Roof Nails Vs Staples

Staples are far less prone to jamming up in a gun than nails.

Roof nails vs staples.

Note the differences in the specification and length of the fasteners as well as the nail staple patterns. Roofing staple guns were light and easy to use over the newer and heavier roofing nail guns that were coming onto the market. For one staples cost less than nails adding to their profit per roof. The staple will have a double prong unlike the brad meaning that it can transfix two pieces of wood at the same time.

Mainly because they do not roof everyday. Theoretically staples should hold just as well as nails but with a wider coverage hold down area. We are talking nails hand or gun. The preferred fastener is galvanized roofing nails with a minimum 12 gauge shank and head diameter of at least 3 8 inch.

After all it s no surprise roofers loved staples for attaching shingles to roofing. Make no mistake we are in business to make money. Staples are the method used years ago that gave machine roofing a bad name. I can t see them being of any lesser quality than roofing nails.

They are an accepted fastener by shingle manufacturers such as sbc and maibec. When properly installed a staple grabs and holds more material than the small head nail could ever hope to. A roofer can hold a bunch of sticks of staples in their pocket and reload their gun very quickly. In my experience staples have much better holding power than nails.

Staples are much more compact. Hand naming will not do it. Staples cost less money. Although staples are allowed in some jurisdictions they do not provide the same holding power.

I have never had to repair a stapled roof but the nail advocates all claim that staples are garbage. Staples cost less than nails offer exceptional holding strength and cover a greater area of space with a more versatile and compact collation. In the past when it came to the debate of roofing nails versus staples the industry was split down the middle. Click to enlarge any image.

From my understanding properly places staples vs properly placed 2 nails have little to no difference in holding power the argument is that staples will break easier. Coil nail guns are literally fed with a coil of nails and the holder for the nails makes the gun much bulkier. Staples also offered excellent holding strength and could be installed over a larger roof area quickly. Staples while the staple can also be used in finishing wood projects they are not nails.