Hey guys,

I'm going to be installing 9/16" engineered next week over plywood underlayment. I'm planning on stapling down. I have two different staplers and want to know which you would select for the job. I have my Bostitch M111 FS and I have the 1/2" shoe that comes with it plus a 9/16" widefoot shoe from Tarkett that fits on it as well. My only concern is the size of the staples. Do you think they're to big for 9/16" engineered? I don't want bumps or puckers from the fasteners showing in the surface. The other stapler/fastener I own is the Powernail Model 200. It's actually a cleat nailer.
http://www.powernail.com/Nailer%20info/200-new.htm
The reason I'm asking is the last time I installed 9/16" engineered and nailed (stapled) it down, I used their Floor Monster and the floor snap, crackled and popped no matter how I adjusted the angle and the pressure. Then I installed a 1/2" bamboo floor with the Model 200 and it made noise as well. I'm not sure if it's the nailers or the floors. I can't have problems on this job and there's no money to glue it (and no reason). Which nailer/stapler would you choose?

I use the spotnails stapler, which I believe is the old mannington floor monster. Have had good success with it on mannington wood. On a mohawk nail down(3/8") had some puckering but adjusted it down.

How long ago did you use that Floor monster? I had one of the early ones, maybe 10 years ago...All the floors popped and squeaked. Something with the gun. I bought one from Spotnail, when they were still orange, and have had no problems, but....
I would use the power nail E cleat gun; just be sure to get the adjustment spot on, if the nose is too close to the wood, you'll get that "death dimple" that you will only see after you've put down 300 feet, and the evening light shows EVERYTHING. Don't ask me how I know this, it still hurts when I think about it. Hee hee.

That was when I last used one! Got it from Golden State and returned it after the job. The glue cost DOUBLE the cost of the stapler so it wasn't rocket science to figure out which way to go. Unfortunately, the stapler SUCKED at nailing the floor down and made me nervous about using it again. The e-cleat will work, I know. It's just slow and cumbersome compared to my Bostitch. I could probably use their manual nailer faster than the model 200.
http://www.powernail.com/Nailer%20info/250-new.htm
Why doesn't Power Nail make longer handles on all their nailers anyway? With the 200, you gotta bend way over OR try and slide sideways on your knees. Either way, it's awkward compared to nailing with the Bostitch.

The new Spotnail guns are silver with a blue cap on top; work great. Those old ones looked, and performed, like they were made in the old Czech republic. Rumor has it that everyone that works at Power nail is under 4 feet tall, hence the short handles. I swear to gawd they are.

I am almost in the same boat as Gary. I may have a 3/8" Mannington staple down job coming up shortly. I turned in my estimate but still waiting to hear back.

Mannington says to use the Spotnails Model FS4825W2 with the 4811PN nylon coated staples. I have been doing searches to locate one and some images show the blue stapler and some images show a totally different orange stapler. Same model number too.

I guess I want the blue one?? Also they are hard to find, (Amazon don't have it), most distributors sell the Spotnails WS4840W2 that is way cheaper and uses the same fasteners. I am all confused. Can anyone offer me some insight on where is the best place to buy this gun if I need it?

SK, you're a funny guy!

The orange gun is the older style, the blue and silver is the new one. The Spotnail gun is the one you want, but you are going to have to get the staples from a Mannington Distributor anyway. I haven't been able to buy the nylon coated ones anywhere else, except from them. But, since no one can tell me what it is about nylon that makes it so special, I have no problem using a senco staple, or the spot nail staples, which are vinyl coated. Not to mention that a 1 3/8 " staple is overkill on 3/8 anyway.

SK, This looks like a place to buy the 1 3/8" staples.

http://www.nailgundepot.com/shop/custom ... 664&page=1

Thanks BuddyJ, price looks good on the gun too, but I bet the frieght on those staples is brutal....What would be worse, is that when they got here, each clip was broken into 5-6 pieces. My luck.... anyone else?

Thats why I keep getting confused about this Spotnail stapler. That link that Buddy posted is not the stapler that Mannington list on their instruction sheets. They say to use the Spotnails FS4825W2, and when I do a search that seems to be the orange gun. That blue/gray gun is a model WS4840W2 but uses the same 4811PN nylon coated staples.

I'm not getting it, so I guess I will call Mannington, because if I get this job I don't want to have that dimpling problem.
Thank you for that link Buddy.

I've had both the gun that Manninton sells as the" Floor Monster", and one direct from Spotnail. They were IDENTICAL, except for the fancy gold sticker Mannington stuck on theirs. The Manninton cost more, but it isn't cheap to get the stickers made, AND THEN, find the right kind of help to get them on straight. Sure, they probably could of sold them for a little less, but who wants a gun with a crooked sticker? And any of us in the trade for any period of time knows first hand of the superior tech support and back up we get from Mannington, as well.

I have used the blue/silver ones a time or two, (I mentioned a friend has a couple). I think they are a better gun then the old orange ones, and when we were playing around with them, the blue ones would set a staple in 3/4 solid oak, the orange one would not. Maybe because mine was old and used, or maybe because the new ones are better. The orange one's had such touchy safety, that we used a zip tie to hold in the "always on" position. A fact that aways slips my mind when I loan it out, only to hear some near ghastly tale from the borrowee. "Yup, me and the little woman was in, the kitchen, gettin ready to nail her down, when I sorta squeezed one off, premature like. The little woman was a-fixin to take a sip off her cup of joe, and the mug deflected that staple, and kept it from hittin her right in the snoot. I swear to gawd it did."

Jerry. Buy the new gun. Use whatever staple makes ya feel good. They work great. But, I learned to use white glue on the end joints on anything wider then 3.25. Then you won't get that pop or three, right in the walkways.

Like most flooring these days, the boxes contain NO installation instructions. Well, there may be a set or two at the bottom of a one of the boxes but who is going to rifle through all those cartons to find them. Anyway, to my other question. How far apart is one supposed to nail (fasten) the 9/16" engineered. I'll be using my SLOW Power Nail model 200 with the e-cleats. I can get cleats 1&1/2" long or 1&1/4". Which length should I get? I'm feeling 1&1/2" long every six inches sounds right but is it right? You 9/16" engineered pros, can you help me? I start tommorrow.

Ask, and ye shall receive...From the online installation handbook, as follows:
Use Spotnail 4811PN Nylon coated staples, 1 3/8" long.
Compressor set at 80 PSI.
Check gun adjustment on a piece of scrap. I know you know this.
Within 2" of endjoints, and 6"-8" o.c.

Crap. I tried to cut and paste the link to the .pdf in the handbook, but it didn't work. Go to the Mannington site, pick hardwood floors, pick a product, pick care and maintenence, then look for the install guide. It's there, but you have to go down a few layers to ge to it.
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Oh yeah. I use white glue on all the endjoints on the wide stuff. You know why.

For 9/16 3/8 etc. I use the LHF gun (if I had to do it over I would have got the Spot Nailer), but I tell you we also use a hand crown stapler ($50 at the home store) and it holds as good as or better than any of the small guns, it is pretty fast with it as well. The Spot Nailer and the LHF gun are just glorified crown staplers. If you get in a pinch you can use a crown stapler. The nice part about them is you can get the longer length staples for it where the others only go to 1 ¼ IIRC. We use the standard crown stapler exclusively for installing 5/8 bamboo. The stand up tends to beat the bamboo up while the LHF’s staples are too short but the crown stapler seems to give it the best grip with the least waste.