Bostitch, Senco, PorterCable floor nailers

[Ron Bontz]

Well once again I have been asked to help lay a hardwood floor. About 1000 ft sq. So not too bad. And me who owns no nailer. This floor is about 3 hours away so I decided it would be easier to just buy one and be done with it. A few years ago I would have just gone out and bought a Porter Cable FCN200. But since the change....
Now I am debating between the bostich, senco and PC. Has any of these gotten better or worse in the last couple of years? I am leaning toward Bostich. Pneumatic of course. Thanks for any input.:)

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm merely an amateur who has only done a few hundred sqft of floors in my own house. I bought a Bostitch MIII, and although I have nothing to compare it to, I was disappointed. It was VERY sensitive to how hard I hit it with the hammer, and VERY particular about having exactly the right air pressure (like, 44psi was perfect, 46psi would shoot the staple all the way through the wood).

(not sure if that helps you or not - just my experience)

[Brian Backner]

Though not a professional installer, I've laid more floors than I care to think about.

Recently I had to install about 400 sq ft in my own home. I was going to rent a Bostitch MFIII, but the local rental center wanted something like $60 a day, and I knew it was going to take me the better part of a week to complete. So I went down to the local Horrible Freight store and bought their MFIII clone for something like $120 (using a 20% off coupon).

I drove two full clips of staples through a chunk of red oak I had laying around. Didn't notice any difference with air pressure as long as it was over 80 psi or so.

Once I started laying the floor, I would experience the occasional jam that would require disassembling the nose, but this only took a minute. As I continued to work, the jams seemed to come more frequently - until I realized something - this thing likes to drink oil! I put another dozen drops of oil into the thing and every hour or so after that and didn't have another jam for the duration of the project. Fortunately, the oil comes out the top of the gun around the exhaust port (under the striking knob) so it doesn't soil the floor. You do need to wipe it off occasionally with a paper towel or an old rag as it can get quite messy given the amount of oil the thing consumes.

When finished with the floor, I disassembled the gun for a good cleaning. I did note that the slides for the staples had a significant amount of wear. Whether this was due to the repeated jams or poor quality of steel, I can't say. In looking at the parts list for the MFIII, it appears that genuine Bostitch parts will fit, so at some point I plan to get a set and replace the now worn ones in the HF clone.

If I had to do this everyday for a living, I would definitely go for the real MFIII, but now that I have the HF version, I'm sure I'll continue to use it.

Brian
Taxachusetts

[Glen Butler]

In my neck of the wood I was able to find several used flooring nailers for sale. Bostitch has been around for so long you couldn't go wrong there. Duo-fast makes a really nice one. I have never been a fan of porter-cable nailers, and senco is usually the budget knock off of the nice one

[Van Huskey]

I like the MFIII, never had any issues at all.

[guy knight]

most professionals use the bostich you would be able to sell it fairly easily after you are done with it