Flooring stapler recommednation...

[Michael Dunn]

Heh guys,

Does any one have a recommendation on a flooring stapler? I need to install 3/8" bamboo flooring over a plywood subfloor. It's for my wife's aunt and uncle.

Thanx!

[Kevin Bourque]

I bought a cheapo model from Amazon because I figured I only had a 300 sq. ft. job to do and after that I wouldn't hardly use it much. Well it was a worthless piece of junk!!! I sent it back and bought a Bostich flooring stapler that worked flawlessly.

[Duane Meadows]

Heh guys,

Does any one have a recommendation on a flooring stapler? I need to install 3/8" bamboo flooring over a plywood subfloor. It's for my wife's aunt and uncle.

Thanx!

Freeman PFBC940...

http://www.amazon.com/Freeman-PFBC94...reeman+PFBC940

Just did bamboo in my kitchen, worked very well! Just need to careful when placing it. take your time and it will do a good job.

[Alden Miller]

Stanley MIII FS. Mine has worked well for me and for my friends and neighbors that have borrowed it.

-Alden

[Michael Dunn]

I've seen the MIII stapler. What is there that is significantly less $$$. I want to do it right, but i don't plan to be doing a lot of floors.

[Tom Hargrove]

You can rent them at the BORG for a reasonable amount of money.

Or you can buy a used one off Ebay or Craigslist. Use it for as long as you want, and then resell it. A bit of a gamble, but you might break even or better.

[Ole Anderson]

Rent the type needed for the style of nail recommended by the flooring mfr.

[Duane Meadows]

I wanted to rent one, as it was a one time use. However the only ones available here were the larger ones, none that would work with the thinner engineered flooring. I used 1 1/2" staples recommended by many installers. They work very well for that application, as did the Freeman stapler. By the way, you can change the baseplate and use it as a normal stapler as well.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I had to install a little over 100 sq. ft. of flooring a year ago.
I checked out renting a nailer/stapler from Home Depot and the cost of rental for two days was about the same as I could buy one on sale from Harbor Freight. ($99.00)
I picked up the Harbor Freight 2 in one nailer/stapler & it worked 100% flawlessly with Bostitch flooring nails.
The HF unit also comes with a separate baseplate for thinner flooring.

[Jason Roehl]

PLEASE! Double check what the bamboo flooring requires in terms of fasteners before you buy a stapler. I have seen a bamboo floor put down with staples, and they left a hump on the top surface that was visible, and in my book, very unacceptable. I mentioned this to another flooring installer, and he said that it was due to the staples being the wrong fastener, that cleats would not have done this.

[Rich Riddle]

I own the Bostitch MIII FS and don't believe it's for 3/8" flooring. The 15 gauge staple would prove too large for the 3/8" engineered flooring application. I posed a similar question with few responses earlier in the week. After lots of reading, I went with the Porta-Nailer 461 1 inch 18 gauge narrow (1/4") Crown Flooring Stapler. It can fire 1 1/4" staples as well. It seems to be a good middle-ground stapler. Several are cheaper and a few more expensive, but this gets overall good reviews.

[Larry Edgerton]

I use Primatech flooring nailers. They have a special shoe just for 3/8 flooring, and it uses cleats instead of staples. Works perfect and is dependable as a rock.

Larry

[Tom Ewell]

Yep, be careful, I used a shimmed MIII FS on 5/8" bamboo, no problem with the 'humps' but had to mess with the air pressure more than I like to keep the staple from blowing through the tongue or setting too high.

Used an inline regulator (similar to spray gun types) so I could keep the compressor regulated for the other guns.

The shoe height is definitely critical , need to set the fastener right where it needs to be on this engineered stuff or problems occur.

Ended up converting the stapler to handle cleats via a Bostich kit, and makes the gun less fussy for various flooring.

Haven't had the 'pleasure' of 3/8" install, but something like the Bostitch EHF1838K might be the ticket

[Curt Harms]

Yup, one of Harbor Freight's gems in my experience. Will shoot cleats or staples. The only problem I had was due to lack of oil. I just put a drop or two of oil in the air intake each stick of cleats and no problem. Worked great and I think 3 days' rental paid for the tool.