Opinions On Concrete Fasteners

JPhelps

Just wanted to get some other guys thoughts on hilti nails vs tapcons. Used both to attach 2X's and ply. The tapcons are nice, take alot longer, and I had to blow every hole out before I screwed in. Broke alot of them, nails just seemed to be alot more user friendly. One any stronger than the other? I couldn't pull any of the nails they just had to be broken off. any suggestions, comments, thoughts welcome--thanks--JP

Chris Johnson

Depends on what your doing, if I am attaching a 2x to concrete I prefer Tapcons, steel track I used Hilti/Simpson powder actuated nail gun and if it's structural I really like Titan HD's from Simpson, there pricey but I find them easier and faster than the old Red Heads

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Chris

troubleseeker

I always found the Tapcons to be a pain in the butt, either they stripped out, or could not be driven in completely, The diameter of the hole just seems too critical for most field work to me. If you are attaching on the floor, such as interior plates, the Hilti or other powder actuated hastener is certainly the fastest. I also use a lot of the "Rawl" brand deformed shank drive pins. They look line a fat nail with a couple of nibs stamped into the shank. You just drill a 1/4" pilot hole and drive them home through the plate. They look pretty simple, but have great holding power.

narlyman

Here in Florida you have to use tapcons and not nails for fastening in concrete when using straps,clips and 2x's. I perfer using tapcans even thouhgh it is slower than t-nails when putting up furring. I know that they will last a long time in the enviroment of concrete.

Tscarborough

Tapcons are for pullout, nails and most others are for shear, so it depends upon why you are fastening.

Kingfisher

If you are blowing the holes out and having them problems you may need to drill deeper. I try to drill aleast 3/4 of an inch deeper and do not blow the holes out this lets the dust left in the hole have room to be pushed down. The concrete in FL is much nicer than other places fro tapcon because the aggregate is soft limestone based stone

Teetorbilt

Hilti's can 'score' a slab and create a fracture, I've seen it many times.

TapCon's may be more time consuming but don't create this problem.

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PipeGuy

Bingo! The best answer I've seen on this oft revisited topic.

As for this

somebody's using too heavy a shot, too long a fastener and way too close a spacing - or some combination thereof.

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oldrivers

for hanging thin stuff like drywall right onto concrete walls i find using a glue such as pl400 and then pre drilling holes and then nailing in perma grips with a sledge really works well . perma grips have a nice big head on them and they have a thick shank . they seem to be good at both anti- pulling out and anti -sheer.

AtlanticWBConst

In N.E. we don't have codes like Florida (Hurricanes), so we have always been able to, and have used hilti's for steel framing and 2x's - onto concrete (unless plans advised differently)

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Builtbybeck

Hilti has a product similar to Tapcons but much better. They supply different drill bits for the same screw depending on the material your drilling into. (very slight change in size depending on the material hardness) The screw shanks aren't round making more space for the drilling dust, they cut beter threads, and come in diferent head designs, like flat head w/ torx or 5/16" nut driver etc

Back several years ago I put up hundreds of sheets of melamine faced particle board, over concrete block for a wainscot, in several military buildings. The hilti fastners were leaps and bounds better. We messed with tapcons a while. The Hilti fastners turned the project from pain in the neck to profit.

Tried to post a thread but I don't have 15 post yet (what a strange rule) Go to the hilti website and look for Quick con II

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Darin Beck
Beck Construction and Remodeling
Commmercial construction, renovations, and government contracts
www.BeckConstruct.com