By the book rant

Mike Olson

Member
Messages
41
Location
Western, NY
I have been planning out a shed/playhouse for a few months now and have made many/many trips to my town's building department. My last visit was about framing air nailers. I wanted to use one but didn't have a clue. after a whole lot of research i discovered the biggest difference between the HF cheapo nailers and the high end nailers were the diameter of nail they are rated for. So I called my friendly building dept and asked what nails sizes I'm required to use. They also said they didn't care if they were full round or clipped heads.

0.135+ @ 3 1/2" for all framing
0.099+ @ 2 1/4" for all sheathing

I spent several weeks scouring the classifieds and craigslist and finally found one that meet all the requirements and was in my price range. Now to get those nails. The Sheathing nails i picked up on my first trip out.

But guess what, those framing nails are super difficult to find. upon contacting the building Dept one more time to ensure the numbers they gave me were right. They said yup and that the big box stores were really bad at selling stuff which does not meet code.
They gave me the name of several places that sell to contractors that carry the right stuff but they are only open while I'm at work. Grr...:doh:

The little things seem to be the biggest pain!
 
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Mike, have you looked online for the nails? I'm not sure about sources to recommend, but that might be a way to get them and not have to take off from work to do it.

There's a commercial lumber yard (Bohnoff Lumber) near downtown LA that I'd been wanting to go check out for several years. Problem was, they're only open something like 7:00 to 4:00 on weekdays and closed on weekends. I was never able to get down there due to work. Then a couple of years ago I was laid off from my corporate job, so I finally had all the time in the world to go check them out. I did manage to go down there once to pick up materials for a small commission job, but I've not been back, because discretionary funds to spend on lumber have been few and far between. I guess my point is that it might be a pain to not be able to hit the commercial nail supply shop because of your job, but it's probably better than having plenty of time to go, but no money to spend there. Silver lining and all that. :)
 
Mike i am no help either. I just wanted to thank you for the education. I thought all those nails were a common standard. I guess in todays world i should have known better.

BTW great playhouse for your youngster.:thumb:
 
How big is shed in question? How about, wait for it, hand sticking it? You know the old fashioned way. Go buy a box of 16p and a hammer.

For the record, I have never seen nails that have been inspected. 8p for decking and sides. 16p for framing.
 
It's going to be 10 x 24 with a Hip roof to fit under the TV cable line that runs over that area to my house. There is going to be a divider wall to have an 10x8 storage shed. So the Playhouse part will be 10 x 16

I called one of those places and was told they have never sold any nails larger than 0.131. So i picked up some 3 1/2" @ 0.131 framing nails last night and hopefully i won't have a problem.

It starts today as the walk behind digger and crushed stone is being dropped off and i already have the 4x4's for the skids.

Rob, if your comment was regarding the playhouse on instructables, that's at my old house. The new one is going to be about the size of my old backyard. The kids played with that playhouse more than anything else. Even neighbors would come over just to play in there. That's why building a new playhouse was on the top of our list of things to do at the new house.
 
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