Tapcons vs powder-driven fasteners: your favorite and why?

[scaron]

Hi all,

I'm anticipating finally getting the chance to place a few walls in my basement over the course of the next month or so. I guess my two choices for anchoring the bottom plates of the walls to the concrete in my basement is using either a powder-driven fastener or a Tapcon.

I have both a big beefy Milwaukee hammer drill and an old Remington light duty powder driver on hand, so I could go either way and not have to get any new tooling (except maybe a drill bit for the hammer drill).

When I would watch my dad anchor stuff to concrete he always uses a powder driven fastener. So that's the method I "know", I guess, but maybe Tapcons are better in some way that he was not aware of, or they weren't available on the market last time my dad needed to anchor a bottom plate to concrete (well over 15 years ago), or he wasn't aware of the option at that time?

I just thought I'd post a little poll-as-thread and see what everyone liked best and why.

Thanks!

 

[BFBOB]

Not a fan of Tapcons, but I use other drilled anchors simply because my wrists can't take the pounding of a Ramset for more than a couple-few shots. Call me a wimp if you like, but I can run a rotary hammer all day so that's what I use.

Note: a hammer drill is not a rotary hammer. There's a world of difference - I like the Milwaukee 1" with the 90* motor- gets in tighter places than the straight one.

 

[DieselSaves]

I have a pretty limited experience with anchoring to concrete but I have used both drilled and powder driven fasteners. Any time I bolt a metal plate to concrete I drill and use a wedged fastener. If shear isn't an issue I generally use a powder driven fastener as it's easier.

 

[ADSR]

Here is what i do. Hammer drill with a 3/16 sds+ bit. Drill right through the plate and in to the concrete 2 inch. Then cut a 8" long piece of tie wire, fold it in half and put it in the hole. Then drive in a regular 3" common bright. It holds great and i've never had a problem.

 

[RCman]

I think they both have there place.
I like the powder driven ones for doing something like attaching a plate or stud to the concrete, easier, faster and holds well. Plus with a good set of hearing protection I can drive them all day without issues. For things like hanging a central vac bracket or a board for heater controls I like tapcons since if it ever needed to move I can remove it. Those are more of a pain for me since I don't have a rotary hammer only a hammer drill.

 

[955point9cummins]

I can't stand Tapcons. I have had nothing but bad luck with them. I greatly prefer either ramset fasteners or the drill and pound wedge fasteners.

 

[sparky5982]

Big fan of powder actuated, used a hilti with clips for years. For what you're doing though I'd go with the tapcons. They are going to take longer and probably cost a little more, but you can always take them out to move a wall over 1/2" if you accidentally put the plate down in the wrong place, or if you change the layout. Make sure the hole is clear - an impact driver can and will shear off a tapcon driven into a hole that is too small/shallow.

 

[KnurledNut]

I would use 3" (3/16 drill) Tappers or 1/4x3" Wedgebolts.

 

[firebox40dash5]

I started out using Tapcons when we moved into a new shop. They're good if you have something fragile that you need to attach right to the concrete. The problem I had is that they were prone to snapping even if I used the bit that came with them, even in cinder block, especially when I used 3/16" screws. The 3/16" ones also have very little bite in cinder block, especially if the hole is drilled big enough to not have them snap off when running them in. The 1/4" ones were better in both respects, but still relatively time-consuming.

After I got fed up breaking off expensive screws and/or having them rip out of the wall, we bought a trigger Ramset gun. I usually cut a chunk of wood and nail that to the wall, then use plain old wood screws, especially for stuff like our network equipment, phones, and chargers with keyhole slots. Another advantage is I can easily reconfigure where stuff is on the chunk of wood, unlike Ramsets... or Tapcons really.

We have several boxes of Ramset pins that now read "Attaches EVERYTHING to concrete"

 

[trexdoink]

I have had great luck with tapcon screws. The hole has to be perfectly straight so the screw is impossible to put in by hand. If it's a wood to concrete application I use some liquid nails to help keep it stuck. I have used plastic inserts also but the provided screw is never long enough. The tapcon is available in long lengths if your attaching a 2x4.

 

[mnoswad1]

Tapcons any longer than 1.5 inches are not great for a poured concrete floor or slab. They always break. The poured concrete is too dense and too hard to allow the threads to cut into the slab.

3/16 inch tapcons are worthless in everything, they just snap in half. 1/4 inch are better all around. But for anchoring equipment into a floor, i use wedge anchors with a 3/8 hole.

I will never use a hammer drill again btw. Only rotary hammer for now on. We should all know they're not the same by now.

Tapcons in my experience only work in concrete "cinder" blocks, and only new ones, as concrete gets harder with age. I also had better luck with the tapcons that did work if I drilled the hole an inch deeper than needed. And never use the phillips head...always use the hex head and the special driver bit that cams out, but even still, tapcons are over rated

For a bottom plate, you could even use plastic insert anchors/shields and then coated deck screws. All the anchors are doing is keeping the wall located and not sliding around the floor, not supporting a load. In that case a 1/4 inch hole with plastic "wall anchor" and a coated deck screw would be the best choice.....if NOT using the powder actuated stuff.

 

[ishiboo]

For a basement floor, IMO, larger heavy-duty fasteners such as wedge/etc. are completely unnecessary. I'd do powdered, or simply drop the bottom plate on with some construction adhesive.

 

[1969]

Here is what i do. Hammer drill with a 3/16 sds+ bit. Drill right through the plate and in to the concrete 2 inch. Then cut a 8" long piece of tie wire, fold it in half and put it in the hole. Then drive in a regular 3" common bright. It holds great and i've never had a problem.

I have used this method many times, holds like crazy, just don't plan on pulling the spike out later.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Here is what i do. Hammer drill with a 3/16 sds+ bit. Drill right through the plate and in to the concrete 2 inch. Then cut a 8" long piece of tie wire, fold it in half and put it in the hole. Then drive in a regular 3" common bright. It holds great and i've never had a problem.

^^^ This is what I've done for years for siding and soffit as well as wall plates.

Richard

 

[1950mercury]

No tapcons

 

[thebeekeeper1]

The best thing to use for wall anchoring is 3/8" wedge anchors. As above, you really do need a rotary hammer for making the holes.

Tapcons work well for putting stringers on the concrete walls, however. The ones who have had trouble with them likely didn't blow out the dust. They will twist off most of the time if you leave the dust in the hole. Dunno why.

 

[Mr_fixit]

Like Hilti type powder driven tools. . Don't like tapcons, they break or hole strips, or head strips... slow to install.. but they're removable. Hilti's stay and aren't removable., but they go super quick. I love shooting nails in steel, too.

 

[RivennHewn]

I prefer these, in 3".

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WU4J2O/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Greatbear]

I use Tapcons for small stuff like brackets, electrical bits and plumbing hangars and such, but prefer powder actuated nails for walls and structural stuff like that. Tapcons come in handy when framing rough openings in brick, block and concrete with wood for doors and windows and/or installing them directly, far less chance of blowing out a section of the wall with a powder set nail, and the units are far easier to remove if needed. A trick I have for installing stuff like siding on concrete is to drill a hole in the concrete then dip the shank of a roofing/siding nail in construction adhesive, then slide the nail into the hole. The adhesive cures in no time, and the nail won't come out unless you want it to.

 

[spotco2]

Why no love for Tapcons?

I've used the 3/16" and 1/4" for years and never had a problem with them unless I didn't drill the hole deep enough. I shot 5 into a 15 year old pad today locking down 2x's and each took a minute or two and that was it.

Place your board, drill a hole with a regular bit through the wood with a cordless, grab hammer drill and chase your hole with the correct bit until it bottoms out on the chuck, blow out the hole, drop in screw and drive it home with a cordless impact with the correct size bit.

Then again, in a previous life I drove a metric **** load of them each week and got pretty used to installing them. The key things are correct size hole that is deeper than you think you need, clean out the hole, and hammer the screws home with an impact and not a drill.

 

[MrMark]

I just went through this. I have both the ramset and the rotohammer. I really don't like using the ramset on old concrete, it tends to split and crack. If I had green concrete I would probably go ramset. I choose to go with the tapcon's, but the larger 3/8 ones. They are expensive. Way more expensive than the ramset. The problem with the smaller 5/16's is that I couldn't find long enough ones that would satisfy the minimum embedment with the 2X plate.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I used a bunch of tapcons yesterday installing security cameras in a warehouse. It was a breeze with my new cordless hammerdrill.