what nail to use on face nailed floor

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rowdy48

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Any suggestions on what nail and nail gun to install 5/16 by 2 inch face nailed oak flooring. Looked around the box store today and didn't see anything I thought wood be correct. Wood flooring supplier did not sell nails.
I have 18 gauge nailer and a framing nailer but don't mind buying a brad nailer.

Stuart
 
I would think a pin nailer would work if it will penetrate the oak.
Did the wood floor supplier have any suggestions?
 
I was not familiar with this thin face nailed flooring. It seems to be more common on the west coast. I have been googling around and did a little reading. Around here with hard wood it’s always tongue in grove done with a hidden nail and of course now the thinner products are wood veneer or laminate that lock together. From what I have read most people doing the face nailed flooring sink the nails and fill them to allow sanding and finishing. There seems to be no set way on how to nail it or what to use as a sub floor or barrier between the flooring and the sub floor. Several talked about rosin paper and I personally think I would use a screw nail for holding into plywood as a sub. I did my kitchen not to many years ago and actually drilled and hand drove the nails and then set them. Yes that took a while to do but it wasn’t that bad a job and I was too cheap to rent a floor nailer. Mine was tongue in grove I have never face nailed except a few places along an edge.

http://www.weekesforest.com/southern pine patterns.htm

Keep us posted on how it goes.
 
rowdy48 said:
Any suggestions on what nail and nail gun to install 5/16 by 2 inch face nailed oak flooring. Looked around the box store today and didn't see anything I thought wood be correct. Wood flooring supplier did not sell nails.
I have 18 gauge nailer and a framing nailer but don't mind buying a brad nailer.

Stuart
Click to expand...
18 gauge is brad size, and should work. With a better gun like Senco you get very little hammer damage, some of the cheaper guns leave a slot dent. Put them on a slite angle , they will hold like crap on an army blanket.
 
Would a 16 ga FN style nail hold this 5/16 oak enough? I have a porter cable 16 ga finish nailer. I thought I might need a larger nail head like a DA style. I'm doing a 40 sq ft hallway that wasn't done when the house was built in 1958. Just trying to match the rest of the bedroom hardwood. I'm sure it was problably nailed by hand with #3 finish nails back in the day. Subfloor is 3/4 plywood.
 
16 is bigger than 18 so I would think yes, do some tests. I've owned a house with that product from the 50s, it was t&g nailed by hand at the tongue just like a modern nailer would do. Face nails around the edges where filled. Back then there was no pre-finished so it was filled, sanded and finished on site, hard to see nails.
 
I just wanted to reply with the results since the replies I received were helpful. I used the 16 guage FN head nails and the oak held tight to the subfloor. In fact they hold better than the #3 finish nails used in the 50's.
 
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