rent pneumatic flooring nailer or use manual one?

[clay]

I'm getting ready to install about 450 sq ft of wood flooring in our house, and I'll need a nailer of some sort. Should I spring for the rental of a pneumatic nailer from a local box store, or spend a tiny bit more and get a manual one? I have access to an air compressor, so I wouldn't need to rent one of those if I got the pneumatic one.

I've never done this before and don't necessarily plan to do it again anytime soon, but maybe I will at some point. I could always re-sell the manual nailer after finishing the job. I like the thought of a pneumatic nailer simply to give my body a bit of a break, but I also know that the rental fees for the thing will really start to add up if I'm not able to knock it out in a couple of days.

anyone have thoughts on the subject?

[Harry in MI]

The air/ pneumatic is stapler, the manual is a (flat) nailer. I've only used a Bostich air nailer on a few jobs. I'd rent the stapler, a box of the staples (way more than you need for 400 sq. feet runs a few bucks ($50/$75 ?) but the first hit of the hammer onto the driver bumper is to drive the boards tight, then you hit the trigger bumper and it squirts the nail in.

I would imagine the manual nailer takes a really good womp to fully drive the nail in every time, something you don't think about using the air stapler. I think Lowes and or HD rents these for a good price.

[GuyGene]

I've only used the manual kind, but they work great for me, makes the floor tight using two hits. I would just say go with what you are comfortable with, and maybe just go with price too.

[MikeF]

How "in shape" are you? Think about how many nails you have to drive to do 450 sq ft of flooring and I suspect you'll opt for the pneumatic...

Estimate: 3 inch wide strips, 1 nail every 12 inches, is about 1800 nails... And the manual mallet is usually 2+ pounds...

[Maddog]

Every professional sub that I have ever seen would choose the air powered device over manual. Maybe you should follow their lead?