What type of nail gun should I buy to replace the boards in my wooden fence?

Question

Some kids are constantly breaking the wooden boards (about 6 feet tall and an inch or so thick) of our fence. It's ongoing and we are constantly replacing the boards. We'd like to purchase a nail gun (hopefully inexpensive) that is versatile enough for this and light use around the house (i.e. putting up crown molding)

Also, we've seen combo staple/nail guns on-line. Is it possible that this type of gun could be used to fix the fence?

Overall, what type of nail gun should I purchase and about how much is it going to cost?

Thanks

Answer 1

i would use screws, but get a nail gun able to use a 2 inch nail.

Answer 2

I prefer to use an  electric drill and using screws for fence slats? rent the nail gun for molding and use a portable (battery) op drill on the fence if possible?

Answer 3

first off you need a compresser to run most nail guns , the more expencive ones use gas and the two types of work require the use of differant tools , the one for crown molding is a brad nailer and the other is a nail gun for 2 to 3.5 in nails you could rent one at the local rental because they are 300 to 600 dollars new plus the compresser l have both and built my own house so the cost was justified brad nailers are cheap around 100 or so , dewalt porter cable are good names  

Answer 4

You probably can't get a gun that would do both and I would recommend you rent because they are so costly.  The nails for the fence need to be much bigger than is usued for finish carpentry and while nail guns may take somewhat different lengths, the different sizes and considerably lengths will not work in the same gun.  

Answer 5

Sorry to hear about the vandals.  might try a remote web cam.  See links below.  They've come down substantially in price and with the type of activity you describe, would pay for themselves rather quickly.

Jason and max are right.  Screws are your best bet for fencing.  Especially if you are constantly replacing the boards.  Use brass torx drive screws and you will be able to reuse them a bunch w/o stripping them out.  Perfect for your situation.  Nails in fences tend to work their way out.  Same reason you would use screws for decking instead of nails.

If you want a gun for putting up crown, the coolest new tool is the headless pin nailer.  See the third link.