Hammer and nails, screws, or nail gun?

Which would you use? Hammer and nails, screws, or nail gun

  • Hammer and nails (old school)

    Votes: 3 12.0%

  • Screws (torx or square drive)

    Votes: 8 32.0%

  • Nail gun

    Votes: 14 56.0%
  • Total voters
    25
drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
I am thinking about building a 12x24 shed in about a year or so. Which would you use to build it? Old school hammer and nails, torx/square drive screws, or a nail gun? I would have to purchase a nail gun and would most likely sell it afterward since i would likely never use it again.
 
I bought a framing gun. Thought I'd sell it after the job was through. That didn't happen. If I got hard up for $200 I could sell it on CL, but I'd just have to buy another one sooner or later. Once you get used to using one, you'll go pull an air hose before you'll go find a hammer.
 
Screws with whatever your preferred bit is (square, torx, phillips, etc).

It takes 3x as long as a nail gun but I think screws hold better than nails

I have a couple decent cordless drivers with plenty of batteries that last long enough for medium projects. I considered a nail gun but I didn't want to fork out $200+ for a gun for likely 1 project
 
Pounding nails with a hammer is a rite of passage. Everybody needs to hand-nail a big project, once. That said, go with the nail gun.

Use the hanger screws (i.e. simpson SD) for your metal joist hangers....faster than hand (or palm) nailing, cheaper than buying a positive placement gun just for that.

One-time or occasional use, look at the HF framing nailers. Not something I'd use heavy, but will work for one good project, then look as good on your shelf as a big name brand. Friend got one of their coil roofing nailers, hoping it would make it thru one roof. Has now done 4 or 5, and still works. Just keep it oiled (or any one for that matter) and don't abuse it too much.
 
If you want to build it the best and strongest way, use screws. If you want fast and easy, use a nail gun. If you want to do it the slowest, hardest, cheapest, least strong way then a hammer and nails are your choice. This country was won by hammers and nails, but you'll put in a lot more nails with a gun, and you won't drop any. Screws are just so much stronger than nails because they take the shear like nails, but they also use compressive force to squeeze the materials together and employ friction. They also don't back out like nails, but are easier to remove if you ever need to ( and don't bury them like I have a tendency of doing). My shop probably has less than 50 nails used in the construction of it, and they are all on the electrical boxes.
 
I will say this. The only time I don't like to see a nail gun used is installing new shingles on an old slatted roof. You don't know if the nail hits a crack or not and can cause major problems
 
I think my shed is 10x16, built it myself. The flooring is screwed down, but everything else is nails. I prebuilt the roof trusses one day with nail plates. Another day was all four walls with old school hammer and nails. I don't remember it sucking at all, I was happy with our pace, it wasn't difficult.
It's held up well, even after being moved from one house to another.
 
12 x 24 is a pretty big shed. I'd use a nail gun and not look back. They're fun and fast, and keep things enjoyable because they make you more productive.

Borrow one if you need, I'm sure you probsbly have some friends or neighbors that would lend you one. You're not going to wear one out building a shed unless the nail gun is a total pile.
 
Screws. My deck is hammer and nails and it looks like shit. I have to go out periodically and pound nails in that are backing out. It's also more of a pain in the ass to replace boards when they're nailed.
 
rockcity said:
I think screws hold better than nails
Click to expand...

Says the guy that's never tried to pull out a 2-1/2" coated twist nail.

Screws are for decks and subfloor. Of course, I say that, but the last time I went to the store to get subfloor screws, I came home with a box of ring shanks and a couple tubes of liquid nail. Because it only took ten minutes with the gun.
 
If you're gonna use a framing gun w framing nails be careful where you hold/nail the piece of wood especially near edges/corners or don't get in a hurry. I've seen a few ring shank and hook shank hand/wrist injuries and a flying nail that splits the edge can take out an eye easily. We used to shoot squirrels w them.
 
Last edited:
Got a framing gun you could borrow if you want to go that route.
 
X2 nail gun with ring shanks. Theirs no real benefit to the cost and time of using screws IMO. Also you don't have to pre drill to prevent breakout.

I bought a HF 21* framing nailer and a big box of their 3" coated framing nails for less than $100 bucks. At first I thought it was a pos but found out they don't put any lube in the nail chamber and my air pressure needed turned up. Worked great after that.
 
Last edited:
1. Purchase Nail Gun
2. Teach wife to use nail gun
3. Crack a beer and watch the magic happen!
545121_10151910497270647_1770216093_n.jpg
 
Nail gun. If you can rent one or borrow one cheap, do that.
 
Back
Top