Roofing and Fencing Nailer in one?

It seems that the big box stores almost always have combo packs of
tools for sale. I know I've seen bundles of nailers before with 2 or
three different nailers. I'll bet a little looking would find a roofing
and finish nailer combo.

Except that the longest nails a roofing nailer will shoot are 1 3/4".
Not enough penetration for a piece of 1x4 or any other kind of 1X.
Galvanized roofing nails are "washed" with different zinc and cadmium
agents to keep them from rusting until used; they are NOT meant for
completely exposed use. This is especially easy to see when you pull
open a leaky roof and find all the nails really rusted. So much for
the galvanizing.

It is not uncommon for me to have an open box in the back of the truck
over the weekend and find them starting to have a thin dusting of rust
on Monday that formed over the weekend. Imagine those nails where you
can see them weather. Ever see one of those nice fences that has the
long trails down the face side that start at the nail heads? Rust.

Shoot your fence together with a utility gun that shoots 2" galvanized
nails that are made for Hardie, fences or other "exposure"
applications. You can rent that gun for $35 bucks a day at the Borg
and with the same gun I can put up 300' of 1x6 pickets on a fence once
the posts are set and cut and the rails are on in a day.

Get everything ready to go (gates cut or built, material dispersed) and
you won't believe how fast you will move once you get your strings set
to line the tops.

You can do a >lot< of things with a utility nailer, but not too much
more than nail foil insulation/hang windows/shoot off the gussets on
site built trusses and of course, roof, with a roofing nailer.

Ahhh.... the quandry. If you have the roofing nailer longer the rent
will eat you up. But if you buy it, there is less utility value down
the road. But if you rent the utility nailer, you probably only need
it for a day but you will lose the gun for all kinds of other neat uses
if you didn't buy one.

Solution: Buy them both. Woohoo!

Whichever one you use the least sell on a Saturday night EBAY madness
sale.

Robert

On 27 May 2005 09:57:22 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>In the near future I will be re-roofing my house and replacing my
>wooden fence. I previously rented a nailer from Home Depot for the
>inital fence section I did, but with a with more fencing and roofing
>ahead, I am thinking about buying a nailer or nailers for the jobs vs
>repeated rentals? I image the roofing will take me multiple days, and
>the fence another day. I already own the compresser. Does a nailer
>exist that can do both the shingles and the fence pickets? In other
>words could I buy one tool for both jobs?


roofing nails by definition have large heads. if you are OK with large
head nails on your fence, go ahead.

Roofing nailers will only shoot roofing nails AFAIK. I guess it depends what
kind of nails you need for your fence project. If you want to build it with
roofing nails then you will be all set with one nailer. If you are planning
finish nails or framing nails for your fence project, those, obviously, will
be of zero use for a roof.

Roofing nails may not actually be a really bad choice for a painted picket
fence.

Like another poster said. You can get some really cheap, disposable, nailers
at harbor freight that may very well serve your needs.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In the near future I will be re-roofing my house and replacing my
> wooden fence. I previously rented a nailer from Home Depot for the
> inital fence section I did, but with a with more fencing and roofing
> ahead, I am thinking about buying a nailer or nailers for the jobs vs
> repeated rentals? I image the roofing will take me multiple days, and
> the fence another day. I already own the compresser. Does a nailer
> exist that can do both the shingles and the fence pickets? In other
> words could I buy one tool for both jobs?
>

Short answer: No, there is not a nailer that will do both AFAIK.
Both units are typically coil nailers and neither one is cheap at
regular price. I would not own the roofer, except it was such a deal
on clearance at HD. Even at that price, it has seen little use. I try
to stay off of roofs.
The fence nailer OTOH has seen considerable use, since it will do
siding, fence pickets and it builds simple crating quite easily. Many
more fences need repair than roofs.

On 27 May 2005 09:57:22 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>In the near future I will be re-roofing my house and replacing my
>wooden fence. I previously rented a nailer from Home Depot for the
>inital fence section I did, but with a with more fencing and roofing
>ahead, I am thinking about buying a nailer or nailers for the jobs vs
>repeated rentals? I image the roofing will take me multiple days, and
>the fence another day. I already own the compresser. Does a nailer
>exist that can do both the shingles and the fence pickets? In other
>words could I buy one tool for both jobs?

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In the near future I will be re-roofing my house and replacing my
> wooden fence. I previously rented a nailer from Home Depot for the
> inital fence section I did, but with a with more fencing and roofing
> ahead, I am thinking about buying a nailer or nailers for the jobs vs
> repeated rentals? I image the roofing will take me multiple days, and
> the fence another day. I already own the compresser. Does a nailer
> exist that can do both the shingles and the fence pickets? In other
> words could I buy one tool for both jobs?
>

The principal of any nailer is the same, but the actual detail needed to do
a roof is different from framing, stapling, etc. No one has made a combo
yet that I'm aware of.

Normally I don't recommend cheap tools, but a lot of people have been happy
with the Harbor Freight models for light duty work. Three days rental will
pay for one.