I'm going to assume that this is T&G flooring, and that you are laying
baseboard (or at least base shoe) over the top of that first row? If that's
the case, the 18g nail is plenty adequate. It's mainly done to prevent
lateral movement and hold the first row on your straight line, so the
following rows stay even. The up/down movement where one might think 18g is
too small is mitigated by placing the baseboard (or shoe) on top.If it's not
T&G I guess you'd be face nailing everything, and I'd use at least 14g.

--Mike

"ksanny" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I'm starting to lay down 3/8 inch engineered hardwood (3 inch wide
plank) onto a 1 inch underlayment. Instructions say to face nail the
first row of wood. Asking around, I'm told I should use 1 1/2 inch
nails to face nail the first few rows of wood.

As I shop around for a finish nailer or a brad nailer, I see gauges of
16 and 18. What gauge should I use for the face nailing? Will an 1
1/2 inch 18 gauge nail be strong enough for my purpose?

Any help would be much appreciated.