setting nails

[bigchaz]

Is their an easier way than a hammer and nail punch?
Probably spent around two hours on a 16x19 setting all the nails Granted whoever built it decided 3 and 4 nails were appropriate for each board and 6 or 8 nails at each joint.

Lot of them were sticking up so I needed to get them down. Is it just a matter of getting better at it as you go? Or is their a trick?

[Beth n Rod]

Compressor and an empty nail gun. Let the air work for you. Works like a charm.
Beth

[squirtgun]

Palm nailers work great.

[MMI Enterprises]

Can we stretch and hijack this into talking about screw replacement?...Like at what point do you say to customer that you'll have to charge them for a box of screws and the time to install them?

[RPetry]

Charlie,

Keep the nail setter in the truck and bang 'em home with a decent weight framing hammer when the wood is dry. Come on, the builder used nails. They are going to friggin' pop again at the next temperature change. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[MMI Enterprises]

A little birdie whispered to me that they would not risk breaking their nail gun piston by dry firing it into nails...

So but hey Rick.. at what point you go about replacing nails with screws?

[RPetry]

Kevin,

So but hey Rick.. at what point you go about replacing nails with screws?

When the "popped" nails do not hold down the warped wood to the joist.

[MMI Enterprises]

Originally Posted by RPetry

Kevin,



When the "popped" nails do not hold down the warped wood to the joist.

Yea that is common sense. Being you pointed out to Charlie that nails will just pop again on temp change do we take it that you always just change all popped nails over to screws or do you only go that route if the amount of popped nails is overwhelming?.

ps. and how much to charge for such ??

[RPetry]

Kevin,

Come on, this is not rocket science. If the nails are not holding the wood to the joist, ya' put in a stainless steel screw. If you cannot see the labor and need when doing your estimate, you have to do more jobs. This misc. stuff becomes second nature by just doing wood. You look at the job before an estimate. On most jobs it is so minor, geeze', ya' just do it with no upcharge.

Like a quick sand of the handrail, part of normal service.

[MMI Enterprises]

Just checking what others do Rick...geez ..... fact remains that obviously at least Charlie and Beth and Scott don't replace nails with screws all the time so why belittle the question I pose by comparing it to rocket science?Questioning when folks do decide to go screw OR reasons there of must have some basis in bid price...No?

[RPetry]

Kevin,

In 9 out of 10 jobs, its no work or minor work. You are prepping and staining exterior wood. That is the work. Putting in a handful of screws is nothing. Does anyone upcharge for a 10 min. sand on the handrails or some splinter areas on the deck floor? If we did not remove and reinstall deck furniture and other stuff, I'd bet we would lose half or our customers. You are offering a service, the easier on your customers the better.

Most of this is so easy, simple, and not time consuming. Most of this makes a great big difference to your customers. At least to mine.

Look, if the construction of the deck is a mess and takes major repairs, charge for it. Otherwise, minor stuff should be in the bid.

[bigchaz]

Rick I have plenty of hammers, but my concern was also with getting the nails below the surface enough to use a belt sander without tearing up the paper. If I straight hammered them the nails would still be at the surface. Not to mention the marks where the hammer is larger than the nail.

Beth do yall run a portable compressor? What size tank? I might consider getting some kind of portable nail gun, but I don't want to deal with a 15 gallon tank on wheels and a reel full of air hose

Kevin: Setting nails and sanding was included in the charge for the deck. It was my mistake getting too strong of HD80 on an unstained surface and overdwelling. The wood furred up big time. My problem, so I fixed it. Plus it sounds really good if im talking to a woman with kids and explain to them how we make sure all nails are set so her kids can safely walk barefoot on the wood. Part of my sell has been that we not only restore the beauty of their deck but also its safety. This includes throwing some screws into posts if the railings are getting a bit loose, or tightening the bolts on the 4x4s. I believe its easier to quote a single price and explain what all that includes as opposed to breaking it all down

[MMI Enterprises]

Sounds good....so if one needs none and one needs 10-15 -20 extractions of old nails and then screwed down the price is already included in the latter and it is not worth considering any upfiguring beyond my standard pricing cause it take no extra time and it all balances out......cool deal, good to know

(psst..yea so that is a bit of fun sarcasm from the $1 camp)..haha

[Beth n Rod]

Originally Posted by RPetry

Kevin,

Come on, this is not rocket science. If the nails are not holding the wood to the joist, ya' put in a stainless steel screw. If you cannot see the labor and need when doing your estimate, you have to do more jobs. This misc. stuff becomes second nature by just doing wood. You look at the job before an estimate. On most jobs it is so minor, geeze', ya' just do it with no upcharge.

Like a quick sand of the handrail, part of normal service.

Bingo!
Beth

[Beth n Rod]

Originally Posted by MMI Enterprises

Can we stretch and hijack this into talking about screw replacement?...Like at what point do you say to customer that you'll have to charge them for a box of screws and the time to install them?

My suggestion is by the hour + materials. I take note of the amount of popped nails at the time of the estimate and make a determination then. Usually, instead of talking about replacing the nails, I would more than likely suggest re-skinning the deck and using screws instead. If the popped nails are a sore spot for them to begin with, the deck itself is more than likely to be in a condition warranting the necessity for more extensive work anyway.
If there is only a small amount of them occurring then we could pull and replace them. I also suggest to the customer to buy a small box of #8-3" coated decking screws to keep on hand as the pops present themselves.

Back on topic though, I suggest a framing nailer as Beth has mentioned. The depth can be set so that you can easily counter-sink nails up to 1/4" and be done with a 16X19 deck in about 30 minutes. I used to use the punch and hammer method (Archaic) till my thumb got so sore from being whacked if the punch wasn't square or perpendicular with the nail head and would (for lack of a better term) ricochet or peen off and the hammer stroke would land on the thumb bone of my left hand holding the punch. It bothers me to this day and I just wish I had thought of the empty magazine nailer method sooner.

Now, how about this one for a conversation piece...Anyone ever used a hand held planer to level cupped decking boards instead of trying to sand them down with a drum sander?
If so, which one did you use and how well did it work?

Rod!~