than nails .
Just cost me a 100$ more .

 

[bwringer]

Sorry stepped away from the thread for a bit. When the contractors finished installing vinyl siding on one of my rentals a few years ago many of the ceramic tiles on the bathroom walls were cracked from the heavy hammering. The impacts from driving in the nails with hammers rocked the 2x4 walls. Pneumatic nail guns would have been a better choice.

When we sided my house (hammered by hand), I went inside and found all the dusty useless bricabrac that was on the shelves on the south wall was now on the floor. The wall was fine; it's just that all the pounding set up enough vibration to eject everything from the light shelves screwed to the wall.

We got very fortunate in that nothing broke.

I can say that if I had known there were adapters to allow the nails to sit proud so you can use nail guns, I would have gone straight out and bought a nail gun and adapter without question. I was just the unskilled monkey trying not to get in the way of the guy who actually knew what he was doing, but he told me we couldn't use nail guns because you couldn't consistently control the depth.

Even on walls in good shape, there's enough variation in the material that adjusting the nail gun still won't give you consistent results.

I got royally, truly, incredibly sick of pounding nails. I learned a lot, and one of the main things I learned is that I really hate installing siding.

 

[PCustoms]

Forgot I posted on this thread, searching for siding nailers and it popped up in Google...

 

[giddygoat]

I bulit in 1993 and the vinyl was installed with shingle nails, into osb, alot of it worked loose over the years, now the only way I put on vinyl is with 1 in flat head screws, phillips or star bit, they tend to stay where you leave them and not work loose. Just a quick as a hammer and nail and adjustable.

 

[ipgenie]

I don't know about vinyl, but the steel siding I installed on my house 25 years ago was done with a Senco staple gun with a siding spacer adapter on the tip. It was easy to place the staples in the right spot and depth.

Maybe staples don't meet code on vinyl or maybe things have changed since, but they are what the supplier said to use, they were way fast and I've never had siding issues other than some unrelated peeling paint on the south wall.