Long time lurker, first post. I’m a DIY’er and have done extensive remodeling on my home. My next project will be a work shop (20’x 24′).
On another sight a poster told about seeing a box of air nails marked 16p – 31/4″ and asked if they could be used for framing (face nailing). The comments from the “contractors” on the board was “yes”. An additional comment was “nobody measures nails on the job”. There were no qualifying statement such as “not for face nailing”. Ever book or code I have read calls for 16p 31/2″ nails for framing (face nailing). In fact there is no mention of 12p nails anywhere, it’s always.. 16p .. 10p .. 8p etc.
I have an Hitachi NR 83A2 nailer and used it for my remolding projects. And it has worked beautifully. But most of the nailing has been toenailing and I used there 10p 3″ nail. The largest nail the nailer will shoot is 12p 31/4″ nail. For my work shop project I was going to get another nailer that shoots 31/2″ nails but after reading the above post ….?
Can 12p, 31/4″ x 0.131″ be use for face nailing in place of 16p 31/2″ nails? I got the impression from the “contractor” posts on the other board that this was common practice. Is it? Does it matter? Should I get the other nailer as a spare.
Sorry about the long post
Don
Replies
don your hitachi will work fine for the face nailing of framing structures, i would use the largest size nail the gun will take for that application, as do thousands of carpenters all across this nation for framing every day.
the city of san francisco requires by code the full 3&1/2" nail to be used and of course then the hitachi 90 or equivalent is required. i am sure there are similar codes in other locals around the country for various reasons but if you use a shear paneling (plywood or OSB) on the studs as well you are more than strong enough.
if you want an excuse to buy another tool you can't use this one! however if post a question asking for excuses to buy a tool you will get hundred's of responses from the tool junkie's in here.
I live in Washington Dc, and I use mainly 10d (3") and 12d (3-1/4") nails for framing, unless the plans specify otherwise. In my opinion which was formed from experience and also what I was taught is that for face nailing I like to have a box of 10d's and use a good solid pattern. This it reduces the amount of nails coming through the double. I guess before anyone points it out I realize that the nail can be angled slightly when being driven to avoid this. ; ^ ) For a lot of years I used 10d's pretty much exclusively but recently have started to use a lot more 12d's. The reason I was using so many 10d's was I noticed that they were less likely to split the studs when toenailing, drive easily and will hold well when used properly. Why the switch to 12d then? I don't really know. They were out of 10d's and deleiverd a box of 12d's and I used them up and liked them - kind of like huh what was I thinking. As far as the 16d goes I find they they split up the wood too much and when that happens they just don't do what they are supposed to.