With technology getting better day by day, you can now do loads of things yourself without needing help from professionals. People who love DIY projects would know how useful of a tool a brad nailer is. If you are one of them and are wondering whether you can use a brad nailer for a hardwood floor installation or not, this article will answer all your queries.
Can you use a brad nailer for the hardwood floor?
The answer to this question is affirmative. You can easily use a brad nailer to either install or replace hardwood floors in your offices or homes. However, there are certain types of nail guns used for installing hardwood floors. To clear it out for you, here are the three types of nailers that can be used for the said purpose:
Finish Nailers:
Finish nailers are designed for pinning almost headless nails that do not destroy the look of the surface of the wood. All you have to do is use the finish nails that are long enough to pass through the hardwood floor.
Flooring Nailers:
The pneumatic staple or flooring nailers are considered to be the best to install hardwood floors. Using a flooring nailer can quickly shoot headless nails through the subfloor, which is essential to keep the hardwood floor in place. When it comes to accuracy, the flooring nailers provide better accuracy of work as compared to other nailers, and therefore making mistakes is very rare using this kind of nail gun.
Flooring and Mallet Nailers:
These types of nailers consist of a manual nailer and a mallet as standard. The manual nailer is used for holding the floor nails, and it works as a shaped nail shoe that is supposed to fit right over the edges of the tongue and planks. All you will need to do is tap on the nailing cap while you position the nailer at the exact right place.
Hardwood Nailing Process:
With a tongue and groove assembly, the hardwood planks fit end-to-end and side-to-side. The tongue side of the plank faces outward, and this is where the nails are inserted, and the groove side faces the wall. After the first plank is installed, every subsequent plank fits tightly together to form a smooth floor.
How to use a brad nailer for a hardwood floor?
Here is a proper guide on how to use a brad nailer for installing a hardwood floor. The things that you will need are:
- Nail gun
- Compressor
- Flooring
- Tool oil
- Nails
- Air hose
Step 1:
Preparations are essential, and to prepare your tool for the job, turn on the compressor with the hose attached and allow it to completely pressurize. Along with that, apply some tool oil on the bottom of the nailer to let it work fluently.
Step 2:
Don’t forget to fill out the nailer magazine so that your procedure is not interrupted in between. Open the magazine, which must be located underneath the plunger or at the front of the nailer. For 3/4th inches of a sub-floor, fill the magazines with 1 ½ inch of nails, which can easily pass through it and set as deep as possible.
Step 3:
Now is the time to set the hardwood boards. Place the first row of your hardwood boards which are spaced ½ inches from the wall, by using solid wood scrapers.
Step 4:
Since all the preparations are done, now you can finally move to get the job done. Safety comes first, so don’t forget to put on your safety glasses. First and foremost, you will have to attach the nailer by pulling down the bass ring and then inserting the nipple fitting of the nail gun firmly into the hose fitting. When the nailer is finally pressed into the fitting, you are allowed to release the bass ring so that the nailer is locked in place. Pull back the ring to remove the nailer when needed.
Step 5:
Keep the nail gun in a position that the handle of the gun is parallel to the long edge of the plank, and then place the tip of the nailer on top of the plank. Now tilt the gun at 45 degrees in a way that the plunger gets tilted with the point facing towards the wall.
Step 6:
Now that the nail gun is appropriately placed according to the instructions while maintaining this position, you have to press the tip of the plunger against the plank firmly. This is done to release the nail gun’s safety mechanism. Hold the nail gun firmly, and then squeeze the trigger. You will have to drive one nail every 12 or 16 inches to get the job done.
Step 7:
When finally got hold of how to get things done using a nail gun, keep installing the subsequent rows of hardwood floor by pressing them against each other and keep on nailing using the nail gun by placing it tilted at a 45 degree described before.
