Flooring Staples Vs Cleat Nails

Most cleat nails are 16 ga.

Flooring staples vs cleat nails.

A cleat nail offers a sharp rigid body to grip the sub floor firmly. Or 18 ga but thinner 20 ga. Pros and cons of using cleats for hardwood floor installation. The big drawback with cleat nails is their cost which at 65 to 85 per 5000 is about twice the price of staples.

Diy enthusiasts want to know which choice is best in the cleats vs staples argument. With staples you ll also have to nail in through the face thereby leaving marks all over the floor and ruining the appearance. When you follow the proper procedure for your fastener of choice you will get the best results possible. It also features a smooth portion of its body which allows for seasonal expansion and contraction of the flooring.

The staples hold the hardwood too well and don t allow the wood its normal seasonal changes. Nails are available for installing engineered flooring. Nails and staples differ in their holding properties. You can probably use staples to lay down the backer board under the hardwood floor if you re in a cold weather windy area this will help insulate the house by preventing airflow through the slots in the floorboard.

I think both are great as long as install correctly that the biggest issue i see is people not putting enough fasteners into the floor. Nails allow for a more natural expansion and contraction of the hardwood floorboards with fewer problems. Staples are made from steel just like cleats. If you are using a pneumatic nailer or stapler make sure the air pressure is set correctly for the particular wood.

A flooring nail or cleat is typically offered in either l head or t head variation check and see which variation your nail gun requires. A staple will give a stronger less forgiving hold because of its two pronged construction. Certain cleat nailer models are specifically designed for use with thin engineered hardwood flooring like the primatech q 550 18 gauge cleat nailer which can be used to install 3 8 to 3 4 tongue and groove flooring. Use only the flooring nail also called cleats that were designed for this purpose.

Browse our selection of primatech cleats staples and nails or powernail flooring tools and flooring accessories. Finding the optimum fastener can be confusing. The tongues have been known to crack off and as a result the boards will tilt and squeak. As to the staples do not staple any hardwood floor.