"The Mays" wrote in message ...
Have a small storage shed on a slab and need to replace rotted-out sill
plate. The original one was obviously nailed down but my question is how do
you drive a nail through a 2x4 into concrete? I have access to a Bostitch
framing nailer, will that do the job? or other? which nails?

I'm no pro but I think it depends on the age of your concrete, and if
there is a lot of scrap buried in it. I can't speak for the nailer,
but some people here suggested Tapcon screws and I don't doubt that
they are good (These screws are robust!). But in my case I wasn't
succesful with them. So don't take for granted they will work.

I initially tried standard concrete nails with an average hammer on 50
year-old concrete, but the concrete kept breaking no matter how hard I
tried. Then I bought those expensive tapcon screws, but I must have
hit some small stone or something because it wouldn't go all way
through, even if I had drilled a hole before. I broke my bit trying to
screw it. It's the first time that it's not the screw head that gets
all eaten up when there is resistance.

I ended up nailing the concrete nails in the holes I had drilled for
the tapcon screws. The holes prevented the concrete from breaking.
That did the job for me and it holds well. I don't know if it's a good
practice but it was for a shed too, so I didn't care much.

Max.