Nail guns for flooring

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Do yourself a favour and go with glue and screws as suggested above.

I went down the specialist hire route for my oak floor....lovely angled nailer.

Hit it too hard and it splits the tongue. Don't hit it hard enough and the nail sticks out. Both scenarios result in the tongue not fitting properly .

 

[chunkolini]

Any thoughts on putting underlay under the boards?

 

[brightspark]

Any thoughts on putting underlay under the boards?

yea dont do it they need to be solid and well fastened down underneath t and g floorboards will shrink

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

My house is all oak floor...but stairs and landing are carpet because I was a bit worried about the risk of slipping.

 

[chunkolini]

I used this on my oak stairs.

Osmo Polyx Oil Anti-Slip 3089 and 3088 | R11 and R9 Rated

Osmo Polyx Oil Anti-Slip offers R9 or R11 slip resistance to wood floors and staircases. Dries to a tough, durable, clear, semi-matt finish.

www.wood-finishes-direct.com

I was amazed; it actually works. I almost never wear shoes in the house and have never slipped on them.

,
Yet.

 

[brightspark]

My house is all oak floor...but stairs and landing are carpet because I was a bit worried about the risk of slipping.

a mate of mine had a house built. all floors stairs doors and frames and large conservatory roof and kitchen all oak to be honest it all looks 2 much and clinical

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

to be honest it all looks 2 much and clinical

Agree it needs to be used sensibly...floors are fine...I'm not keen on oak skirting and other woodwork...it can look very odd unless it's an old barn!

 

[dobbslc]

Any thoughts on putting underlay under the boards?

I put tar paper under mine to stop any damp.

 

[Gareth J]

Any thoughts on putting underlay under the boards?

Upstairs? Would it add anything valuable?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I always add thin underlay whenever I put a floor over a floor...my logic is to reduce possibility of noise ....but I mostly do floating floors.

 

[Smallfry]

I would use Spax flooring screws 60mm long over the Screw Tite ones. The double thread stops board squeak.

I love ScrewTite screws, they are my screws of choice for everything, but I think these are better.

Also have a Torx head, so no screwdriver slip to bu**er up ones nice new boards.

 

[chunkolini]

some useful advice here.
Lets get rid of plasterer and floor levelled

 

[Mark 5]

Is there any cordless nail gun that will fire nails, ( with a head ), rather then staples or brads for laying hardboard on floorboards?

 

[sako243]

Is there any cordless nail gun that will fire nails, ( with a head ), rather then staples or brads for laying hardboard on floorboards?

Most framing nailers (aka first fix) fire ones with heads. The Milwaukee one I have you can dial in the power but it buries 4" ring shanks into hardwood with ease so whether it's too powerful?

 

[Mark 5]

Most framing nailers (aka first fix) fire ones with heads. The Milwaukee one I have you can dial in the power but it buries 4" ring shanks into hardwood with ease so whether it's too powerful?

I thought framing nailers were 2nd fix and those for longer nail lengths 1st fix?

The issue I find is when using brads the heads are so small, ( pin like ), they pull through hardboard.

A 18/20mm length nail with a head is much better but finding a nail gun, corded or cordless that will fire such nails,--I can't find one.

 

[sako243]

I thought framing nailers were 2nd fix and those for longer nail lengths 1st fix?

The issue I find is when using brads the heads are so small, ( pin like ), they pull through hardboard.

A 18/20mm length nail with a head is much better but finding a nail gun, corded or cordless that will fire such nails,--I can't find one.

The 1st / 2nd fix I think is an Americanism. I've always known them as framing nailers. 1st fix is the first stage in building (such as framing walls etc.) second fix is doing things like architrave, skirtings etc.

I've only come across one class of framing / first fix nailers (as in they all use the nails with heads) but different gauges of second fix. For example there's 15 and 16 gauge in the Milwaukee line up if I remember. I know my neighbour got a framing nail gun and a second fix as a package but didn't realise it was the smaller of the two. The 15g nails were not available in local stores so we swapped as I wanted something with smaller heads for more "decorative" stuff and didn't mind ordering online and he needed something a bit bigger.

 

[Mark 5]

The 1st / 2nd fix I think is an Americanism. I've always known them as framing nailers. 1st fix is the first stage in building (such as framing walls etc.) second fix is doing things like architrave, skirtings etc.

I've only come across one class of framing / first fix nailers (as in they all use the nails with heads) but different gauges of second fix. For example there's 15 and 16 gauge in the Milwaukee line up if I remember. I know my neighbour got a framing nail gun and a second fix as a package but didn't realise it was the smaller of the two. The 15g nails were not available in local stores so we swapped as I wanted something with smaller heads for more "decorative" stuff and didn't mind ordering online and he needed something a bit bigger.

Yes that's my understanding.

When fixing frames/moldings/dado, a nail that will sink and disappear is the ideal.

The issue I find is when it comes to laying/attaching hardboard to floorboards prior to say underlay and carpeting, brads as much as they do the job, many protrude or work out and I have to go back over with a hammer.

A nail gun that can fire a short nail with a round head would be great but I don't think a corded or cordless one exists.

 

[sako243]

A nail gun that can fire a short nail with a round head would be great but I don't think a corded or cordless one exists.

My Milwaukee will happily fire 50mm, I've not seen 20mm available but again most of the floorboards I've used are at least 22mm or thicker so a 20mm nail would be useless. I've only used 18mm floorboards on a wall as a dividing partition between the workshop and staircase to the office.

 

[MetalMonkey]

1st fix = framing - about the shortest nail you will find is going to be about 2 inches. They might be clipped or round heads depending.
2nd fix = trim - usually a few different machines for different brad nails, which are designed just to pin in place mouldings with a small head for easy filling and painting later.
A good nailer will have plenty of adjustment on how it sinks the nail and be fairly repeatable, but it sounds like a stapler might be more suitable for hardboard if you are covering over it.

 

[Mark 5]

My Milwaukee will happily fire 50mm, I've not seen 20mm available but again most of the floorboards I've used are at least 22mm or thicker so a 20mm nail would be useless. I've only used 18mm floorboards on a wall as a dividing partition between the workshop and staircase to the office.

Sorry perhaps I hadn't made myself clear.

It's not fixing floorboards to joists being my issue and in any case I use screws for such jobs, it's attaching 3mm, 6mm thick hardboard to floor boards, a nail gun that could fire short 18mm nails with a round head to my mind would be a better option.