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Leon Leon is offline
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Default nail gun for fence?


"LLBrown" wrote in message
...
I have to redo the fence I put in 25 years ago and somehow I have gotten
older? There is no joy in the prospect of handnailing each plank. I see
nail guns in many price ranges and guages.. including staples. I have a
compressor, no problem there.

What would be the proper guage and length of nail to put up 1/2 inch
treated fencing?

Thanks,
Leonard



I built 2 or 3 fence sections using screws, never again. TOOOO slow. I
used to use screws with the anticipation of it being easier to replace a
rotten board years later. A rotten board almost falls off anyway so you
don't really save any time later.

A framing nail gun will work nicely. Typically I use a galvanized 1.75"
nail for the pickets but those can often be hard to find. 2" is more common
but may come out the back side of the 2x4 rails.

Now if you want the picket nailing to go quick, spend a little more money
and run a 1x6 PT board horizontally along the ground and attach each end to
the outer picket side middle of the posts at ground level. This board
serves 2 purposes, it helps prevent water/dew from wicking through the
bottom of the pickets and causing premature rot, and it speeds the build.
Simply set each picket on top of that 1x6 and you do not have to worry about
the top of the pickets being lined up with a string. Working by yourself
you can put up 110 pickets, 50' using this method in about 45 minutes
working at a leisurely pace.