Brad or finishing nail driver options

[Rich Jordan]

We visited my Father in law and helped put in new laminate flooring; he had an electric brad gun that made installing the baseboard very easy. When we did our own we borrowed a pneumatic from a neighbor (now moved away) which worked well but was made clumsy by the hose, and the 1-1/4" brads it could drive were not quite long enough in some places.

Now we're looking at reflooring many rooms in the house, as well as probably putting new casing around the doors, so a gun/driver would be a very nice thing to have. Given how the place was built (shoddily, illinois union contractors and builders so what do you expect...) we do sometimes need longer than the base 1-1/4" brads so a gun that goes longer (I've seen 2") would be nice. But we don't need and don't want to spend the money on a high end commercial unit (nor waste it on a cheap chinese no-name that won't finish the jobs before breaking).

I have a compressor. Any recommendations on type (electric or air) or on a brand/model, hopefully for well under $100?

Thanks

[MiddleAgedKen]

If you don't need it beyond the upcoming reflooring jobs, why not rent a good one? (If you plan other uses, of course, it's a different matter.)

[blackeagle603]

The pro's might mock but I've had good look with my Porter Cable finish nailer(s) in my DIY projects. A rental or two and it's paid for. Rentals are a pain for small gear on larger DIY projects. Adds a lot of clock watching time pressure for less experienced guys like me who don't always anticipate remodeling's unexpected timesucks.

[rightisright]

If you are going to be doing door/window casings, you want to move up to a 16 or 15 gauge nailer. An 18 gauge is too small, especially for doors that used/slammed a lot.

You can use an 18 gauge if you fire more brads into the trim. If you are painting, that's fine. If you are staining, more nails look like crap.

I use these:

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware ... JvjfWe3nL8

[rightisright]

The pro's might mock but I've had good look with my Porter Cable finish nailer(s)

There is nothing wrong w. Porter Cable. I have several of their DA250 15 gauge guns and one or two of their 16 gauge nailers.

[blackeagle603]

I have 2 Porter Cable finish nailers, a stapler and a roofing nailer.

The roofing nailer has had the most use, and hardest use of those. Probably pushing several hundred squares been done with it. Not much by a pro's standard but it shows no sign of slowing down. It's held up well (just one minor safety tip repair due to negiligence on part of friend who borrowed it).

[HTRN]

Porter Cables are great nail guns...

If you want a cordless nail gun, Popular Mechanics did a review

[blackeagle603]

For framing nailers my framing contractor b-in-law (30+ years in the business) swears by Hitachi.

He won't have anything else anymore unless it comes to him as barter/payoff of bad debt by a sub. All around favorite based on performance, repair/overhaul ability and service.

[Fivetoes]

I've done four rooms with a Harbor Freight 18ga brad nailer, it sank 1 3/4 inch brads with no problems. Also used a 23ga pin nailer for shoe and smaller quarter round molding. I did use PC brads from Home Depot, but the nailers are usually on sale for 15 or 20 bucks. Wood working forums will say that these are among HF's better tools. If you don't like it or it breaks they have a very liberal return policy.

[Rich Jordan]

Porter Cables are great nail guns...

If you want a cordless nail gun, Popular Mechanics did a review

Not at those prices. My FILs was a plug-in electric and worked well but they don't seem to be common out there.

A refurb Bostich sounds like its worth looking at. I don't think a rental is cost effective; we're doing one room at a time and that would add up to five or six separate rental charges.

Although there are no plans for using the tool after the upcoming room renewals, I have no problem keeping it on hand; you never know when things like that would be handy, so buying a decent one is worthwhile despite the limited planned use.

Rightisright, thanks for the info on brad sizes; I didn't know that. We're using pine molding and painting it (can't afford oak and since its not being painted, meh); oak would hold better with the smaller brads where pine might be more likely to loosen up. Have to think on that.