Using Staples For Roofing Felt

Back in the day all i used was staples and or roofing nails now plastic tops are the norm.

Using staples for roofing felt.

Use a construction stapler or a hammer. Gently scrub the roof using a bristle brush taking care not to damage it. After all it s no surprise roofers loved staples for attaching shingles to roofing. When the shingles are installed the felt is not going anywhere.

Staples cost less than nails offer exceptional holding strength and cover a greater area of space with a more versatile and compact collation. Clean the roof decking of any debris protruding nails or other objects. Many roofers will tell you that staples are fine for installing the synthetic underlayment. I ve got that one and while it doesn t jam much it does tend to drive the staples all the way through the felt.

Before applying roofing you ll need to cover the sheathing with roofing felt also often called tar paper most local codes call for using 30 pound felt. For that reason i tend to use a hammer tacker with the bail front on it. Pull out nails that are holding felt to the roof using the sharp end of a claw hammer. The reason they want you to use felt nails is to prevent blow offs if left exposed or high wind areas.

Both options often depend on the slope of the roof itself. Cap nails are typically made of steel and feature a plastic cap to prevent roof leaks hence their name. Fema specifically recommends the use of roofing nails not staples in high wind areas. Roll out about 10 feet of felt and fasten with staples or roofing nails with plastic washer heads.

Put fasteners at least every 8 inches. Let s look at the irc model building code on roof shingle fasteners. Creating dents will make it harder for your roof felt to adhere to the roof. In the past when it came to the debate of roofing nails versus staples the industry was split down the middle.

Roofing felt may be necessary for use with your shingles to meet a class a fire rating when shingles are evaluated for their fire ratings it is done on a small test deck with the roofing felt underlayment in place without this underlayment the shingles alone may not meet the class a fire requirements. Staples can be used for tacking it down but not recommended to hold.