Will galvanized finish nails hold up in PT?

[Michael Donahue]

I'm going to be building some railings out of PT and I wanted to use some 18 ga finish nails to hold some parts together. This would be to keep everything in place while it's screwed together so I won't be relying on the nails for strength. I'm pretty sure that the nails say they're galvanized, so will they hold up OK? Or do you think I'll have some problems down the road? The railings will be painted FWIW.

Thanks!

[Thomas Williams]

According to my carpenter friend, not with the current chemicals used to treat the lumber. I do not personally know the answer. However, you can use stainless steel nails and should be OK. Also, since you are only using the nails temporarily until better fasteners are used, I would not think it would matter.

[Paul Ryan]

They say no, that galvanized wont hold up. But my local yard sells galvanized joist hanger nails for building decks. I asked about this and got some kockamemmie answer about how it is a thinker nail and it will hold up due to being designed for that application. To me it just looks like a larger finishing nail. I chose to use screws even though that is what I was told.

[Joe Scharle]

When it comes to fastener Qs, I email tech@mcfeelys.com
I do know galvanized worked fine for the old CCA PT wood.

[Chip Lindley]

Joe, the OLD CCA PT wood is quite another animal than the current PT stuff. It is VERY corrosive to fasteners--especially steel or aluminum! Anyone using today's PT would be well advised to find out for sure before committing to an expensive project.

Check this out from HGTV!
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/bp_framing/article/0,,HPRO_20147_3463305,00.htm

[David G Baker]

If you are serious about wanting long life use stainless fasteners. Galvanized will work for a while but get ugly pretty quick. I used some galvanized heavy duty hinges that were fastened to the new pt wood, in a short period of time they turned white and started breaking down. The hinges will still be there years from now but eventually they will no longer work.
I have a lot of galvanized nails that I purchased to use on pt wood but the new stuff came along and I do not trust the nails in any area that requires holding strength in pt products.

[Edwood Ferrari]

Hot dipped galvanized nails should hold up fairly well but plated nails will not.

[Paul A. Clark]

With PT wood you want to use only Stainless Steel fastners, brackets and hangers. The new chemicals will very soon react with the PT wood. Stainless is more expansive but worth it in the long run.

[Peter Quinn]

I have double coated Senco nails for my 15Ga nailer and framing nailer that say they are suitable for ACQ PT lumber, but my experience has been different. Like others have said, you wont get an immediate failure, so they may be fine for tacking something in that will be held by screws, but there is a tendency for them to bleed out onto the work as they rot leaving ugly black stains that just keep coming and never go away. I would look at a different strategy, possibly with clamps and gauge blocks or plywood spacers, or throw down for stainless nails. Not cheap, but highly effective. Better for cedar and mahogany too.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

According to my carpenter friend, not with the current chemicals used to treat the lumber. I do not personally know the answer. However, you can use stainless steel nails and should be OK. Also, since you are only using the nails temporarily until better fasteners are used, I would not think it would matter.

If your area has anything other than MCQ or Micro ACQ, you would be correct. If you have either wood available, your 15-18 ga nails will be prefectly fine. We've got them all over town on our skirts with no issues.