Hidden Nailers

[DavidE]

Hi there,

Has any one got any views on hidden nailers for wooden flooring (18mm solid Oak)?

The main one I have considered so far seen is the Porta-nailer in Screwfix. http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=58172&ts=49227

I'd be buying it with someone I work with as we will both have floors to lay soon and it will be cheaper/easier than hiring one - and of course it will come in useful in the long term!

The other one mentioned by a shop the other day was a Primatech H330 gun.

I'd be interested to hear any experiences, thoughts or recommendations on the topic. A search of the forums didn't yield much on this topic.

Thanks,
David

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

I've got the predecessor to the porta nailer you showed.
I laid a 50m squared floor with it, 18mm solid oak and it didn't have any problems wit hit.
Great piece of kit.

 

[Gary M]

Hi David,
Porta nail are the original and the best IMHO.

I have a couple of them and have been using them for about 5 or 6 years, never had a problem with them. They are really easy to use as they work on a ratchet mechanism with the ram compressing on each blow of the (heavy) mallet, once the correct depth has been achieved, the ram then returns and the next nail is loaded. easy peasy :wink:

Porta nailers use a T shaped nail while most of the Primatec nailers use an L shaped nail.
I would recommend you don't use anything longer than a 38mm nail, as the 50mm protrudes about 12 - 15mm below the sub floor (original floorboards ) and could quite easily puncture a central heating or water pipe lurking underneath (as i have since found out)

The first and last couple of rows are impossible to nail with the angled nailer so they do a face nailing shoe as an accessory for about fifty quid.
I have used the face nailing shoe but found it hard to hold the nailer still while striking ( you can put your foot on the angled one for added clamping as you strike the ram but you cant with the face shoe)
So i generally drill a pilot hole through the flooring and use lost head nails (or even porta nails) with a good old hammer for these rows.

The price quoted in your link is very good, they used to be nearly double that, keep an eye on Ebay as there are a few for sale at the minuite and you may get a bargain :wink:
HTH
If you need to know anything else just ask,
Cheers,
Gary.

 

[Andy Pullen]

These are very nice until you find yourself in tight spaces, small cupboards or coming up to a wall where you haven't the room to fit it in and swing your hammer. In these cases it is a case of stripping the nails and using conventional methods to knock them in.
To be honest in the end I found it just as quick and effective to do this right across the floors and save the expense of something that has very limited use otherwise, unless you are running a hardwood flooring business where else would you use it?

 

[mack9110000]

This is probably the most reliable of the many manual 'secret' nailers,however try an e-mail to [email protected], they are marginally cheaper and also supply nails.They also hold their 2nd hand value quite well.

 

[ProShop]

These are a very good flooring nailer, I've used them for more years than I care to remember . They also have had ion the past a good resale value.

If your going to lay large areas these nailers are a must, but have limited use on small floors ie house hallways etc, when you get near the wall edge use a cordless drill for an angled pilot hole (same angle as the nailer) and use a heavy hammer down to the surface level then use a broad punch to finish driving the nail home, use the wall edge to tension these last boards up against the boards already fixed when hand nailing.

A Pilot hole at the end of the boards is also adviced. Just make sure you use the correct length nail as if to short you'll be creaking forever more. Nail length depends on type & thickness of wood flooring and type & size of floor joists.

Hope this helps

 

[DavidE]

Thanks for all the good advice and input - especially the tips for the corners and ends of boards. Fortunately, the areas we have both got to do don't have too many tight corners.

To pick up on a few points...

Mack - I'm going to e-mail them thanks for the tip it looks like they are pretty close in the real world to me too.

Gary - thanks for the heads up on the face nailing I had seen the adaptor shoe and wondered about it.

Andy - although not in the hardwood flooring business I can see myself needing one over the next few years and between the two of us it will be cheaper than hiring and without the time pressures.

I have one extra question - the nailer will give good clamping board to board - any tips on ensuring the boards don't move end-to-end while the first nail is going in? I have no intention of going mad clamping them up as I think that is counter productive anyway. I've just been wondering if the boards will have it in them to move or is a good tap before starting enough to keep them home?

Thanks again,
David

 

[mack9110000]

Sometimes if the end tongue and grooves are a little loose they may open up slightly,to avoid this put one nail through the long tongue and give the end a little tap, then continue nailing the rest of the board.I hope this helps.

 

[DavidE]

Thanks Mack - that seems like a good approach.

Cheers
David

 

[DavidE]

Time for an update...

Thanks for all the input - I went with Mack's top tip and got a good deal from Havwoods. They were spot on with delivery too - I'd recommend them.

I haven't used the nailer yet, however, I've seen photos of the progress made by my colleague from work and he is most impressed with it.

Cheers
David

 

[dddd]

Can I just add a rider to this, I'm in a similar situation to David, I have about 30m of Oak flooring to lay, although I have no desire to buy a proper secret nailer and hiring seems to be ridiculously priced, plus I have a lot of tight spaces to board were you can't really swing a hammer.
However I've been after a good nailer for a while so I thought I might get myself one of these:
http://fixingguns.co.uk/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=38

In the advertising it says it can be used for secret nailing in tongue and groove boards. Now I'm a paranoid soul with a tendency not to believe everything advertisers tell me, so I was wondering if anyone had tried to secret nail using something like this. Or am I just barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Andy Pullen]

DDDD, these lightweight nailers never seem to come up to expectation and even the heavier 16g Paslodes aren't really ideal for fixing oak to softwood joists. They just arent man enough for the job and if the oak wants to move are unlikely to be able to restrain it at all.
Maybe some PVA on the joists aswell would help make a reliable job, crossgrain glueing I know but nevertheless may be helpful.
Cheers Andy

 

[mack9110000]

I wouldn't use an 18g nail on hardwood flooring,much better to use T or L nails with the nailer,whatever one you manage to get hold of.The T & L nails have a serrated edge to them which gives a much better grip than 18g nails.I do agree however,that the hiring cost is a bit much, and the price for the nails is exorbitant.The address I've given in a previous post will supply the nails much cheaper along with any advice you need about installation.
PS. I have no connection with this company.