Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions Nailing pattern and fastener question

1 x 6 " Pine ship-lap siding onto a structural panel.
Panel is skinned with 3/8 " OSB.

The builder used 1 1/4 " x 1/4 inch crown staples and the siding was not back coated with stain. Wood was a bit green, so, 6 years later, the shrinkage and warping is pulling the siding away from the Panels. What a mess... Are screws the answer?

Is there a suggestion for fixing the siding short of removing and replacing it?

Also, what sort of fasteners should have been used for ship-lap siding and what should have been the placement?

Hi Jim,

A digi pic would be good to see if this is not too embarassing. We all need to learn from our mistakes.

Regards

Ken Hume

The boards are applied vertically, yes? I have a 1/4-inch finish stapler and have found the staples too smooth (and thin= slippery) to hold exterior boards well.

I'm guessing a large reason these staples pulled is that 3/8 is a thin substrate for any fastener to bite to. Screws would help, as would a ring-shanked nail. But again that OSB is thin. (And OSB is kind of lousy no matter how thick).

If I was starting fresh, I might glue and screw some horizontal furring strips @ 16" O.C. down first w/ waterproof polyethelyne construction adhesive. Apply the boards over this w/ a ring-shanked nail.


A quick-fix in your situation would be screws, I guess.

Sorry about the delay in reporting back. Busy.
And no pix, either, but 1 3/4 Decking screws seem to work fine. Countersunk the heads and applied some DAP/stain to them and it looks great. At least the wind isn't blowing them around any more. :P
Thanks for the replies.