How to Buy a Roofing Nail Gun

The hammer is a great tool: versatile, easy to use and completely portable. But consider for a moment, using a hammer for roof repairs. There are hundreds (or even thousands) of shingles on the average roof. Each shingle requires several nails.

That's a lot of hammering. Nails guns are designed to make short work of large projects. If any job could benefit from a nail gun, it's roofing. Deciding on a roofing nail gun is a matter of knowing which features are important for your particular job.

Generating Force
Nail guns operate by generating enough force to drive a nail and delivering that force at the pull of a trigger. There are several ways to create the driving force of a roofing nail gun.

Spring-loaded nail guns create force by cocking a spring using an electromagnet. The recoil in a spring-loaded nail gun drives the nail into the surface. These models are very reliable since they have few moving parts. On the downside, they can't deliver the same force as other types of nail guns.

A solenoid nail gun is powered by reversing the magnetic polarity of a piston. Solenoid nail guns are as reliable as the spring-loaded variety, but they also share the same lack of power. Some solenoid nail guns are battery operated, making them portable.

Combustion nail guns use a small motor to drive the hammering piston. Combustion nail guns can deliver much more driving force than electric guns, but have higher maintenance requirements.

Pneumatic nail guns use compressed air to drive nails. Pneumatic nail guns typically have the most driving force, but you have to have an air compressor to make them work. Although this is an added expense, pneumatic nail guns are the most popular of all nail guns.

Features To Consider
When comparing roofing nails guns, here are some features to compare:

• Comfort: Even though a roofing nail gun will do most of the work, you still have to hold it all day. A heavy nail gun is a safety hazard, especially when you're juggling it on a roof. Get the lightest nail gun you can find with enough power to complete your job.
• Swiveling connectors: whether air or electrical powered, a corded roofing nail gun should have a swiveling connector. A flexible connector will let the roofing nail gun accommodate you, not the other way around.
• Nail loading: Roofing nail guns store nails in one of two ways: strip (like staples in a stapler) or coil. Coiled nails are bulkier, but can easily handle nails with large heads. Strips loaders can sometimes have a larger capacity. Remember, the more nails you add, the heavier your nail gun.
• Nail flexibility: Look for a roofing nail gun that gives you the most flexibility when it comes to nail sizes. Greater flexibility means your roofing nail gun will be usable in more situations.