Replies

1. 
   GACC_DAllas | Feb 05, 2001 03:41am | #1

   *
   Ray,

   What the heck is a 1/4" subfloor? Do you mean the subfloor is 3/4" plywood and you're putting down a layer of 1/4" plywood on it as some sort of underlayment for vinyl or tile or carpet or something?

   If so, I'd use a narrow crown stapler.

   Ed. Williams

1. 
   Little_Joe | Feb 05, 2001 08:52am | #2

   *Ditto the stapler. Light, compact, and holds like crazy.Later. LJ

1. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Feb 05, 2001 09:37pm | #3

   *Yup, best vinal flooring guy I know uses 1/4" plywood as underlayment over old vinal. Staples it with a narrow crown stapler, 4" O.C. every direction. Looks like a frikkin checkerboard when he's done, but in 15 years we've never had a call back.

1. 
   James_DuHamel | Feb 06, 2001 05:16am | #4

   *Here we use 3/4" wood for subfloor (tongue and groove boards, shiplap boards, tongue and groove plywood, straight edge plywood, etc...) The subfloor is installed BEFORE walls go up, and the underlayment is installed AFTER walls are in place. We then install a layer of #30 felt paper, and add 3/8" or 1/2" BC plywood for underlayment. 1/4" underlayment in my area doesn't hold up. I install subfloors with 1 1/2" #8 decking screws (in my Quik Drive gun), and use 1 1/4" #8 deckig screws for the underlayment (placed 2" apart on all edges and seams, and 4" oc across the face of the plywood) I have replaced lots of subfloors and underlayment that were severely warped, and the common factor in almost every case was that they were applied with nails and staples. I have never had to replace any fastened with screws. Because of this fact, I now use screws exclusively.James DuHamel

1. 
   Ray_Pomer | Feb 07, 2001 02:29am | #5

   *Ed Thanks for the info. I meant 1/4" uderlayment over 3/4" subfloor for vinyl tile. But you guessed it right .You suggesteda narrow crown stapler. Would that be 18 gauge 1/4" crown staples 1/2' to 1" long. Is porter cable a good make? thanks Ray

2. 
   GACC_DAllas | Feb 07, 2001 06:39am | #6

   *Hey Ray,Porter Cable makes a great (and inexpensive compaired to some) narrow crown stapler. I own several that we use at work all the time. I'm not sure of the gage off the top of my head, but yes, 1/4" crown (width) stapler is what you want. The leg lenght of the staple is related to what you're shooting down. If your shooting down 1/4" ply into 3/4" plywood, then a 1/2", 3/4" or 1" staple will do you just fine. I like to shoot at least twice the thickness of the material I'm shooting through. It's not a golden rule, but a good rule of thumb. You might look ahead and see if you need a longer leg size down the road for another portion of the job and buy the staples to acommodate that project also. A longer staple through your sub floor won't hurt anything, but a half a box of short staples is worthless if you need longer staples later on in the project. Ed.

3. 
   Jeffrey_DeMeyer | Feb 27, 2001 05:29am | #7

   *1/4" narrow crown stapler with some construction adhesive works, well. Make sure you weight it well as you staple , as the small staples sometimes don't smack it tight enough. They will hold well though. I love my Senco oiless.

2. 
   Ray_Pomer | Feb 27, 2001 05:29am | #8

   *
   I have approx. 1000 square feet of subfloor to install. The only nailers i can find are framing nailers that use ringed nails or spiral. The shortest ringed nails are 2". The floor is only 3/4" plywood plus 1/4" subfloor. Can i use a framing nailer or is there any other type of nailer i can use?