Nailing on a wall or anywhere else can be frustrating because a typical hammer can get you injured. A nail gun is your thing to use in those situations when you don’t want any issues during use.
Shiplap is not something you can use any nail gun for. But people make mistakes often, and it leads them to several disadvantages. But that’s not our topic today.
In this article are going to put some light on the types of nail guns you should use for shiplap. Without further due, let’s begin with the definition of a nail gun and its types.
What is Nail Gun and Its Types?
A nail gun is a carpentry tool that drives the nail into wood, concrete, and many other objects. It is very useful and increases your productivity at a significant level. You don’t have to stand all day under the sun with a hammer to complete your tasks.
You can drive the nail into an object with just a finger by nail gun. Besides, using a nail gun allows you to shoot all nails exactly to the object you need perfectly. That means you can easily complete your carpentry projects with nail guns very efficiently.
In addition, the hammer leaves marks hitting on the objects. It is very tough to remove this mark. On the other hand, nail guns never leave any marks by driving the nails into the wall, concrete, and all other objects. For these reasons, a nail gun is the best solution for all sorts of carpentry works and all other projects where you need to shoot nails.
There are different types of nail guns available in the market nowadays. We can differentiate those by their sizes, the length of nails they shoot, and the purposes for which those are used. These different types of nail guns are as follows:
1. Brad Nail Gun
These nail guns are basically used for trim installation and cabinet making. It is generally best for 18-gauge nails, which are very tiny to drive manually with the hammer.
2. Finish Nail Gun
This nail gun is used for driving 15- and 16-gauge nails, which are slightly thicker. It has more holding power and withdrawal resistance to work better in larger trims and moldings.
3. Framing Nail Gun
The framing nail gun is the biggest and most powerful nail gun. You can drive up to 3.5 inches long nails to the wood and some similar objects. You will also get the cordless version of it so that you can move it anywhere.
4. Roofing Nail Gun
These nail guns are used to drive nails into the roof in your roofing projects. It is specially made for shooting nails into different types of shingles and other similar materials.
5. Siding Nail Gun
Siding nail guns are mainly used in siding installation projects. Though you can use framing nail guns in siding installation, this nail gun works best for this task.
6. Pin Nail Gun
23-gauge nails are very tiny and small to drive with a hammer. It is generally used in different types of furniture making. Pin nail guns are generally used in shooting these 23-gauge nails.
7. Palm Nail Gun
These nail guns are one kind of rounded tool to shoot nails that perfectly fits into your palm. Palm nail guns don’t have any magazines to load many nails. Here, you can shoot one nail at a time.
8. Staple Gun
A staple nail gun is used to securely hold fragile materials like thin plywood, fabric, carpet, sheathing, etc. All other nail guns are not capable of using in these purposes to shoot staples. That is why these nail guns have huge demand in the market.
9. Flooring Nail Gun
To shoot nails into the hardwood flooring, you must use this nail gun. Flooring nail guns are very different in their characteristics and look. Generally, these guns look like “T” and “L.”
What is Shiplap and Why It’s Different?
Shiplap is mainly one wooden board used in exterior siding in outbuildings, residents, sheds, and many different constructions. It’s a form of wood paneling that protect your house and other buildings from the sun, wind, and other harsh weather.
Nowadays, shiplap has become very popular, and many people also use it in the interior of their houses. Shiplap comes with different designs and textures that enhance the beauty of an entire home. That is why people get interested in installing this in their places.
Shiplap has its own unique shape and terms for installing it on the wall. In general, nails should be penetrated 1 inch into the wall, ceiling, or other objects. So, you need 15-to-18-gauge nails for installing the shiplap, which is slightly different from other materials. That is why you need different types of nail guns for shiplap installation.
What Nail Gun Do I Need for Shiplap?
Well, it is dependent on the thickness of your shiplap. There are three types of nail guns that are popular and appropriate for installing shiplap- Brad Nail Gun, Finish Nail Gun, and Framing Nail Gun.
Some shiplap is thin, and some are comparatively thicker. In general, a thin shiplap is for the interior, and a thicker shiplap is for the exterior of houses. Thick shiplap can easily secure the building from the outside sun, wind, cold, and other harsh weather.
For thin shiplap, which we generally install in our interior, the best option is brad nail guns. To install a thin shiplap, you need 16-to-18-gauge nails, and to drive these nails, a brad nail gun is the best option. Brad nailers produce the proper amount of force to shoot these nails, and it also has some advantageous characteristics for shiplap.
However, you can also use finish nail guns for these thin shiplap, but this nail gun leaves some marks of shooting nails on the object. These marks can ruin the beauty of your shiplap at a significant level.
On the other hand, you must use framing nail guns for comparatively thicker shiplap which are generally used on the exterior of a house. In these thick shiplap, you will need bigger nails which are not possible to be driven with brad nail guns. That is why here, the best option is framing nail guns.
Conclusion
Shiplap was introduced for ships to make them waterproof long ago. Now, these are being used in houses to protect them and enhance the beauty of the houses. When you are about to install shiplap in your houses, you must have a nail gun.
However, you will get many kinds of nail guns in the market. All are not appropriate for use in installing shiplap. That is why you must know what size nail gun for shiplap you need. In this article, we have discussed all types of nail guns and found the three best nail guns you can use in your shiplap installation process.
Hopefully, you have got all the information you need regarding this topic from this article. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask in the comment section.