I bought some Mannington 1/2 engineered hardwood I want to install. I think Manningtons instructions call for 16 gauge staples.

A friend of mine owns a Highpro AS-4090 that he said I can borrow.

My only concern is online specs I have been able to find say that the Highpro shoots 18 gauge quarter-inch narrow crown staples.

Should the Highpro stapler not be used for my Mannington floor?

Thanks...

Sounds kinda over kill for an engineered, you better double check that. An 18 ga is fine for 1/2 engineered.

Don't they require their own product? or is that a recommendation?

I always had the impression Mannington is fast to void warranties in such cases.

They call it a "requirement" here.

http://www.mannington.com/residential/d ... ockNGo.pdf

But I guess if it's a DIY project it doesn't matter.

Years back I was a Mannington Laminate & Resilient Inspector. One must follow their installation recommendations to the letter to keep warranties in effect. Mannington is very sharp when it comes to finding out if their products are installed to their specs.
They welcome and are very easy to contact for technical assistance, and will warranty their products installed correctly by the DIY.

They even colored their adhesive to determine if it was their brand used for the installation. Their brand was Bostik's Best but colored green. Their brand back then cost about $135.00 for a 3.5 gallon where Bostik's was $120.00 for a fiver. If you didn't use their adhesive, they wouldn't warranty the floor.

The t&g glue for their laminate,( when it was glued ), had flecks in the glue. On a Mannington inspection I would use a blacklight magnifier on the seams. If the installer used the "proper glue", the flecks would glow. They have numerous tricks for inspecting their product, to keep warranty in effect.