flooring nailers - staples or cleats?

[mattlewis]

i'm getting ready to buy a pneumatic nailer. i've rented one 2 or 3 times, and i'll be putting more flooring down, probably, for the rest of my life! lol

anyway, i'm looking around for a recommendation, and i see where some people say to avoid staples, and some say they are better.

any more opinions over here?

also, i'm not really impressed with bostitch or the porter cables. i found one brand, "porti-nailer", that cost about $100 more, but comes with removeable shoes, and it can face nail as well. it looks like a better built tool, but looks can be deceiveing. anybody have any experience?

[Rich]

I prefer the cleats myself.

No idea about porti-nailer.. only used Bostitch and Grizzly - both of which got the job done.

[nailerman]

I would go with cleats myself. You cant go wrong with a Porta-nailer. i purchased a portanailer at a very reasonable price and it worked just fine.

[Crash13]

I just installed 600 sqft of hardwood in my house using a Bostitch stapler, with staples obviously. Staples are plenty strong in my opinion. I messed up a couple pieces every now and then, and in order to get the piece out after it was stapled I had to cut the whole piece in half with a circular saw. I was impressed with how well the staples held the wood down.

[CThomp]

What about a brad nailer?