installing tackless strips to concrete floors

[dtam]

Hi,
Is there a trick to nailing tackless strips to a concrete floor for carpet install. I'm not able to hit the nail square, and it ends up bent. Is there a nail gun that I can use instead? The tackless strips I'm using are specified for concrete floors.

Thanks
David

[conwaygolfer]

If you go to a lumber supply house, they have a 22 caliper nailing gun for that type work. If not check another one. Not sure if HD or Lowes sells them.

Thanks,
Conwaygolfer

[Tom Slick]

The carpet guys I watched swung a 32oz (BIG!) framing hammer hard to set them.

[parnelli]

If you go to a lumber supply house, they have a 22 caliper nailing gun for that type work. If not check another one. Not sure if HD or Lowes sells them.

+1 on the powder actuated nailer. a)it'll work b)it's probably overkill c)it's fun

by the way my BORG rents them cheap

[chopnhack]

True, true, you really have to hit it square and hard to drive that nail. Not sure if a concrete t-nailer would be faster for this, we often use them for nailing furring strips to walls.

[dtam]

I checked home depot, and they have the .27 caliber powder actuated nailer for rent. But how safe are these to use, and I read online that you have to be a licensed contractor to use them?

HF has a 13 gauge T nailer, but their T-nails are 1 1/2" long. I'm afraid they are too long to drive them all the way in.

I'll try the HF T nailer first, and if it doesn't work, probably rent the powder actuated nailer.

Thanks everyone for their help.

David

[WayneJ]

If all else fails use " Liquid Nails " Its a little messy if you have to replace it
Wayne

[billwmeyer]

I used liquid nails on my daughters house. They were still stuck to the floor after house fire.
Bill

[sailor55330]

I've used the .22 caliber powder actuated nailer when I was framing my basement. I wasn't really that impressed. About 1 out of 10 seated really well into the concrete floor and several just bounced off the concrete or chipped the concrete out instead of driving in. They are also very LOUD---you are shooting the equivalent of a .22 caibler hand gun in doors. I had borrowed the gun, so I was only out the cost of the ramsets & the cartridges. I ended up about 15 short so I bought some tapcon screws and a masonry bit for my hammer drill. They held 100 times better than the ramset nails. If it's only strips to hold the carpet in place, I think I'd experiment with the liquid nails. You might have to wait a day to dry, but much less work it sounds like. If you do go to route of a powder actuated nailer, you can buy them at big box stores and no license is needed, at least I didn't need one.

[dtam]

Yesterday, I tried using the tapcon to screw down the tackless strips (couldn't find the T-nailer at HF). It took 5 minutes to drill 1 hole using my brand new $32 HF VSR hammer drill, and the hammer drill was very hot.

So I gave up and this morning my carpet installer started installing the tackless strips. He's also having a very difficult time nailing down the tackless strips using just his hammer. After 2 strips, he asked me to get him some liquid nails.

I asked him if he could use a powder actuated nailer but he told me the cost of the required number of .22 cal charges and nails would be too expensive.

David

[chopnhack]

Sounds like a run of bad luck Dave.... the HF hammer drill probably doesnt have enough power for the task (i am judging this on my past use of HF power tools) and your installer was probably right on the money Your slab may have been a higher psi mix than the typical and so it is much harder.

[woodturner]

It took 5 minutes to drill 1 hole using my brand new $32 HF VSR hammer drill, and the hammer drill was very hot.

Hammer drills are pretty much useless for drilling concrete, regardless of brand or quality. A drill chuck does not grip the bit well enough to work in a hammer drill.

An SDS rotary hammer will drill that hole in tens of seconds. HF has several in the $40 to $50. I think I paid around $100 for a refurb Bosch Bulldog at Amazon.

[sailor55330]

My rotary hammer drill was $29 @ HF 2 years ago. I bought a decent masonry bit and it went through the concrete like butter. The same concrete the .22 nailer bounced.

I figured for no more holes than I drill, the tool was essentially disposable.

[woodturner]

My rotary hammer drill was $29 @ HF 2 years ago.

I think I paid $15 for my HF, outlasted the Makita I borrowed from a neighbor.

It works OK in mortar and more contemporary, softer concrete. In the concrete in my old home, however, it is pretty much useless.

The problem is that much of the impact force is "lost" in the chuck. When I got the Bulldog with the SDS chuck, the difference was amazing to me. I use that for everything now.

If I had to pay $29 for an HF hammer drill, personally I think I would spend the extra $20 and get the rotary hammer with the SDS chuck. I think it is the chuck more than the hammer mechanism that makes the difference.

[chopnhack]

+1 for the bulldog, I have drilled literally thousands of holes from 3/4" down to 5/16" in solid concrete and cmu and its like a hot knife through butter! Love that thing. I am a real fan of Bosch products because of that tool. Works great as a chipping hammer, mini jack hammer when in a pinch too.