cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Staple Quandary

Tin_Pusher
Explorer II
Explorer II
Hey folks, no posts in awhile, but I'm into something...

Repairing wood rot on the old Wilderness, for which I have had to de-skin the back end. About ready to re-install the (aluminum) skins and have a question about staples...

Originals were what seems to be called medium crown staples, 3/8 wide x 3/4 long. I am having a problem finding these (and the staple guns that go with 'em) locally. What I can get are so-called narrow crown staples, 1/4 wide x various lengths.

So, the question is, should I use the narrow crown staples, or not. One downside I see, from limited testing, is that I can't pull the staples once driven, they just want to pull through the skin. Of course, this is only a problem if I would want to de-skin it again in the future. Hope to never :R
Other than that, I thing they will hold just fine.

Any experiences out there? What would you do?

Thanks in advance,

Tin

(BTW, I posted in this forum b/c I am DIY, and I AM upgrading from rotted wood to un-rotted ๐Ÿ™‚ No, seriously, b/c of all the excellent restoration work I have seen here in the past.)
Tin Pusher's Guide To Successful RV'ing: "Don't get mad, don't get in a hurry"

2002 1500HD
2002 Wilderness 265H
1997 Seadoo GTI
1952 Wife;)
16 REPLIES 16

westend
Explorer
Explorer
Masterful work! You really thought through and carried out the repairs to last, not just a band-aid.

Maybe a heat gun would be your new buddy for the putty tape. You could always come back in the Summer and try to get a bit more squeeze on it, too.

Good luck on the rest, you're a credit to RV'ing and thanks for posting the pictures.
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton

Tin_Pusher
Explorer II
Explorer II
westend, afraid I haven't been very diligent about taking pics, but here are a few:

Teardown:



Both outer wall studs and taillight brackets rotted



Studs except for corners were less affected, paneling delaminating



Worst damage was across the bottom. Floor sill and rear wall bottom sill completely rotted. Some rot of the floor. This is a shot of the LH rear corner, the longitudinal sill was rotted for about a foot forward. RH rear was sound.

I repaired the floor and sill as best I could, removed the loose material, painted with thin epoxy and patched with epoxy putty where needed. New floor sill, new bottom wall sill, spliced in new studs.



Studs are notched into the bottom sill and scarf jointed at top. Bonded w/ epoxy, with splice plate.



Painted the wall panel with the epoxy and built up with Bondo, the other handyman's secret weapon ๐Ÿ™‚ I had to trim the wall panels flush to the bottom of the floor to replace the floor sill, the blocking is to capture the backside of the panels.



New taillight bracket. Splice for RT rear is just above.

I have done all the work from the outside, as this FW is a rear bath model. Left to right across the back is the wardrobe, toilet, vanity and tub/shower. Too much to remove, and as it turned out most of the damage would not have been accessible from the inside anyway.

This work is being done outdoors, camper is covered with a 29 ft x 49 ft silver tarp from HF. Didn't start until mid December, weather has not been too bad, but I have lost some days. Even on days I can work, they are kind of short, what with the temps and daylight.

I am ready to re-skin it, but I am wondering about installing the other parts afterward. Not sure if the putty tape will conform and seal well in mid 40's temps. Wait for warmer weather?
Tin Pusher's Guide To Successful RV'ing: "Don't get mad, don't get in a hurry"

2002 1500HD
2002 Wilderness 265H
1997 Seadoo GTI
1952 Wife;)

westend
Explorer
Explorer
I've installed siding for years. When I stapled the aluminum siding back onto the new, non-rotting frame, I used my Duofast electric narrow crown staple gun. It shoots a 1/4" X 9/16" staple. The staple schedule should be many and closely placed.

I also added in large sheets of aluminum panel in certain wall areas. For the panels, I drove in self-tapping, large head fasteners along with some construction adhesive. Gotta' love Liquid Nails, I must have used 50 tubes when I rebuilt the Hilton.

A rental yard should carry the narrow crown staplers and the staples are cheap, 5K for $10 and they are available in different colors at siding distributors.

Good luck with your restoration. Have any pictures to share?
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton

Hornnumb2
Explorer
Explorer
Not sure if you have a harbor freight in your area but you can get a cheap stapler there.

4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Explorer II
Before I started this trip back in Aug I tore out and rebuilt my small slide and replaced the floor and some of the framing.

I had no trouble with the standard staples you get from the hardware store but they really need to be STAINLESS STEEL.

These worked fine. And they are plenty strong if not stronger than the originals I pulled out.

Dont worry too much about using exactly what the MFG used. They have lot of different reasons for using specific types of hardware and one of the biggest factors is time...how long it takes to install. Strength is not always their first concern.

Mine has held just fine and I expect will easily go another 10 years.

DrewE
Explorer II
Explorer II
You might want to check out Teks Lath screws. They're readily available in big box stores in various lengths, are pretty well-made screws, and have a nice big flat head sort of like a built-in flat washer. I use them for all sorts of things.

Tin_Pusher
Explorer II
Explorer II
Well, did a little more testing this afternoon. Screws it is. I may tack around the edges w/ the staples, where the skins are under the cap strips anyway.

Jim-Linda, Tango I'm a big fan of McMaster, but this is the rare case where they don't have what I am after. Their medium crown stapler apparently uses a T50. Too bad I can't use a crimping type stapler, LOL.

jjrbus, yeah, HF's medium crown also uses the T50. I just bought one of their narrow crown combo units (~ $23) which I used when splicing in the new wood. Worked great instead of clamps, screws, nails, etc while the epoxy cured. Just didn't work so well for the skins. No big loss ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks to all for the help, I've apparently got a direction now ๐Ÿ™‚
Tin Pusher's Guide To Successful RV'ing: "Don't get mad, don't get in a hurry"

2002 1500HD
2002 Wilderness 265H
1997 Seadoo GTI
1952 Wife;)

Tango__AE7UI
Explorer
Explorer
I'll second McMaster-Carr for a suggested source.
They DO have just about anything you need.
2007 Tango 2660RKS Fifth Wheel, 2006 Chevy D/A 3500 with service body,

jjrbus
Explorer
Explorer
My first thought was I know Harbor Freight has wide crown staplers. $21.99. So I looked and I'll be they use an Arrow T50 type staple! The HF tools are not the highest quality, I just replaced a brad nailer which was only 15 years old!

When aluminum or fiberglass skin is put on under an extruded aluminum trim, it is held on with a number 8 hex head bolt, so dry wall screws should work.

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-gauge-wide-crown-stapler-68029.html

Jim-Linda
Explorer II
Explorer II
Look on McMaster-Carr website, they have everything ever made.

Jim

Tin_Pusher
Explorer II
Explorer II
yatyas81, exactly the kind of input I'm looking for.

To the rest of you, I know I can get "anything" on the 'net, but I wasn't wanting to spend $200 for a stapler. Wider crown staplers at the big box places tend to use T50's and I don't trust them for this.

Kind of surprising, but the rental yards around here don't seem to rent much in the way of staple guns.

Maybe screws are the way to go?

I've got a mobile RV guy I can call, see what he says.
Tin Pusher's Guide To Successful RV'ing: "Don't get mad, don't get in a hurry"

2002 1500HD
2002 Wilderness 265H
1997 Seadoo GTI
1952 Wife;)

yatyas81
Explorer
Explorer
I wouldn't use the narrow crown staples. I did that a few years ago when repairing my Springdale and they tend to pull through the aluminum after moving the camper a few times. Plus, I was using a pneumatic stapler and it was extremely difficult to get the air pressure set right. The different density of the wood behind the aluminum would allow the narrow crown staples to work some times and other times they would punch right through the siding. Ended up using a wide crown stapler with the longest staples I could get.
Walt & Linda
Old: 2006 F350 SRW Crew Cab 6.0L PSD 6 Speed Manual 4X4
New: 2012 F450 King Ranch 6.7 PSD
2012 Keystone Avalanche 345TG

Rvpapa
Explorer
Explorer
Use small " pan-head " screws. Low profile with a wider head. Start in the center with one or two screws in tight and then work your way towards the ends just snugging the screws. this will allow the panels to work with temp changes.
Art.

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
Tin Pusher wrote:
Hey folks, no posts in awhile, but I'm into something...

Repairing wood rot on the old Wilderness, for which I have had to de-skin the back end. About ready to re-install the (aluminum) skins and have a question about staples...

Originals were what seems to be called medium crown staples, 3/8 wide x 3/4 long. I am having a problem finding these (and the staple guns that go with 'em) locally. What I can get are so-called narrow crown staples, 1/4 wide x various lengths.

So, the question is, should I use the narrow crown staples, or not. One downside I see, from limited testing, is that I can't pull the staples once driven, they just want to pull through the skin. Of course, this is only a problem if I would want to de-skin it again in the future. Hope to never :R
Other than that, I thing they will hold just fine.

Any experiences out there? What would you do?

Thanks in advance,

Tin

(BTW, I posted in this forum b/c I am DIY, and I AM upgrading from rotted wood to un-rotted ๐Ÿ™‚ No, seriously, b/c of all the excellent restoration work I have seen here in the past.)


Forget about buying "local", most box hardware stores carry items which which sell fast.. These tend to be CHEAP staplers and medium crown staplers are not cheap.

You BEST bet is Internet, Amazon has quite a few medium size staplers to chose from.

HERE

Alternately, instead of stapling you CAN use drywall screws instead, even for intermediate siding panels down the sides of the trailer.

The bottom most panel is long enough to bend under the floor of the trailer, you can simply run a few drywall screws into the panel on the underside.. It will hold just as well and is reversible if you need to remove the paneling in the future (that is how I did my first rebuild and it worked fine).

Staples are used during construction due to the speed that they can be deployed..