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Framing nail count debate - 3,200 nails in a single house or am I just slow?
I finished up a small ranch house out in Bakersfield last month and tracked my nail usage for the first time. Came out to exactly 3,200 framing nails for the whole thing. That got me thinking about whether that number is normal or if I'm over-nailing every junction. Some guys at the lumber yard swear you should always double every stud to the top plate for sheer strength, but then you look at the code book and it just says minimum requirements. I had one old timer tell me he's never counted a single nail in 40 years and just goes by feel. But another guy in my crew logs everything down to the screw and says it saves him money in the long run. Is there a standard number per square foot that I'm missing, or does everyone just eyeball it and hope for the best? Has anyone else actually run the numbers on their last project?
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simon_chen10d ago
Man, I feel you on that. I tracked nails on a 1,500 square foot job last year and landed around 2,800, so 3,200 for a whole ranch house sounds about right to me. That "go by feel" thing is scary, I'd rather know exactly what I used than hope the walls don't fall down later.
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avery3669d ago
Right? "Go by feel" is how you end up with a wall that looks like a connect-the-dots drawing. I did a small shed once and told myself I'd just eyeball it (big mistake). Ended up using a whole extra box of nails because I kept second-guessing myself and doubling up. Now I count everything, even the ones I drop on the concrete floor.
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zara_allen6d ago
3,200 seems totally reasonable for a ranch. Counting nails is tedious but beats having a wall shift later. Eyeballing it just adds more trips to the hardware store.
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