Hardwood flooring nailer

[Jeff Ramsey]

Cleats:

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Staples:

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[Curt Harms]

Great tool to rent. I thought the same as you, and now I have a $700 bostich nailer that sits on a shelf. If you are a pro, it makes sense to buy this one, but otherwise, I am not so sure.

The cheap ones have improved a lot. Years ago some of those had a lot of problems, but now they seem to have sorted out the problems.

We found it better to buy a Harbor Freight nailer. Renting makes sense if you're able to do everything you need to do in a couple days. We were putting flooring down in a dining room and living room both fully furnished so move the furniture to one side of the room, nail down the flooring in that section, move the furniture to the newly floored section, remove the carpet and floor that section etc. etc. It was just SWMBO and I and neither of us get carded at a bar so buying made sense, the project took a few days. Re cleats vs. staples we were told cleats for solid flooring, staples for manufactured. Dunno how true that is. We found that if you have critters - long haired cats in our case - wood flooring is MUCH easier to keep clean than carpeting. We also found that okocat litter is much better for wood floors than clay cat litter.

Edit: I just remembered one tip we found with the HF nailer. Don't be too thrifty with the oil. About every 100 shots I put a drop or two of oil in the air inlet. We did have a couple misfires until we figured out why.

[MARK CROWLEY]

I have had the Harbor Freight nailer of 5 years and have never had a problem. It has only used staples. Loaned it out to others and they were surprised it was a HF.
Mark

[Mike OMelia]

I'm really surprised that the HF nailer is so well liked. Usually when someone says HF, lots of folks chime in with negative opinions. Thank u for explaining the cleat. So staples will work with 3/4" oak?

[Larry Edgerton]

Not on a job my name is going on...........

[Ken Combs]

I'm really surprised that the HF nailer is so well liked. Usually when someone says HF, lots of folks chime in with negative opinions. Thank u for explaining the cleat. So staples will work with 3/4" oak?

Another vote for this one. I bought it to use and resell. As it turns out I am going to sell it but after using in on a lot more flooring than planned originally.

It runs cleats and staples, both without a nailer fault. The only issue I've had was driving either through a flooring called 'Fritztile'. I was laying bamboo over that stuff and it is so hard that some fasteners would hit it and turn up, coming through my new floor! Happened with both cleats and staples. Was using staples and bought cleats thinking they wouldn't do that. I had to resort to using my Senco finish nailer since I could drive at a steeper angle and get through the underlaying tile.

Never a problem driving into a wood or plywood subfloor.

Mine will be for sale with 3 boxes of cleats and a near full box of staples as I way overbought.

[Brad Shipton]

Curt, I am in Canada and in 2008 when I was getting mine the Princess Auto (our smaller version of Harbor Freight) fabricator in China was just figuring them out. They were having a lot of problems with jamming and returns. They quit carrying them for a few years, and now they are quite reliable from what I am told. They are at least reasonable in price, but I can't imagine getting much trying to resell somewhere like ebay. Jeff mentions a good point. I suspect there are lots that have bought the shiny yellow ones and eventually get tired of looking at them on a shelf. I would be very wary of a seller that might be a contractor, but buying one off a home handyman would likely be a great deal.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Great tool to rent. I thought the same as you, and now I have a $700 bostich nailer that sits on a shelf. If you are a pro, it makes sense to buy this one, but otherwise, I am not so sure.

Maybe made snese for a pro - - back when the Bostitch was "home grown" and sold for around $700.
The Bostitch these days goes for little over $200 & I'd bet dollars to doughnuts it's made in a similar, if not the same, Chinese factory as the Harbor Freight one.

I am assuming I should use flooring nails (cleats) with 3/4"?

Yes - cleats with the nice big head. Make sure you use quality Bostitch cleats though.

I use a Primatech, best I have ever used, but kind of pricey.

They don't have to be.
The 240F is a DIY version - w/the fixed base plate, not the roller one.
They can be had for $299
http://www.primatech.ca/Buy-online/Tools/

With that nice compact head, they claim to get in closer to walls by 4 1/2 inches.
Nice!
Drilling and hand nailing those last few rows was a pain on my ancient knees I could have done without.

[Larry Edgerton]

Rich, the Bostich, Senco, and Primatech are all interchangeable but far and away the best cleat is from Primatech. The material is stiffer, and the teeth are much more effective as they are sharper. In a pinch I will use the others because I have to order in the Primatechs.

[jack duren]

I used Powernail. Bought used on EBAY. Sold for $50 less than I payed for it and sold in two days..

Don't use staples....

[Pat Barry]

Not on a job my name is going on...........

Larry, you mean you wouldn't use staples? Your method is to use cleats?

[jack duren]

Are the Harbor Freight nails "barbed"?

[jack duren]

I've never heard anything good about a stapled hardwood floor...

[Rich Engelhardt]

Are the Harbor Freight nails "barbed"?

Don't know - quit using HF nails eons ago. I had troubles finding them without rust.
It's amazing how much better HF stuff works - - when you feed it the right stuff..

[Larry Edgerton]

It is my opinion that for 3/4" solid hardwood the staples do not have enough holding power. I have torn out both, and staples are much more pleasant to tear out, but that kind of makes the point that they are not as strong. My business survives on my reputation, so no, I would not use staples.

Some people focus on how cheap they can do something, some focus on how well. I know a lot of installers as I do not always do it myself, and the ones that are good enough to work on my projects all use cleats. A big part of flooring is holding the pieces tight as you put on the next row. Staples do not hold bowed boards in place well enough, and the reality is all solid wood flooring is not perfect. Engineered flooring is another story, staples may do OK for that. I don't do any engineered flooring.