I’d just like to know if anyone else here has any opinions on using staplers for sheathing or if some of you use them currently. We use them exclusively on my framing crew and overall I find the staples (1 1/2″ x1/2″ crown) work better than nails. They are lighter, carry more fasteners, and the staples seem to hold much better. Not to mention you can nail off roof decking and not worry about shooting someone working inside with a misplaced fastener. The only con I have is that sometimes when shooting into a really hard or knotty SYP rafter the staples tend to crunch up against the top of the sheathing.
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I did a renovation on a manufactured home that had it's sheathing stapeled on and I could not believe how hard it was to remove the sheathing. The staples had incredible holding power, definitly stronger than a nail.
Captain Strap, what gun are you using? Does the construcion stapler serve other uses for your crew. I'm interested in picking up a stapler for the reason you've stated. I currently nail down sheathing (at HFH) with 8's and a hammer - keeps the volunteers safe.
regards
We use Paslode Heavy-Duty Sheathing Staplers (1 1/2" in by 1/2" crown). They are light and dependable. Other than wall and roof sheathing, I can make them hang housewrap and poly/ felt around doors and windows, but not very well. It's a bit of a dedicated (specialized) tool, but for production framing, it's invaluable to us.
I'm a little leery of staplers after hurricane andrew. After the hurricane, engineers flocked to Florida to look at the damage and try to determine what had happened. I read several of the reports those ugys wrote.
One of the things they blamed was the fastening of the roof sheathing to the trusses, and particularly with staples. Often they found that the staple guns were held parallel to the truss top chord, and only one leg of the staple hit the truss. This would obviously reduce the holding power of the staple a lot.
Maybe I'm paranoid for no reason, but I'm not sold on the idea of the staples.
Bumpersticker: Honk if you see something fall off.
Staples? What does your engineers and inspectors say about stapling your sheer walls? Or roof diaphragms? Although the two staple legs hold incredibly well to framing, OSB or Plywood sheathing could easily pull through that crown. And what about the sheer value of a measly little staple leg to that of a 8d or 10d nail? No, staples are good for underlayment, siding, and fences.
Scotty,
The boxes of Paslode staples we get say they are "California Code approved" and have "BOCA" and "ICBO" numbers all over them. Engineers and inspectors here are fine with them. Keep in mind I live in southern Alabama on the Gulf Coast where wind shear and uplift values (or whatever they're called) are high because of hurricanes. And as far as pull through is concerned, I've had to remove many pieces of OSB stapled to framing and the OSB has always splintered to bits long before the staples pulled through. I've never seen a staple pull through at all.
Parallel they missed? I can see perpendicular missing with one leg...I'm a stapler and you have me confus-ed. EliphIno!
I think FHB did an article on Hurricane Andrew and I remember the photos of what the Boss is talking about with staple legs dangling alongside rafter members.
A lot of the damage there was the result of careless/sloppy worksmanship. And the Spanish tile roofing that came off and became shrapnel was mostly due to inadequate mortar bedding (or whatever they use for that stuff).
Staples do hang on really well, but I've never seen them spec'd for shear applications.
That article was a real testimony to what happens when, to save a few bucks on hurricane anchors, Teco nails and such, the results can be disastrous.
parallel....like....in line....... one leg right...one leg left. ..one leg misses...."_"
perp....like sideways......both legs and the crown follow the framing..."!"
he's talking about how ya hold the gun......not how the staple comes out.
Otherwise...it'd be reversed.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
That's what I get for living in a parallel world...another major staple failure found after Hurricane Andrew was overdriven staples in osb. The staples didn't withdraw, the osb did! EliphIno!
Not knowing the answer I asked a trusted carpenter friend about staples. His explanation was that they were not allowed in this area for shingles or any structural work. Nails with full round heads were what the inspectors want to see.
We're not under those restrictions, yet. It is a little weird, because nails can be over driven, too...and most of our framing inspections are done at least after the tar paper is on the roof ( most are already shingled), and the housewrap is in place. I have never seen an inspector look under either.. EliphIno!
The building codes are so wierd! I live in southwest Idaho, 40 miles east of the Oregon border. This is a moderate climate, usually the farmers are crying about not enoough water, lack of snowpack, etc. Its not in a seismic zone, either. I just finished framing a house with a 22 ft. front 2-car garage, attached to the house. I had to run the garage door header all the way across the front of the garage, with just a single stud at each end, then put double trimmers in at the edges of the 16 ft. door. I had to use two 1 3/4x11 7/8 microlams for the header and heres the kicker. I had to staple two rows of 1 1/2 in. staples at three inch centers all around the door. Then, the inspector wanted big "clusters" (his term) all across the header. It turns the 32 in. wing walls at either end of the 16x7 ft. door into shear panels. I know that there is a lot of uplift when a garage door is open, so I did just as he stated. All this is in conjuntion with the two Simpson up-lift straps on either side of the door, nailed onto double studs in the wall. I guess they figure if you put enough staples into a chunk of wood, it'll hold up against anything.
Boss, I read a few of those reports and summaries too. Not to chalenge you but the thing that I took away from it all was this, The codes were sufficient, and the materials were sufficient. It was the installations and craftsmanship that were deficient. Thats kind of what you were saying.
The staples weren't the problem, it was the placement by unqualified laborers. They hire cheap help and send them up on a roof to nail it off with no training. I've been asked to roof houses that had whole sheets barely tacked down because most of the stapels or the nails missed the rafters or chords clean away. I always renailed by hand and after one or two warnings, started to charge for the time to do it or refuse to shingle it. Either always brought about a change fdrom top down once the owner heard why he was paying half again for the roof job. These missed nails never raised an eyebrow from the inspectors, who BTW were also raked over the coals after the hurricanes.
I have a different reason for not caring for staples. I can't bring myself to believe that the wire staples have anywhere near the same shear strength as nails. The pullout strength is great though!.
Excellence is its own reward!
Boss,
As usual , you are most definitely right: When one of the "legs" of the staple miss the framing, the connection is majorly weakened. However, operator experience allows myself (and my coworkers) to "feel" and hear when a staple has missed; the recoil isn't the same. While I cannot speak for my coworkers, I always go back and check if I think I missed a rafter or stud.
I agree that with experience a guy can tell if he missed the stud or rafter. I'm in Seattle and we have to use 8d not staples for shear walls and roof diaphrams. I always look from inside for misses and drive them back out. Later I pull them and add a new nail.
The last job we called for shear nail inspection and the inspector started by walking inside and checking for missed nails. I was glad I'd caught the few that missed.
I am actually in the middle of replacing a roof with a stapled deck right now. we removed 2 layers of roofing from half the main house on 4-3-03( it's been raining ever since ---so we haven't yet finished the rest of the project)
house is in what most people consider to be a VERY desirable neighborhood.
so far we have found several sheets with a 16d nail at each corner and NO other fasteners on the sheet( 4 nails---that's it folks).
Many, many sheets show driver marks over a rafter----but no staples. It seems that the framer continued to fire LONG after he ran out of ammo in the gun.
1/2" cdx----the areas that actually were stapled----the staple has mostly severed the top ply of the sheet.
quite a few sheets----where they meet at the end of a sheet and "share" a rafter------- framer fired a staple straddling the joint so that one leg is in one sheet and one leg is in the neighboring sheet.
all of the above is VERY typical of what we find. Of course no one ever admidts to actually doing these things-----but then why do I dind so much of it if no one is actually doing it? LOL
I know all about what you're talking about...You get in a hurry and don't do things as you should--right or wrong.
1. About running out of ammo--this was either inexperience or total negligence! The stapler makes a thunk when it shoots a staple and hits a rafter (or stud); a "slap" if it misses or doesn't fire or is out of ammo. Plus, once you've stapled a few roofs off, you get a good feel for how long the staples in the mag last. My crew also looks for missed spots when rolling out felt and hand nails any such spots with 8's.
2. Concerning the rafter where two sheets break, we normally staple those with the crown running lengthwise WITH the 4' end of the sheet--on both sheets. Me personally, I take more time to staple butt ends to ensure accurate placement.
3. As far as overpenentration goes, again that is just carelessness. They should have either A) reduced pressure, or B) adjusted depth of drive. Our staplers normally put the staple flush with the face of the OSB or right on top of it; a few are slightly overdriven. Keep in mind, however, that overpenetration is not solely a concern of staplers; nail guns also share this problem.
have to agree with 4lorn1, staples aren't allowed around here, seattle area, due to code. Wish they were, must be way faster and lighter to carry around