I'm attaching new wood balusters to my stair case that needed to be replaced while I did some refinishing. I've got an 18 gauge brad nail gun, but I believe both of these woods are oak, so I'm worried the gun won't have enough juice to go through both. Is a pneumatic 16ga finish nailer a better option?

Comments

ToolemeraPress t1_j2662l4 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 11:04 PM

Forget the nailer. You want to toenail a finishing mail, one left, one right. Both at about a 30deg angle. Predrill the holes on the baluster for a snug fit. Drive each nail, countersink and putty over

Old fashioned finish carpenter technique for hardwood balusters

NotWorthTheTimeX t1_j2662y8 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 11:04 PM

For sure a brad nailer won’t work. When I replaced an oak handrail the instructions said to glue, pre-drill, and hand drive finish nails. There were no spindles and I was connecting the top and bottom handle returns to the main rail. Worked well.

gladmonkey t1_j28dz9k wrote on December 30, 2022 at 11:25 AM

I work as a finish carpenter and most of the time I take contracts for a staircase company… So yeah, basically I do what you’re doing everyday.

I have a Milwaukee cordless brad nailer (18 gauge) and I’ve always just hit the balusters with 2 shots where I’ve cut the angle so it catches nice and firm into the handrail.

I do this on red oak handrails with red oak balusters.

But Looking at your picture now I’m confused..

are those the new ones? I’m confused as to where you need to nail anything, looks like those require a hole in the tread and a hole in the bottom of the rail to sit in. Usually with those i just squirt some PL into the hole on the handrail to prevent it from moving around.

z1ggy16 OP t1_j28e7c5 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 11:28 AM

Yeah I figured I was going to try my 18ga first then move bigger if I had to. Part of my hesitation was that my Ryobi Brad nailer has jammed a ton on me in the past... I really do not like this thing, but I don't Brad nail enough to justify moving to something better.

gladmonkey t1_j28eu9n wrote on December 30, 2022 at 11:36 AM

But what are you nailing? Those things are so round and skinny at the top, is that the part you’re nailing?

z1ggy16 OP t1_j28lrh0 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 12:55 PM

Yeah I'm installing two of the white balusters into that open space on the tread. There's already holes in the tread and railing for the baluster to sit. I'll glue the bottom of them in because they are doweled, but the top part is skinny and there is a lot of play where the railing hole is, so it needs to be nailed in.

I can post a better pic if you need. The ones I pulled out that needed to be replaced were nailed in, and looked like 18ga nails but no idea if that's actually the best practice. This house has lots of short cuts done to it I'm finding. I need these to be really secure because I have a child and last thing I want is here to grab or shake these and they somehow came loose.

davisyoung t1_j2av7fd wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:12 PM

Did you remove the balusters yourself? The ones I have dealt with where there is a dowel at the bottom, the top is trapped by two pieces of wood set in a groove on the underside of the hand rail.

z1ggy16 OP t1_j2aw5qr wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:18 PM

Yes I did but these don't have the wooden spacers, these just go into the railing itself which has a hole drilled out for it.