Nailer Nail Size for Shoe Base Molding

[Ken Kortge]

I'm trying to figure out what size (length and gauge) nailer nail to use for attaching Shoe Base molding (7/16" X 3/4") to the bottom of baseboard molding along the edges of laminate flooring). the baseboard molding is 3/4" thick, and it's on standard sheetrock. I've searched online and simply cannot find the answer.

I have the typical Porter Cable pancake compressor/nailer set (18 & 16 gauge nailers).

I'm actually re-attaching existing show base molding on a house that was built a few years back. It appears that the installer used 1" nails to fasten the shoe base molding into the baseboards in the 3/4" direction, and over the last several years the shoe base molding is coming loose.

Any advice you can give is very welcome!

[Paul Girouard]

23 Gauge headless pinned W/ 1 1/2” long pins. A few dap of carpenters glues on the back helps a lot , glue all corners as well.




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[Jim Becker]

I would also generally use the 23 gage pins and adhesive except for at a high stress location, such as at an outside corner, where I'd use an 18 gage brad and then fill. But to the specific question, of the two available guns, 18 gage for this thinner material.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I'd go with 18 gauge with 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" nails. Especially since you already have an 18 ga nailer.

What species of wood is the shoe molding? Stain or paint grade? I'd consider going to 23 gauge if stain grade and you're anal, but 18 gauge nail heads aren't bad to look at or fill.

Because of the direction of the bevel on the tips of finish/brad nails, it matters which direction you are holding the nail gun in relation to the way the grain is running in whatever you're nailing. For example, when installing shoe molding (which runs left to right / level) I would hold the nail gun in the vertical / plumb position so that if and when the nail follows the grain during a nail shot, it will go left of right of the target, which is a lot better than up or down and splitting out the top of bottom, which would be more likely to happen if you held the nail gun more level. You may have to flip the gun upside down when nailing (because of the floor being in your way) to achieve this when nailing shoe.

This forum thread -> http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/forum/jlc-online-expert-forums/finish-carpentry/30576-on-brads-pins-shooting-out-sideways explains this a little more eloquently than I have above, but something to think about as always.

[Bill Orbine]

Avoid shooting shoe into floor as much as posssible. Especially in wood floors as it tends to expand and shrink seasonly. The floor can pull the shoe away from the baseboard when it shrinks during the heating season. Instead, focus shooting nails as horizontal as possible into the baseboard. Again, Phillip Mitchell's advice is a good one using 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" nails and and positioning nailer plumb to avoid splitting off the edges.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I agree with Phillip, 1 1/2", 18 gauge. I'd not use the 23 gauge on base shoe because the bending pin issue is worse in the rounded base shoe. 18 g stays straighter, and practically no one can see a pin vs brad hole on the front of base shoe. I actually had a 23 g pin blast out of a piece of casing and rattle off a customers window a few weeks ago. Happens a lot more when not shooting flat. I'd also avoid the glue in most situations, only because it slows the process down and is usually unnecessary. It's carpentry, not cabinetry. Base shoe's main purpose is for extending the base molding to cover the floor expansion gap. Don't nail it to the floor, or you are causing it to want to separate from the base as the walls and floor move around with humidity changes.

[Ole Anderson]

I have never laid the shoe molding in that direction, for me always the long side against the base so it is standing up. My 18 ga nails are either 1" or 1 3/8" and my 23 ga pins are 1". I have traditionally used 1" 18 ga brads, but that was before I had my pinner. And always into the base. If I need more coverage to hide the edge of the flooring I would use quarter round (3/4" x 3/4") not shoe and with 1 3/8" 18 ga brads. Good point on which direction to hold the gun (perpendicular to the run of the molding).

[Dan Friedrichs]

I have never laid the shoe molding in that direction, for me always the long side against the base so it is standing up.

+1. I think it will look very funny if you are, in fact, putting the "wider" face against the flooring...

[Ken Kortge]

Thanks so VERY much for the replies!!! This information is GOLD to me. All the searching led me to suggestions for the gauge of the nail - and a surprising number of recommendations to just hand nail - but nobody gave length recommendations.

And thanks for the tip on the angle of attack. I had never thought of that. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the non-round nature of the nailer nails and how they work in relation to the wood grain. Since most molding grain runs lengthwise (horizontal), my interpretation of the responses was that the nailer's hose connector should be pointing up toward the ceiling, right?

By the way, the next time I'm up at that house I'll have to double-check the orientation of the shoe molding. Maybe I was wrong about that.

Ken