Replies

1. 
   MarkH | Jan 02, 2012 08:01am | #1

   I can't believe you don't know what a fluted masonry nail is!

   Dang, the man with all the answers is stumped!

   Fluted masonry nails are sold by Maze nails and most other nail makers.  They are 9ga high carbon steel nails.  The shank has numerous small flutes that are straight and go from tip to head.  I presume the flutes deform and increase holding power.

   I can't imagine using them to hold down flashing, overkill.

   I also can't picture the flashing situation either, not enough information.

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 02, 2012 08:06am | #2

   Thanks

   for the education.

   Can't remember the last time I had to nail to masonry by hand. I still have a bin of case hards from thirty years ago. Normally shoot in from powder accuated or use Tapcons

1. 
   MarkH | Jan 02, 2012 08:10am | #3

   Hand driven nails for masonry are made for green concrete, so they probably aren't too hard to use, but hand nailing into cured concrete is nothing I want a part of.

2. 
   DanH | Jan 02, 2012 08:39am | #4

   The ones I recall from my youth had spiral flutes.  And kind of a gun metal finish.

1. 
   MarkH | Jan 02, 2012 08:45am | #5

   Yep, spiral, straight flute, and square tapered shanks were popular for masonry nails.  I don't really know what the difference is for application.  My dad was an electrician, and I think he bought whatever was available.  Used hand operated star drills too. 

   He's a tough one, I sure didn't inherit that.  He's 83 and complains that he gets tired sometimes when he works all day.  Said he never did before, except when he was a teenager and worked as a logger with axe and hand saws.  Had to cut 40 hardwood trees a day down for coal mine supports.

2. 
   kurt99 | Jan 02, 2012 10:32am | #6

   Materially they are the same

   The masonry nails and the galvanized flashing are both iron (steel).  The flashing has a coating of zinc bonded to it and the nails have added carbon and possibly  a few other materials to increase hardness, but the bottom line is they are iron.  They will not have a problem with corrosion caused by dissimilar materials.  The nails are not rust protected to they will start to rust quickly, silicone will slow it down some.

   I agree with the others that I don't think driving those nails into concrete will be at all fun.  I have some masonry nails that I got from my father but I don't think I have tried to use one for thirty years.  If I need to attach something to concrete I use Tapcons.  They go in much more predictably and are rust resistant if you don't mind their blue color.

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 02, 2012 05:51pm | #7

   LOL

   " I have some masonry nails that I got from my father but I don't think I have tried to use one for thirty years.  "

   I'm starting to tink that my stepson might wonder what in the world those case hards are for when he inherits them along with the rest of my "prizes"

1. 
   oops | Jan 02, 2012 10:48pm | #8

   Masonry nails

   I've often wondered what folks meant when they  would say, "oh for the good old days". Hell, I;m old enough to remember them and believe me, they aint what they think they were.  :>)

2. 
   byrd48 | Jan 02, 2012 11:52pm | #9

   Attached is a photo showing the flashing along the bottom course of siding.  It's stil not easy to visualize from a photo, but the rim joist on this house is actually on grade, or slightly below (only on this side of the house, the lot slopes down towards the other side).  To ease with water runoff, they poured a concrete 'curb' next to the house as you can see.  When I installed the flashing, I wanted it to be snug to the concrete, so I drove a few nails.  They actually drove quite easy with a framing hammer, I was surprised.

   
1. 
   Piffin | Jan 03, 2012 01:40am | #10

   I am curious who "they" is

   I am curious who "they" is that performed that curb dance and what they did to keep the insects and ground water from destroying the rin joist and other framing.

1. 
   DanH | Jan 03, 2012 07:34am | #11

   Yeah, that's a pretty poor setup.  Of course, it's probably a narrow lot, so there weren't too many options, but I would have thought long and hard to figure out something else.  (And, of course, it would have been better if the house weren't built like that in the first place.)

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 03, 2012 08:02am | #12

   Lot of the time, it is not built that way to start, but changes in topography happen, sometimes from what the people on neighboring lots do

3. 
   Piffin | Jan 03, 2012 11:22am | #13

   Well, now that I see mor of the whole situaton, I am thinking that you do not want to drive nails down into that crete curb. Eventually that will be a water course to direct rain to the sill behind it