Yeah, that's exactly what I'm wondering about.
Honestly, you're probably overthinking it a bit. Pneumatic nailers are reliable, sure, but for a single DIY roof job, renting a cordless nailer with an extra battery or two is way less hassle than dragging hoses around all day...
"Honestly, you're probably overthinking it a bit. Pneumatic nailers are reliable, sure, but for a single DIY roof job, renting a cordless nailer with an extra battery or two is way less hassle than dragging hoses around all day..."
I get where you're coming from on the cordless convenience factor, but I wouldn't dismiss pneumatic nailers quite so quickly. A couple years back, I had to oversee a roofing repair on one of our smaller properties—just a quick weekend job, nothing major. Thought I'd save some hassle and rented a cordless nailer with two batteries. Seemed like plenty at first.
Well... halfway through the second day, both batteries were drained and charging painfully slow. Ended up losing hours waiting around for them to recharge. It wasn't the end of the world, but definitely frustrating when you're trying to wrap things up before dark.
Since then, I've stuck with pneumatic whenever possible. Sure, hoses can be annoying to drag around (especially if you're working solo), but once you've got your compressor set up properly and hoses routed smartly, it's really not that bad. Plus, you never have to worry about running out of juice mid-job.
If you do go cordless though—and I totally understand why you might—just make sure you've got more battery capacity than you think you'll need. Roofing eats through power faster than you'd expect...
I totally get the battery anxiety, but honestly, pneumatic setups aren't always as straightforward as they sound. I just did my first DIY roof last summer (small shed, nothing huge), and figured I'd borrow my brother-in-law's pneumatic nailer and compressor. Seemed simple enough at first.
But man, setting up that compressor was a bigger hassle than I expected. Had to lug it around, find a stable spot, run extension cords out to it... then wrestle with hoses getting snagged on everything from ladders to shingles. Maybe I just didn't route them "smartly" enough, but it felt like half my day was spent untangling or repositioning hoses.
If I had to do it again—and I'm sure I will at some point—I'd probably go cordless and just rent an extra battery or two more than recommended. Sure, charging downtime sucks, but if you plan ahead and rotate batteries regularly, it's manageable. Either way though, roofing is definitely one of those jobs where prep work and planning ahead makes all the difference...
I hear ya on the hose tangling nightmare... been there myself. But honestly, once I got a decent hose reel and learned to position the compressor centrally, things smoothed out big time. Cordless is tempting, but batteries dying mid-job still makes me nervous.
I've had decent luck with cordless nailers lately. Sure, battery anxiety is real, but if you invest in a couple of extra batteries and rotate them, it's honestly not that big a deal. I get the hose reel argument, but dragging a compressor around just isn't practical on some of the storm jobs I've tackled—especially when you're hopping roofs all day. Cordless might not be perfect yet, but it's come a long way.
