Nailing T & G beadboard ceiling - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

needthingsdone? · 10-07-2008, 08:00 PM

Ok, I searched the forum and can't find anything concerning this.
We're hanging 1x4 t&g ceiling.
In the past we've face nailed with 15g finishers (fast but ugly), nailed on an angle through the tongue with 15g finish nails and or 18g brads (slow and splits the tongue.
The floor nailers are too heavy for overhead work and the 18g staplers I've found for engineered flooring don't fire a long enough fastener.

How is everyone else doing it?

s. donato · 10-07-2008, 08:07 PM

i use 1-1/2" SS narrow crown staples nailed in at an angle through the tung. but a full 1" think ceiling board may be to much for that. i use 3/8-3/4" ceiling materials.

woodworkbykirk · 10-07-2008, 08:08 PM

what about stitch nailing with the 18 gauge brad nailers?

have you tried running a light bead of construction adhesive or wood glue on the back side of the v-groove?

are you nailing direct to strapping or is the ceiling have drywall installed

needthingsdone? · 10-07-2008, 08:21 PM

This is not a normal install for use as we will be installing over a previous layer of beadboard that was uncovered after a drop ceiling removal. The original has been cut and hacked thruoght the years for electrical and HVAC installs, but there is no money to demo. I might be able to strap it if I scrape some xtra $ together or If I think it will save me a bunch of time.
The construction adhesive thing is probably a no go due to cost and the peeling state of alot of the original 80 yr old lead paint.
The ceiling is 14 to 20 feet off finished floor in an old school auditorium. Working off of scaffolding on the sloped floor will be enough fun, I need speed !!!

PA woodbutcher · 10-08-2008, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needthingsdone?

Ok, I searched the forum and can't find anything concerning this.
We're hanging 1x4 t&g ceiling.
In the past we've face nailed with 15g finishers (fast but ugly), nailed on an angle through the tongue with 15g finish nails and or 18g brads (slow and splits the tongue.
The floor nailers are too heavy for overhead work and the 18g staplers I've found for engineered flooring don't fire a long enough fastener.

How is everyone else doing it?

Through the tongue...If your using 3/4" beaded board it shouldn't be splitting it out. I did a ceiling in a 3/8" beaded board last year and still used a 16g finish nailer with out a problem. For a 3/4 I would think that a brad nailer is getting a little on the light side.

neolitic · 10-08-2008, 07:54 AM

Just a guess, but if you are splitting
the tongues on 1X maybe you are
set too deep/pressure too high.
Sounds like you're blowing through.
Blind nailing requires a little finesse.

dlcj · 10-08-2008, 11:07 AM

A couple years ago we built a 2000sqft house for a guy and the entire inside was done in 3/4" t&g bead board of various woods and sizes. We used a hitachi decking stapler with 7/16 crown 1-1/2 and 2" staples. It worked fine but had to be carefull not to get the staple to far on the tongue or it will break it and not to far out or it will show. I will post pics later if i can find them.
One more thing, if the ceilings are 20' high no one can see the face nails anyway if you go that way.

Burkk · 10-09-2008, 07:38 AM

Don't know how long of a staple you are looking to run, but DuoFast and Portanailer offer 18g engineered flooring staplers shoot 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" staples. I would think this should be sufficient.

TaitINC · 10-09-2008, 09:07 AM

I've done a few T&G 3/8" x 4" ceilings. I always just nailed them through the tongue with a 16g finish nailer. As previously stated, you need to get you adjustments set for the depth, angle and placement of the nail. Once you figure those out it should go quickly. Here are some pics of the last one we did.