attaching a wall to concrete floor

I am currently (not far) into drilling hole to attach a wall to the concrete floor in my basement. There has got to be a faster/better way. I would like to hear from people who are experienced in this area. I have several walls to do and drilling appears to getting me know where. Suggestions, please.

 

I am also going to start framming my basement in a few months
and was asking myself the same question on how to do this?
I was at Sears this last weekend and saw a tool that they sell
that is suppose to allow you to nail a 2X4 to a concrete floor.
It was $25. This tool (Forgot name of it) allows you to load 1 nail and one cap into it, the you position the tool over the area to
be nailed, then strike the top of the tool with a hammer which
then fires the cap and sends the nail through the 2X4 and
concrete. Has anybody use this type of tool? Does it work?

 

I have used this tool (powder actuated nailer). Long ago I used one that you struck with a hammer to fire (the $25 one you mention) - I hated it. You need to load the tool, grab the handle and press it hard against the surface, then strike the end just right with the hammer to get it to fire. Usually took me 3-4 tries to get it to fire, and frequently the force of the hammer blow would cause me to miss the point where I was trying to drive the nail by an inch or more.

When I framed my basement, I figured I was going to need to drive a lot of nails into the concrete so I sprang for the $70 version of this tool. This one is trigger operated instead of hammer operated and works infinitely better (although it still can take a few tries to get it to fire properly when shooting into a wall). IMHO well worth the extra $$ if you have more than a few nails to drive.

Note: Eye and hearing protection are mandatory when using this tool (even the cheaper hammer actuated one) - it's REALLY loud.

 

I had the same concerns when I started my basement. I actually just finished framing it. I was lucky and was able to build all my walls on the floor, stand up and I secured them to the floor joist first. Once I had all of the walls finished I rented the gun from Home Depot for a day. I did not see any sense in buying a tool that I would never use again. The buying price vs renting price was about the same. The shells and nails are a little more expense but there is less labor involved:-) The shells for the gun were .27 caliber and came in a strip of ten that loaded into the gun. The nails themselves had to be loaded individually. I was able to drive all the nails within a couple hours. I was very pleased with the tool and had no issue with the wood splitting or nails not going in far enough.

If you can not or plan not to drive all the nails in one day/evening then renting may not be the best way to go.

 

I have heard of that type of nail gun, however I decided to drill the holes and use concrete screws. I know builders use these guns all the time, and even did so on the stairs in by my basement, however I have also heard of those guns causing cracks in the basement floor slab. In fact when I had to remove a little bit of the work that was nailed down by the builder there was (is) a small crack spreading outward from that nail hole. Mind you not a big crack and it probably does not go all the way through the slab, but it is there. By-the-way, those nails do hold well, it was a ***** pulling up that nailed down 2x4.

To answer the original question. The way to drill holes in concrete is to use a hammer drill & a good masonary drill bit. Spend the extra few $$ for a good carbide bit, it will last at least 2- 4 times as long. A hammer drill will drill that hole in less than 1/4 the time as a normal drill. I actually compared the difference, during one project of mine, and it was more like 1/10th the time.

You can either buy or rent the drill. If you buy, on most hammer drills now can turn off the hammer feature and use like a regular drill. Thus a justifiable purchase, but not a particularly inexpensive purchase. You can rent these very cheaply, keeping the drill bit for possible future use.

Good Luck

 

I used a hammer actuated gun. It was $25 at Home Depot.