Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Flooring Nailer/Stapler Recommendations?

So 1,500 sq ft of 3/4 inch Brazilian Cherry is getting delivered Saturday. Since it has to acclimate, fortunately I have a few days to make a decision on flooring nailers.

Harbor Freight has a no name pneumatic stapler that fires 2 inch staples for about $170. Menards has a Bostitch that fires the same staple for $460.

I have a Bostitch brad nailer which I love. I'm sure the Bostitch flooring nailer will work better/last longer, etc, and if I was a contractor doing floors all the time, there'd be no queston which one I'd buy. But while this is a big project, once it's done, I don't expect to be doing it again any time soon, so the question in my mind is whether the no name will do a competent job.

I would welcome any opinions anyone has. Thanks!

Joe

Bump...

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks. :)

Why are you buying a floor nailer for one job? Go rent a Bostich.
Skip the staples and use floor nails.

Because the one job is 1500 square feet and I haven't done this before, so I'm expecting it to take me several days at the very least. So by the time I rented a tool for as long as I'll need it, I might as well have bought one.

Why do you recommend nails vs staples? From the reading I've done, either seem to be considered acceptable.

The renting vs buying issue is more relevant if I buy the less expensive tool. If people think I'd be better off with the Bostitch, then it might end up being cheaper to rent it. But that's what I'm trying to figure out.

I bought a HF framing nailer and it developed a leak after about 200 nails. It also usually jams on the last two nails of each clip (it holds 3 clips). I have no experience with their flooring nailer. I went manual to do 400 sq/ft oak (porter cable). It was hard, but OK for a DIY, it slows you down and keeps you from getting ahead of yourself. I would buy brand name and try to sell it afterwards. This is such a big job, the last thing you want to do is be fighting a piece of junk the whole time. You'll use about 12000 nails for this project, if you get a jam 1 in every 100 nails, thats 120 jams to clear. :wall:

If you can do 20 sq/ft an hour I think you'll be doing good.

Thanks Chris. I appreciate your input, and your point is well taken.

Purchase the Bostich (but a nailer, not a stapler) and then sell it minus the cost of a day or two of rental.

I bought one new for around $500 (P-C?) and did two rooms a while back. I don't work well when I'm rushed and it was good to have the option of taking the time to check and double check things.
If I had seen one for around $400 that was in good condition, I prob would have picked it up. The one I have is still in great condition.

I planned on selling mine, but we ended up moving to a new state and now my wife wants this carpet replaced, and that carpet replaced....:)

We recently installed 3/4" oak strip flooring in our house and wanted to take our time doing it (not so young any more!). We considered renting a stapler but would have been too expensive for the time period we contemplated the project taking us.

We ended up buying a Bostitch stapler (which worked flawlessly, absolutely NO jams) and when we finished, we simply auctioned it off on eBay. Much cheaper doing it that way than renting.

Good luck on your flooring project!:)