I'm wavering back and forth between installing a my baseplate to my basement floor with either tapcons or ramset.
Tapcon Pros:
- Can use existing impact driver and only need to buy Impact bit set which I could maybe reuse for other stuff down the road
- Fairly safe
- Can take them out if I need to for some weird reason
Cons:
- Takes much longer than a ramset
- MANY MANY complaints about stripping/breaking screws and bits
Ramset Pros:
- WAY faster, easier (and more fun)
Cons:
- Have to buy $90 tool (I'm not getting the hammer style, don't want to buy used, and will be building my walls so slow that I can't really rent)
- Need to figure out how to dispose of unused cartridges
- Potentially more dangerous (though I'm also using a framing nailer, so not that concerned)
- Small chance for cracking/chipping concrete
- The wife factor
I've tried finding info as to what the optimal size is for each for attaching the PT 2×4 to the floor, but haven't found anything concrete (pun intended). From the best I've found, the recomendation is to go at least 1" into the concrete, and for tapcons, people tend to recomend the 1/4 vs 3/16". Looking around it seems like my options are either 1/4" x 2-3/4" Tapcons, or 2.5"/3" Ramset nails. 2.5" on the ramset nails would be just cutting it on the 1" minimum, so I was thinking maybe the 3"? Does it matter if it's the version that has the washer vs not?
Best Answer
One thing to think about is; how old is the cement? A very old cement breaks up with a ramset. Tapcon screws with the washer are a very good choice if you might be moving things. Make sure to use the correct size drill bit (some boxes come with the right bit). Don’t over torque with the screw in the cement it will break or pull out as you have read. On new construction I use a ramset, on something older than ~10 years I use Tapcon and have had much better success.