Two words: pneumatic nailer!
We put in hardwood flooring in our house in September 2004 and because we didn't want to lose 3/4" of baseboard behind the flooring (that and the fact the baseboards needed some good prep work before painting), we took out all of the baseboards before the hardwood went down.
Our flooring contractor, feeling sorry for the work I had ahead of me, lent me his Porter-Cable compressor and brad nailer two weekends while I put the baseboard back. To see the machine he lent me, follow this link:
http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=5232
I was so impressed with how well it worked and how easy it was to use compared to a hammer and nails that I bought my own compressor and brad nailer for about $299 plus tax. (Still had rooms to do you see).
If you have every tried to put down the flimsy stuff they call baseboard in new home construction, you will understand. Immediately.
If you have never put down baseboards let me explain. You need three hands to do a good job:
- One to hold the baseboard firmly against the wall.
- One hand to hold the nail
- One hand to hold the hammer.
If you ever saw a cartoon of Wile E Coyote strike a gong and he vibrates instead of the gong, this is what happens when you try to nail! Walls aren't always the solid objects they appear and they are never straight so you really have to struggle to keep the baseboard held against the wall. Bounce is a common occurrence as baseboard and wall flex under the force of your hammer blow.
Keep in mind that you are hammering in an unnatural position, on your knees, nail-holding hand to the left of your body (if you are right-handed), hammer in the other. Trying to swing a heavy hammer to pound a 2" nail. Right next to your new hardwood floor or ceramic tile.
Did I mention that the object of nailing is to get it into a stud so it will hold firmly? Miss the stud and what do you get? Bounce.
Hit nail several times. Get new nail and move down the floor and repeat. Again and again and again. Oh yeah, don't forget to go back and set those nails so you can fill the nail holes later.
Anyway, you get the point.
With a pneumatic nailer, you just concentrate on holding the baseboard and positioning the nailer where you want it. The nailer weighs about as much as a hammer. No swinging, just pull the trigger. No bounce. Just a thunk and a blast of air. Automatically set below the surface ready for filling with wood putty.
The added benefit is that the glue that holds the nails together in the clips (sort of like staples in a stapler), gets super-heated when it is passing into the wood and when it cools, it provides some additional holding power. Can't get that with a 2" common nail!
If you miss the stud, no problem. Just move the nailer and fire again. Two nails in the amount of time it would take you to just get a nail out of your nail pouch!
I haven't measured this, but I am certain that you can install 16 feet of baseboard with a nailer in the same amount of time it takes to drive 3-4 nails manually.
They are supposed to be very good for installing cove molding for the same reasons I noted. (Next on my list of jobs and the other reason I bought my own nailer).
Now last summer, we had a garden shed build by one of those companies that comes with the panels all pre-built on a flat-bed trailer and then they whack it all together in an afternoon. The two guys that came had a pneumatic nailer but with the big 3 1/2" clipped nail framing nailer. Just put up a wall panel, nail to the floor with the nailer. Again, no fussing with nails in a tool pouch, trying to hold a nail and a wall and a hammer. Ppppptttttunnnkkkk as the nail goes in.
Now if I can only convince my wife I neeeeeed one of these!
