16g finish nails for exterior use

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I was wondering if it would work ok to use 16g finish nails in my air nailer for outdoor use, if they’ll be under caulked joints and painted over. The boards they’ll be fastening will also be held with a dab of construction adhesive, so the only real job the nails will have is to hold the boards there until the adhesive sets. I figured in this case, the won’t be exposed to much more humidity than say a bathroom baseboard.

Whattayathink? I just think it will go much faster than using 6d galvanized finish nails and having to pre-drill, set, and fill the holes.

2

They make stainless finish nails for guns. But if they are just to hold things in place until adhesive sets then you shouldn’t care at all.

3

I thought they did, but I didn’t see any at The Orange Store.

I’ll look around more…

4

They may not have them to fit every gun. Here’s one type.

5

Yeah, mine’s a straight nailer. Also, I’m a cheapass and hate to have to buy 1 or 2k nails when I won’t need anywhere near that many! :thinking:

6

And I HAVE nails the length I need, they’re just not SS. So hoping that painting over them would do the trick.

7

Galvanized finish nails or plain? A horizontal surface or vertical? Plain nails will probably rust away from environmental humidity in 5 or 10 years, especially on a horizontal surface. Construction adhesive fails when/if the wood fibers degrade, too. Galvi nails should be fine for most applications.

8

Vertical…attaching lapboard to the outside of my grill station. I might actually have some galvanized, if not I just found some cheap on Amazon.

9

Galvi will be fine (unless it’s cedar and you live in a humid environment). At least they won’t bleed through the paint like plain will.

10

:+1: Cool. Looking forward to finishing up this weekend.

11

I have used them and I have seen them used many times, I have also demoed old installations that used them and have not observed anything to be concerned about.
Some finish nails will be have ‘interior use only’ on the box. I take this just as a warning that the galvanizing is not intended or tested for full constant exposure to the elements, caulked and/or painted they are fine.

Just remember they are not for treated wood - only ACQ rated fasteners in treated wood ever. For heavier materials or more fastening force finish screws will do a better job.

Just editing to add, I have never seen ungalvanized 16 gauge brads, maybe they are a thing in the States.