How to Drive Nails Into Concrete by Hand

Attaching wood to concrete is a job that frequently comes up during remodeling projects. If you are building partition walls in the basement or in a home with a slab-on-grade foundation, you will need to attach wood sole plates to serve as the base for the wall studs.

Carpenters often use a powder-actuated nailer for this—a tool that fires special nails through the wood and into the concrete, using 22-caliber gunpowder cartridges. If you expect to be doing a lot of concrete nailing, you may want to consider investing in a powder-actuated nailer. But if you have only a few nails to drive, driving concrete nails with a hammer drill and a framing hammer is more cost-effective.

Tools and Materials for Nailing Into Concrete

When drilling into concrete and hammering concrete nails, it's helpful to use three tools and materials that are different from the counterparts you may already have on hand: a hammer drill, a framing hammer, and concrete nails.

• Hammer drill: Drilling pilot holes for concrete nails is best done with a hammer drill. A hammer drill simultaneously rotates and hammers the concrete with the drill bit to drill the hole. Along with the hammer driller, use a masonry bit that is the same diameter or slightly smaller than the nails you're using.
• Framing hammer: A framing hammer is heavier and more substantial than a standard claw hammer. With its added weight and milled face (checkerboard ridged head), a framing hammer makes the job easier. Note that damage may occur on the milled face of the hammer, as concrete nails are much harder than regular framing nails.
• Concrete nails: Concrete nails are made of high-carbon hardened steel and have fluted shafts that help them sink into the concrete. You can also use masonry nails, which have a square cross-section and are tapered from the head to the tip. Masonry nails are cheaper than concrete nails and are less likely to break or bend.

Safety Considerations

Many DIYers fail to use hearing protection and eye protectors when using hand tools, feeling that only power tools warrant this level of caution. But any time you are using a hammer or other impact tool, it's a good idea to use basic safety equipment. A hammer can easily break a nail—especially the brittle, hardened steel of a concrete or masonry nail—and send it flying through the air. There are also instances where the face of a hammer can chip and send a shard flying. The sound created when pounding nails can also damage hearing over time, so don't overlook hearing protectors for all phases of the work—not just when drilling pilot holes.

Make sure to wear a particle mask when drilling in concrete, as cement dust can be damaging to the lungs.