Pneumatic hard wood floor gun

[matt.mackinnon]

I am in the process of laying some rustic 4" hardwood floor in both my front room and office. I am not the fastest person and know that I will be installing more when it comes time for the basement and upgrading the dining room floors.

I have a manual L-Cleat gun circa 1990 and though it does work, I am no longer young and just about did a number of both arms using it. I know I will need to go pneumatic.

I don't want to buy something cheep that will crap out on me if it's picked up wrong,but don't want to needlessly spend money if I don't have to. Renting from HD just didn't tickle my fancy as it will cost me far more that buying. (ie, I work slow due to health reasons).

What would you recommend to buy? And from where? I live in Oakville but can easily travel around the GTA if the deal would make it worth it.

I need to get the wood installed as the WHMBO is rather ticked that it's taken this long and she still doesn't have a floor installed.

HELP!

matt.

[Mike in Waubaushene]

Canadian Tire puts theirs on sale pretty often for $99. I know, it's a piece of junk. But it carries a pretty good warranty, so if it goes out on you on this job, go pick up another one. 3 days rental at HD would be more than that. You could take your time.

[matt.mackinnon]

I did take a look at the CT one. Right now it's 40% off at $175 for the 3 in 1 unit. But they don't say what sort of cleat's it takes. I know that Bostitch and Paslode are different cleat sizes. CT didn't sell any cleat's and could not tell me what fits their unit. Do you have any idea??

[KenL]

I used Paslode 16 gauge2" cleat nails with mine, without any hiccups. The box says for models FC200, FCM200, FCS200.

While I wouldn't buy a MC nailer for continuous use, mine did my house just fine. I didn't pay all that much for it, I think about $120 or so a couple of years ago, and it did all the work that I required, provided me the flexibility to work when I was ready, and all at a price far less than a HD rental would have cost; plus I still have a viable tool for the next job, if I ever have a next job. I used to have a part-time business laying flooring and custom trim and would have given my eye teeth for an air nailer!!

My experience with the MC nailer was a good one.

Ken

[Mike in Waubaushene]

At one time, HD was selling an import. I think it was a Husky. It was 149, if memory serves me right.

[Brian @ Muir]

I just did a hardwood floor last week. I have a Porta Nailer and love it. No air and one good whack and the nail is driven and the boards are always tight. It guess it is what you are most familiar with and comfortable. The nice thing about the Porta Nailer is that it has a ratchet mechanism that will not allow the driver to pop back up until the nail is fully driven.

Brian

[Kevin H]

I can't answer until you tell me what species you're installing.

[Rusty]

We have, and use, 4 nailers. Primatech, Porter Cable, Bostitch, and a lesser brand that slips my mind right now. We have used all of them on a single job installing Oak, Walnut, Maple, Jatoba etc. They all work and they all do the job. The Primatech is by far the go to "Cadillac" of our fleet. The others are just "OK." Maybe Kevin would be so kind as to match up our guns to a certain species?

[Kevin H]

We have, and use, 4 nailers. Primatech, Porter Cable, Bostitch, and a lesser brand that slips my mind right now. We have used all of them on a single job installing Oak, Walnut, Maple, Jatoba etc. They all work and they all do the job. The Primatech is by far the go to "Cadillac" of our fleet. The others are just "OK." Maybe Kevin would be so kind as to match up our guns to a certain species?

I comment lends to my belief that staples are fine. Maple and softer = staples, harder = cleats. Many will disagree with me. To each their own. One of my lads finally had to retire a Primatech this year. Good gun!

[matt.mackinnon]

I guess it's not the hardest wood. Black Walnut. But I just don't like staples. I prefer the cut square cleats, and unless there is imperial proof that staples will work better then cleats it is.

I went onto Kajiji and found a Paslode FCS200 for $395, or I can get a refurbished Primatech for $430+tax. Or the CT one for $180+tax.

As I said. I'd rather not waste money, so if the first two are better value than the second, then I'm willing to spend it. I don't want a nailer that just won't last. I have 2 rooms to finish right now, but I do have the rest of the rest of the house to consider. Also, there is the thought of buy better with resale value in mind.

[Pat from Elora]

I got a Bostitch at a Home Depot near you (Winston Churchhill and Dundas). It was a display model with afew minor bits missing and was half price. It fires the "L" cleats. Might be worth a visit since they had a 2nd one.

[matt.mackinnon]

I went to both the HomeDepot's here in Oakville and non of them had any model's that were discounted. The just had the two units for $450 and $500.

I ended up going to a store on Glen Erin that sold me a Senco SHF50 for $395. I was told it's just like the Primatech but instead of being blue, it's grey. Now that I look online, it does look slightly different, but it does work real well. I like the fact that it is shorter than the Paslode and Bostitch units so i can use it much closer to the walls.



It took a few tries to figure out the perfect pressure to put on my compressor to get the nails to the right depth. But it seems to be working now and I got another 3 rows of flooring installed without the pain in my arms. I probably would have gotten more done if it was not for the bad weather in the morning. The boards I have are the XL ones and the ends are rough cut. So I need to take the long boards outside to trim to the correct length needed for each row. Then there is the task of matching up wood to make it look pleasing.

Thanks for the help offered. it made getting the right tool easier.

Matt.

[Rusty]

I comment lends to my belief that staples are fine. Maple and softer = staples, harder = cleats. Many will disagree with me. To each their own. One of my lads finally had to retire a Primatech this year. Good gun!

HUH?? Sorry I'm missing something somewhere. I must be having a moment!

[hawk223]

I did a bunch of searching online for the pros and cons of staples vs cleats. It would seem that staples hold better which supposedly can be a bad thing as it could cause cupping when the wood expands and the floor can't move a bit. Cleats have been proven on a longer term basis (100+ year old floors). They also said cleats were less likely to split the wood but I'm not sure how that works since they are larger. I think cleats will cost more than staples but it's a small part of the whole job.

[Kevin H]

HUH?? Sorry I'm missing something somewhere. I must be having a moment!

Hawk223 has some of the details in his post. The lads have had issues with staples in the harder species.

While staples are cheaper, that's not why I/we prefer them. They hold better. We've ripped out over 100,000 sf of crap. We're happy when we see cleats.

Sorry for the late reply, been busy.

[Rusty]

It's not that.

I thought the question you were going to try to answer was which gun was best for which type of wood since you asked this; I can't answer until you tell me what species you're installing. and the op had asked this; What would you recommend to buy? I didn't think the type of fastener really ever entered the discussion. That's why I wondered what I had missed.

[Kevin H]

It's not that.

I thought the question you were going to try to answer was which gun was best for which type of wood since you asked this; I can't answer until you tell me what species you're installing. and the op had asked this; What would you recommend to buy? I didn't think the type of fastener really ever entered the discussion. That's why I wondered what I had missed.

Ahh... now I gotcha.

Now that I know it's walnut. I'd recommend a Bostich stapler. Kijiji or Craigslist when he's done with it. Keep the 16 ga. nailer that usually comes with it.