Old framer at Home Depot made me ditch my nail gun for a hammer on one job site last week

I was grabbing some 16d nails and this guy in his 60s just starts talking to me about how nail guns make guys lazy about plumb walls. He showed me how he hand nails every stud on a load bearing wall and I thought he was nuts but he let me try it. After 6 studs I could feel the difference in how straight everything was. Has anyone else gone back to hand nailing for certain walls or am I just being a sucker?

3 comments

3 Comments

noraroberts2d ago

Holy crap, he hand nails every single stud on a load bearing wall? That sounds like backbreaking work but I kinda get it. I bet you definitely feel the wall a lot better when you're swinging a hammer instead of just pulling a trigger.

iris_barnes872d ago

Honestly, that's rough. I've done enough framing to know that hand nailing a whole load bearing wall is no joke. Your shoulder and elbow are gonna be feeling that for a week straight. And yeah, the whole "feeling the wall" thing is real. When you're swinging a hammer you can tell if a stud is slightly twisted or if the plate isn't sitting perfectly flat right as you hit it. But man, my back hurts just thinking about it.

smith.lee2d ago

That line about nail guns making guys lazy with plumb walls stuck with me too. Sometimes the old ways teach you something about feel and alignment that power tools just skip right over.