Because examples of the ca. 1764 nails were also found, it was possible to make exact reproductions of the nails the Madisons used to secure their floors. Surprisingly, while it was found that while the interior of the room used headless wrought nails (essentially just a wrought nail without a head hammered on), only T-headed nails were found around the perimeter of the floor. After several experiments, it was found that the colonial carpenters used the T-headed nails at the end of the boards because the thicker headless nails caused the boards to split.