In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Matty F wrote:

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Yes, it's true. There are exceptions, but not many. Builders dont' seem
to like Passlode type nailers except for specialist applications - too
costly for nails and the nailer, I suspect. Compressed air nailers
aren't liked because of the trailing hoses.

I have both a coil nailer and a couple of small staplers/bradders. I
prefer them to swinging a hammer. They are fast and create a good
finish. Air nailers are IMO superior to other types because they set the
nail properly and have little or no kickback. Worst of all are the
electric nailers/staplers. I have a Tacwise model and it's useless.
Noisy, kicks back, makes a mess of the wood.

On 5 June, 09:47, Matty F wrote:
In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Not any more.

There may be a few diehards, and of course there are situations where
a nail gun is too brutal, and screws have displaced nails in many
applications - but generally nailguns are commonplace amongst builders.

"Matty F" wrote in message
...
In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

Arfa

Matty F writes:

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

I don't know about new build, but all the council owned houses
round the corner from me were re-roofed recently, and there were
definitely nail guns in use then.

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

On Jun 5, 9:45 pm, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

Recently shown on my TV. It's probably quite old.
It's quite common here in NZ to make the wall framing accurately in a
nice dry factory and stick it all together on site quickly wih
nailguns.

http://granddesigns.bbclifestyle.com/sa/series-2
Grand Designs Series 2
Episode 2: Sussex

This programme follows recently married couple Jane Warren and Willem
Mulder as they build their dream home in Sussex. Inspired by houses of
New England, Jane bought a plot of land including a derelict bungalow
which she demolished to replace with an imported American Kit House.
Experts in this pioneering build method fly in from America to get the
project started. After the team return to the States, the build
progresses in the hands of a British workforce who have to adapt their
skills to this new building specification.

On Sat, 5 Jun 2010 01:47:52 -0700 (PDT), Matty F
wrote:
In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?


Unfortunately, yes it is.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Matty F
saying something like:

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Not from what I've seen.

On Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:48:16 +0100, Jon Fairbairn
wrote:

Matty F writes:

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

I don't know about new build, but all the council owned houses
round the corner from me were re-roofed recently, and there were
definitely nail guns in use then.


A housing association has recently completed a three-storey block of
flats within sight and earshot of my house, and for several months,
all I could hear at my desk (I work from home) was the sound of nails
being hammered in by hand. I watched them erect the roof trusses, and
all the major work was done with hand driven nails. However the
purlins were fixed very rapidly with a nail gun.

If you ever watch the Canadian TV programme "Holmes on Homes" it is
quite a stark contrast to the UK building trade because of the sheer
number of specialist tools used where we seem to use older and more
primitive methods. I suspect Matty F's New Zealand more closely
replicates the Canadian approach.

On 5 June, 10:45, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

Arfa

The very first GD's in Glasgow had nailguns. Hilti I seeem to recall.

Matty F wrote:
In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

In my limited experience, not it isn't.

Steve Firth wrote:

I have both a coil nailer

Make and model?

--
I can't go on, I'll go on.

Frederick Williams wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:

I have both a coil nailer

Make and model?

What's that little word we use?

On 5 June, 10:32, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Matty F wrote:
In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Yes, it's true. There are exceptions, but not many. Builders dont' seem
to like Passlode type nailers except for specialist applications - too
costly for nails and the nailer, I suspect. Compressed air nailers
aren't liked because of the trailing hoses.

I have both a coil nailer and a couple of small staplers/bradders. I
prefer them to swinging a hammer. They are fast and create a good
finish. Air nailers are IMO superior to other types because they set the
nail properly and have little or no kickback. Worst of all are the
electric nailers/staplers. I have a Tacwise model and it's useless.
Noisy, kicks back, makes a mess of the wood.

The problem is cost a efffect. You need the work to make it pay
otherwise an hammer is cheaper. some contracts are worth buying one
for. Some hiring is less expesive.

Most builders don't have space for storage. And getting a 300 quid
tool ripped off is a lot of money to feed a smack-head's habit for a
couple of days.

The other factor is that most British work tends to vary widely from
one job to the next. Repairing an old house, building a shed, fitting
a porch, replacing windows.

A British joiner is expected to know how to do all this stuff. And
having a nailgun at home in the garage to do any of it isn't as handy
as carrying a hammer on a belt for immediate use as and when.

A lot of Canadian and US construction is compartmentalised into
specialist part trades. Some of the workforce are ace with nail guns.
Most of the workforce never see an hammer.

Where they are worth having is when the shoddy specs allow the use of
skimpy materials. the days of the 5 x 2 stud partition went before my
time and the 4x 2 went when I was young.

These days 2 x 3 white pine is a rarity and composite studwork
requires guns not hammers. You can't use a nail on a piece of 2 x 2
that will be strong enough and long enough without being wide enough
to last long. And you will need to use a lot more bracing.

It will just split the wood. But shoot it at high speed and it will
not split and you can use brittle, hard nails. But you must use many
more of them or they will just snap. But they help as bracing.

On 5 June, 10:45, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

No it's an early venture into the build my white shed genre.

Do you really watch that crap?

Don't answer me. I won't be following this thread.

"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message
...
On 5 June, 10:45, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

No it's an early venture into the build my white shed genre.

Do you really watch that crap?

Don't answer me. I won't be following this thread.


What a very odd person. Why ask the question if you don't want the answer ?
In fact why look at the thread in the first place, make a very reasonable
post, and follow it 2 minutes later with another that says you won't be
following the thread anyway ... ???

But just in case, the answer is yes, I do watch that "crap". I like to see
the hare-brained projects that people come up with, and just sometimes, the
schemes or materials that they use to overcome issues, are noteworthy.

Arfa

On Jun 6, 2:19 am, Tim Streater wrote:
In article ,
John Rumm wrote:



On 05/06/2010 11:33, Matty F wrote:
On Jun 5, 9:45 pm, "Arfa wrote:
"Matty wrote in message

...

In a recent programme of "Grand Designs" it was stated that UK
builders building new houses tend to use hammers to drive in nails
rather than use nail guns.
Is this true at all?

Recent ? Have I missed the start of a new series ?

Recently shown on my TV. It's probably quite old.
It's quite common here in NZ to make the wall framing accurately in a
nice dry factory and stick it all together on site quickly wih
nailguns.

http://granddesigns.bbclifestyle.com/sa/series-2
Grand Designs Series 2
Episode 2: Sussex

This programme follows recently married couple Jane Warren and Willem
Mulder as they build their dream home in Sussex. Inspired by houses of
New England, Jane bought a plot of land including a derelict bungalow
which she demolished to replace with an imported American Kit House.
Experts in this pioneering build method fly in from America to get the
project started. After the team return to the States, the build
progresses in the hands of a British workforce who have to adapt their
skills to this new building specification.

Yup, that was on years ago here. I remember the comment about nail guns
at the time - although it is perhaps not surprising since they prefab
much of it in a factory and nail it together there, and expect to carry
on in the same way on site.

Timber frame building is less the norm here, so work is less nail
intensive. Some builders IME do use guns, but not to the extent you see
in places like the US.

Anywhere in a earthquake zone (e.g. most of California) will use
timber-frame construction for domestic buildings.

Same In New Zealand. Because earthquakes are common in some areas,
most buildings here have timber frames. So naturally most NZ house
builders have nail guns.
Not that earthquakes are a problem where I live. I've never felt one.

On Jun 12, 4:05 am, "Arfa Daily" wrote:

But just in case, the answer is yes, I do watch that "crap". I like to see
the hare-brained projects that people come up with, and just sometimes, the
schemes or materials that they use to overcome issues, are noteworthy.

Some of the projects look unlikely to be finished, yet they do finish
them. Perhaps the failures are censored.
One day I may have the courage to show my biggest ever house project!