Hand nailing vs nail gun for baseboard? I switched and now I'm second guessing

I've always hand nailed baseboard with 4d finish nails because that's how my old timer boss taught me. But last week on a job in an old house with plaster walls, I tried my 16ga nailer for the first time on base and it was way faster, maybe saved 2 hours on a 12x14 room. But I noticed the nailer left some tiny dents that I had to fill anyway, plus one shot blew out a chunk of plaster because I didn't judge the depth right. Now I'm wondering if the speed is worth the potential damage, especially on older homes with finicky walls. What do you all lean toward for trim work, and have any of you had a nail gun mess up a job bad enough to make you switch back?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin89614d ago

Ah man, I feel you on this. I had almost the exact same thing happen to me on a 1920s craftsman bungalow last fall. I was using my 18ga nailer and it split a whole 8 foot piece of baseboard right down the middle because I hit a knot and the plaster behind it was loose. It took me forever to patch and repaint that one board. For me, I still go back and forth depending on the house. On newer construction with drywall, I use the nail gun every time because it's just so much faster. But on old plaster, I always grab my hammer and hand nails. I know it's slower, but the control you get is way better. Plus I swear the hand nails hold better in that old crumbly plaster anyway. The dents from the nailer drive me nuts too, I always end up filling them anyway so it's not like I'm saving that much time in the end.

wadejenkins14d ago

Man, tell me about it! Plaster's like a minefield with a nail gun.

owens.laura14d ago

And that's the thing about hand nailing in old plaster, you can actually feel how the material is going to take the nail before you commit to it. That feedback through your hand is something no nail gun can give you, especially with that crumbly plaster that might just crumble if you hit it too fast. I think you're right too that hand nails hold better, because they're not setting the nail so hard that it loosens the surrounding plaster.