We just purchased about 1800 sq ft of palmetto road 1/2" engineered flooring. Can't remember type of wood. It's 4,6 and 8" planks. Manufacturer recommends 18-20 ga 1" to 1-1/2" cleats or narrow staples. Now here is my dilemma. 1-1/2" cleats won't reach joist. I have 23/32" T&G OSB subfloor. Joist are 16" OC. I will be putting down 1/4" ply underlayment stapled and aqua bar. I need at least a 1-3/4", preferably a 2" cleat. Otherwise I'm on nailing to subfloor. Unfortunately my floor nailer shoots 15.5ga staples or 16ga cleats. Leaning toward a powernailer flex 50p but it only shoots 1-3/4" cleats. What do you guys recommend for cleats, nailer etc.. Floor nailer is NIB. I have a friend that has the same nailer I could borrow to test for splitting. Should I try the 16ga or stick with 18ga and buy another nailer. Take the other one back.

stick with the 18 ga. And it always surprises me when people say it wont reach the joists, you are not nailing to the joists you are nailing to the subfloor.

Thanks for the reply. I always thought you should hit the joist when possible. So do you recommend 1-3/4 cleat? What about a reasonable priced pneumatic nailer? Pardon my ignorance. I've done body work and painted cars for a living since a teenager. I've done some flooring, tile etc but just a DIYr. Just need appropriate directions on the how tos and pros cons.

I don't know about reasonably priced, I use the 50P with 1 1/2 you could either use your friends or use yours and then sell it when you are done.

Home Depot rents the 50p around here you might check your home depot locally to see if they do as well.

Another question. Do I really need that many staple in the 1/4" underlayment. Seems excessive considering the nails that will go right back over it with HW. Guess it's more to ensure a very flat surface for HW. Thought about renting but since I will be laying wood a room at a time as I can it will be cheaper just to buy and sell when done. Amazon.com has it for $480 shipping inc. If I can get half my money back I'd be happy. I look at it as I'm still saving several grand on labor. I could get a freeman for a couple hundred but the 50p seems to be one of the popular choices of the guys that do it for a living.

I usually go every 4 inches around the perimeter and about every 8-10 inches in the field.t goes pretty quick with a pneumatic staple gun.