That time I tried to nail gun a staircase skirt board without pre-drilling

Last month I was trimming out a staircase in an old house near Pittsburgh. The skirt board was thick oak, figured I'd just blast through it with my 18ga nailer. First nail bent sideways, second one barely sank, third one blew a chunk out of the wood. Looked like a mess. Ended up having to fill the gouges and re-cut a new piece. Cost me an extra 60 bucks and half a day. Anyone else run into situations where you just assume a material will behave one way and it bites you?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerg1726d ago

Oak is NO joke. You absolutely have to pre-drill that stuff or it'll fight you every step of the way. I learned that the hard way on a mantle piece once, bent three nails before I gave up and grabbed my drill. Old hardwood especially is way denser than the new softwood stuff they sell at the big box stores. Live and learn, but man it stings when you ruin expensive material.

terrymitchell26d ago

Did you manage to save the mantle piece after you switched to predrilling, or was the damage already done?