Best brand of finish nailer?

[ksstang]

So I'm in the market to purchase an air powered finish nailer. I'm in the process of pulling all the trim and door/window trim in my wife and I's house so she can paint it. I'm in need of one for when I go to put it all back up. Looking for advise/suggestions as to what's some better ones to look for. I think I want one of the angled style, for ease of use. That's what I've used in the past, but it's been so long since I'm used one, I don't know what's best, or better, and what I should steer clear of.

Thanks,

Kyle

 

[verbal]

I have been more than happy with Porter Cable. I have a Porter Cable finish nailer, brad nailer, framing nailer, and stapler along with a compressor and have had zero issues with any of them.

 

[ksstang]

Sounds good! I was looking at porter cable stuff. I was really thinking about one of their pancake style compressors, model# C2002 I believe it was. After reading through reviews of it on Home Depots site, I've held off. Lots of people complaining about stuff breaking on them after roughly a year. I have a oiled craftsman 3 gallon, 1.5hp 125psi that I'll probably continue to use.

 

[NastyNate420]

Ive had my porter cable brad nailer and compress for jeeze gotttta be over 10 years. Never had a problem wit the nailer. The past year the compressor doesnt kick on sometimes. It keeps trying to kick on. I jus shut it off and back on an its good. I use the compressor all the time and the nailer has moderate use and is basically brand new! Well worth the money!!

 

[madscotsman]

I have a Hitachi one I've used for years. lent out, and it has worked great for trim work. I use it with an old Craftsman portable air compressor. I had initially borrowed one of the same model from a neighbor and liked it so much I bought the same one.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_241151-67702-NT50AE2___?productId=1068639&pl=1&Ntt=hitachi+nail+gun

 

[GT Premi]

Sub'ing to see what folks are recommending. I'm in the hunt for some nail guns, too.

Question, though; why the heck are you tearing the trim off for your wife to paint it?

 

[08mojo]

I recently bought a dewalt 16 gauge. It works, but I would not recommend it...it has not been 100% reliable and it has some quirks that take a minute to figure out.

I will say this: buy the smallest one possible to handle the job (meaning the fastener size). I bought a 16 gauge driver because I wanted to use it across several projects. it is overkill for small trim work and does more damage than good...lesson learned!

 

[ford fanatic]

Sub'ing to see what folks are recommending. I'm in the hunt for some nail guns, too.

Question, though; why the heck are you tearing the trim off for your wife to paint it?

This?

I have two Porter Cable finish nailers that work great.

 

[Blk91stang]

I have the 18 GA and 16ga from harbor freight. Paid $50-$60 for both. Have not had 1 issue yet! I didn't cheap out on a compressor though. I picked up an emglo oiled unit. It's a heavy beast but not as loud as the oil less pancake units. Bostitch makes some nice Nailers.

 

[tistan]

There is a reason the pros use pasload. I've hade mine for ten years, and I rarely oil it. We had some pasloads at my old job that were 20 years old.

 

[ford fanatic]

There is a reason the pros use pasload. I've hade mine for ten years, and I rarely oil it. We had some pasloads at my old job that were 20 years old.

I know they have really good framing guns, we were using them back in the early 90's when I was building houses.

 

[ksstang]

Sub'ing to see what folks are recommending. I'm in the hunt for some nail guns, too.

Question, though; why the heck are you tearing the trim off for your wife to paint it?

Well, a couple reasons. LOL! I'm for sure taking the trim out of the 3 bedrooms because there is brand new carpet in those rooms, and I don't care what anyone says, there isn't enough tape or drop cloths in the world to keep paint off the carpet. And I'm dang sure not going to have paint on brand new carpet, lol! In the 2 living rooms, kitchen and hallway's the trim is getting pulled anyway because I'm getting ready to lay wood flooring looking tile. So, the trim will get moved to the garage on saw horses, and she will be painting it all! She is also considering repainting the two living rooms while we're at it, so with the trim off it'll be even easier. She just hated the look of stained wood trim and wanted it all white. I will be the first to admit I told her I thought it was stupid, and if its not broke, don't fix it. But..... after seeing the bathroom and kitchen done, I actually really like the look of it, and can't wait for the rest of the house to be done.

 

[ford fanatic]

Well, a couple reasons. LOL! I'm for sure taking the trim out of the 3 bedrooms because there is brand new carpet in those rooms, and I don't care what anyone says, there isn't enough tape or drop cloths in the world to keep paint off the carpet. And I'm dang sure not going to have paint on brand new carpet, lol! In the 2 living rooms, kitchen and hallway's the trim is getting pulled anyway because I'm getting ready to lay wood flooring looking tile. So, the trim will get moved to the garage on saw horses, and she will be painting it all! She is also considering repainting the two living rooms while we're at it, so with the trim off it'll be even easier. She just hated the look of stained wood trim and wanted it all white. I will be the first to admit I told her I thought it was stupid, and if its not broke, don't fix it. But..... after seeing the bathroom and kitchen done, I actually really like the look of it, and can't wait for the rest of the house to be done.

That's why you install shoe molding. We just did over 1500 Square feet of hardwood in our home, the shoe molding makes it look better than just having the baseboard anyway.

On the painting part of it, once you paint the walls and the trim separately you still have to hang the trim and caulk it. Good luck not getting any caulk on the walls. I just went through this in our new addition...

 

[verbal]

Well, a couple reasons. LOL! I'm for sure taking the trim out of the 3 bedrooms because there is brand new carpet in those rooms, and I don't care what anyone says, there isn't enough tape or drop cloths in the world to keep paint off the carpet. And I'm dang sure not going to have paint on brand new carpet, lol! In the 2 living rooms, kitchen and hallway's the trim is getting pulled anyway because I'm getting ready to lay wood flooring looking tile. So, the trim will get moved to the garage on saw horses, and she will be painting it all! She is also considering repainting the two living rooms while we're at it, so with the trim off it'll be even easier. She just hated the look of stained wood trim and wanted it all white. I will be the first to admit I told her I thought it was stupid, and if its not broke, don't fix it. But..... after seeing the bathroom and kitchen done, I actually really like the look of it, and can't wait for the rest of the house to be done.

That sounds like a ton of work for painting. If it was me, I would just stick some cardboard underneath the trim and between the carpet and slide the cardboard down the wall as you paint. You won't get any paint on the carpet.

As mentioned, just buy shoe molding for the tile.

 

[Need 04 Wine]

not a carpenter but I use Bosch and it has been amazing so far

 

[ksstang]

I ended up picking up a Hitachi on sale at Menards over the weekend. My brother in law that does construction said he and his guys swear by Hitachi. So, I figured I'd give it a whirl.

 

[jconnor3]

You can't go wrong with Hitachi. Little more expensive than some others, but well worth it. Don't forget to oil it before each use!

 

[ksstang]

You can't go wrong with Hitachi. Little more expensive than some others, but well worth it. Don't forget to oil it before each use!

Yep, I try to be excellent about doing so. I think that's probably why all my other air tools have lasted so long and are still in great shape. It amazes me how many people don't bother to do so.

 

[Redneckbmxer24]

We always used porter cable and they work well. I picked up a pasload gas powered finish nailer a couple years ago and that's really all I use anymore. It's so nice not having to drag a hose around or set up the compressor especially for smaller jobs. I no longer do that line of work though so I just use it around my house now and it's very convenient.

That said, you shouldn't remove the trim to paint, that's a lot of work for nothing. You'll probably break some trim getting it off the wall as well. You'll also have to go back and caulk the top, corners, and spot the nails... Ever had to get caulk out of carpet? It just smears. Get the widest blue tape and lay it down so it actually tucks under the trim and then use the dispenser they make that tapes down a 18" wide piece of paper on top of that and you won't get any paint on your carpet. Lay drop cloths down too. You have to do all this anyway or you risk getting paint on the carpet so there's absolutely no benefit to pulling the trim unless you're replacing it. You're just creating more work and hassle for yourself.