Pros and cons of using cleats for hardwood floor installation.
3 inch flooring nails.
Standard flooring nails often termed cleats right bottom in the industry quantities are different.
The two gauges of nails typically used for hardwood floors are 16 and 18 gauge.
1 000 can be purchased in smaller boxes while a larger one handles 5 000.
These nails are made of high strength carbon steel.
Hardwood flooring installers have used cleats for generations nailing 3 4 solid hardwood planks to a wooden subfloor with 2 nails formed with an l shaped head.
The 16 gauge nail is perfect for 1 2 in.
Framing nails or nails for framing applications are often common nails.
Use 2 long cleat nails when installing 3 4 solid wood flooring over a wood subfloor with floor joists.
Flooring nails have different designs for fastening to different materials.
Use 1 3 4 long cleat nails when installing 3 4 solid wood flooring when 3 4 thick plywood is applied directly over a concrete slab so the cleat nail does not go through the 3 4 thick plywood hitting the concrete.
Powernail power cleats 18 ga x 1 3 4 in.
Other wood flooring nails have a spiral shank to reduce slippage.
Use the specific gauge of nail recommended by the manufacturer.
It will depend on the length for solid 3 4 floors.
The porta nails 16 gauge l head flooring cleat and nail the porta nails 16 gauge l head flooring cleat and nail is designed for flooring decorative paneling ceiling and sub flooring applications.
A good rule of thumb for nail length is 1 1 2 inch nails for 1 2 inch thick flooring and 1 3 4 inch nails for 3 4 inch thick flooring but always follow the flooring manufacturer s.
They have a smooth shank and chisel point that reduces wood splitting for superior performance.
The 18 gauge nails are designed to help ensure exceptional workmanship on a wide range of applications and projects.
The higher the gauge number the thinner the nail.
These finishing nails are 3 4 inch in length and are available in a box of 1000 nails.
Although the inch flooring planks do not have to be attached to the joists beneath the plywood subfloor the floor remains more secure when the nails do go through joists so it s best to use nails long enough to pass through the wood flooring planks the plywood sheets and into the joists.
For nailed floors a standard 2 size cleat nail manufactured by bostitch contains 5 000 nails right top can you buy a smaller quantity.
