Old timer told me to never use finish nails for stair treads

Last month I was building a set of stairs for a client in Austin and this retired carpenter walked by, said I'd regret using 16 gauge finish nails on the treads. Sure enough after one week the treads started popping up from the humidity changes. Anyone else run into this or do you always screw your treads down?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela19119d ago

Read somewhere that glue and screws are the only way to go...

corad8419d ago

Wait, glue AND screws? I'd probably glue my fingers together and drop the screws. Tried that combo once on a bookshelf and ended up with a piece that looked more like modern art than furniture. Seriously though, it did hold together ok after I let the glue dry overnight, but I'm pretty sure my technique was the weakest link in that whole project.