How Do I Use a Pancake Air Compressor to Install Wood Floors?

A compressor is essential for installing wood floors.

A pancake air compressor is a vital tool in the installation of wood floors. It is small and easily moved into various work areas, yet it is powerful enough to meet every need during the install. It can run a flooring nailer during the installation of large areas and a finish gun for closing walls and attaching shoe molding. You can also add an air attachment to blow the dust off of your saws and out of the motor housings, making it very useful for cleanup at the end of a job. This will keep the area where you store your saws clean and prolong the life of the saws.

Things You'll Need

• Pancake compressor
• Air hoses
• Flooring nailer
• Finish nailer
• Nails
• Air-blow gun

Instructions

1. 

   Make sure to oil the air tools.

   Plug in the power cord and connect the hoses to the compressor. Use a T-splitter if you need to use more than one hose simultaneously. Set the PSI to 80, and then stretch the hoses out to the work area making sure there are no kinks.

2. 

   Connect the hose to the nailer.

   Place a few drops of machine oil in the fittings of all of your nailers, and then connect the finish gun to your hose. Use it to install the first three rows of flooring, or until you are far enough away from the starter wall to use the standard flooring nailer.

3. 

   Make sure the joints are tight.

   Use the flooring nailer for the bulk of the install. This portion of the installation usually goes rapidly and can tax the compressor. A pancake compressor can generally handle one nailer without any problems, but two at a time may overwork it.

4. 

   The regular flooring nailer will do the bulk of the floor.

   When you reach an area where the flooring nailer doesn't fit, reattach the finish nailer and toe nail or top nail as required. When the bulk of the room is finished, you will also need to use the finish nailer to close the area at the wall where the flooring nailer doesn't fit.

5. 

   Baseboards finish the project off.

   After the installation job is complete, use the finish nailer to install the shoe molding or baseboard as needed. It may be necessary to reduce the PSI on the compressor for the trim work. If the nails go straight through the material, or not far enough, adjust the pressure accordingly.

6. 

   Use the compressor to blow sawdust off of your tools.

   When the overall job is complete, use the blow gun attachment to clean the tools. Once everything is dust free, unplug the compressor and use the release valve to let all of the air out. When the gauge reads zero, open the drainage port on the bottom of the compressor and remove any water that may be trapped in the tank.

Tips & Warnings

• Let the compressor build up air pressure before beginning to use it.

• Place the pancake compressor as far away from you as feasible so that you do not have to listen to it while working.

• The compressor should not constantly run. If it does, you may have a leak somewhere or you are pushing it too hard.

References

• Inside Woodworking: Using a Pancake Compressor
• Porta Nail:Proper Care and Feeding of a Flooring Tool
• Tomorrows Technician: Breathing New Life into Pneumatic Tools

Resources

• National Wood Flooring Association: General Wood Flooring Information.