Hey everyone, I'm working on a bathroom installation in my basement in Ontario and ran into a bit of a headache with the building code. I pulled all the necessary permits and know I'll be inspected, so I figured I'd familiarize myself with the official code—big mistake! First off, the whole thing is in metric. I get that Canada uses metric, but all the supplies are available in imperial, which makes things confusing. For example, they specify nails by their metric sizes, like saying I need a 63mm nail, but I only see 2 1/2" nails at the store.
But here's my real issue: the code requires 82mm nails with a minimum diameter of 3.66mm, which translates to 3 1/4" long nails in familiar terms. However, I can't find nails with a 0.144" diameter anywhere! The closest is 0.131", but even that doesn't meet the code. Plus, I need hot dipped galvanized nails for my pressure treated sill plate on the concrete.
What's going on here? What are local contractors using to frame houses? Are they all using undersized nails and just getting by? Any advice would be super helpful!
3 Answers
For fixing the sill plate, just use common nails and a hammer! The code’s specs are usually stricter than what's really necessary for every part. Just make sure you use hot dipped galvanized nails where required.
It sounds like you could just go a bit bigger with the nails! It's not rocket science, you know? I get that it's frustrating to find exact sizes, but have you considered using nails that are slightly larger?
Yeah, I could try that, but I can't even find those larger sizes for my nail gun. It's a bit of a mess.
Most people with 21° framing nailers are doing just fine with standard nails. You don’t always have to stick to exactly what the code says—often, inspectors won't measure nail diameters so closely if you use reputable brands.
Thanks for the tip! Good to know inspectors might not be super strict about that.
I can definitely do that! Just need to get nails for the studs now, which are being tricky to find.