Plastic stapler?

[sideways]

Happy Holidays to everyone! I'm planning to put up some plastic sheeting as my ceiling vapor barrier before putting up my metal ceiling. I'm just wondering if anyone has a better method for getting the plastic affixed to the bottom of the trusses other than the regular hand held staple gun...and, are staples the best/right way to go? I think it's best to have the plastic put up as tightly as is reasonable and concerned the plastic may tear over the staples...but, hey if that is the best way...any other suggestions? Also, this is likely to be a one-man show.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I was looking for a thread about a stapler made out of plastic...

 

[Pitalplace]

I was taught not to put a vapor barrier on the ceiling. Just the walls.

 

[joe_padavano]

Happy Holidays to everyone! I'm planning to put up some plastic sheeting as my ceiling vapor barrier before putting up my metal ceiling. I'm just wondering if anyone has a better method for getting the plastic affixed to the bottom of the trusses other than the regular hand held staple gun...and, are staples the best/right way to go? I think it's best to have the plastic put up as tightly as is reasonable and concerned the plastic may tear over the staples...but, hey if that is the best way...any other suggestions? Also, this is likely to be a one-man show.

The tool you're looking for is called a "cap stapler". It dispenses round plastic caps with every staple. The caps prevent the staple from pulling through the plastic. I have one of these Stinger models.

 

[rburke65]

I have put up plastic sheeting on the bottom of my trusses using short roof nails. I had em and didn't have to buy. The weight of the sheeting will pull through nail heads, so I made two props to support the weight of theplasticwhile I nailed. The props were just a 2x4 T with the length just shy of the ceiling hight. Catch the weight of the plastic and kick the bottom ofthe prop tight against the truss and straighten out the plastic....nail it. It worked well. And why you can put plastic under the metal of your walls and not on your ceiling is beyond me. But.... I don't know everything.

 

[sideways]

Hi Pitalplace - Many on this site recommended a vapor barrier be placed between a metal ceiling and ceiling insulation. I believe they "collectively" know more than I do on this so I've decided to take their "expert" advice. Joe - thanks for sharing. I'll look for the stingers but, I do have many short roofing nails and I too was thinking of something to hold the plastic up while my son-in-law did the stapling because I believe you are correct...the plastic would fall off the nails because of its weight. I was just wondering if there was a "special" way of skinning this cat...

 

[gungatim]

you want a Hammertacker...much faster and easier on the hand than a regular stapler.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=hammer+tacker

 

[sideways]

Thanks - these are certainly less costly and I'm not sure my air compressor would do the job with the pneumatics. But, it doesn't look like these use the "caps" so I would have to figure a way to hold the plastic up so it didn't try to fall and rip through the staples...

 

[sideways]

Well...now I have some options to consider...

 

[gungatim]

you'll need a helper or two to unroll as you go along. pretty tough to do by yourself or you're right, it will fall and tear...but you can just tape over it. no biggee.

the Tee method Rburke mentioned--I did that to put up drywall by myself and it works but it's heavy.

I would go get some pvc and make a big Tee, it will be a lot lighter and you can make it longer. maybe get creative with a big square frame or something...when you are done using it for holding up the plastic, you can use it for your airlines...(just kidding!!)

 

[joe_padavano]

You can use plastic caps with a regular staple gun - it just takes two hands and more time. You can also just cut squares from a plastic soda bottle or something similar.

 

[Bessy]

We just finished doing this in the bar area using a traditional staple gun and a pneumatic, with just a small double stack (5 gallonish) compressor. Tear through was definitely an issue in some places, but if you have the sheeting to go up in good time you can usually get away with regular staples.

 

[southalabama]

Several options. Make do with what you've got or buy more tools.

I've have air staplers but would probably use my tack stapler. One handed operation.

 

[y'sguy]

thin cardboard works with an air stapler. cheap.

 

[joe_padavano]

thin cardboard works with an air stapler. cheap.

Excellent idea.

 

[Firebrick43]

I use an arrow electric stapler. Forget model now but look at reviews. Some are good, some are junk.

I cut plastic pallet strapping into 9" pieces of so. Put them in my back pocket and staple through them into the truss. After doing a dozen I clip them off leaving 1.5" under the staple and repeat. After they are less than 3" long they stay. You could clip them into little strips before hand but I like how the longer strips handle. Free and really strong.

 

[77Mini]

Hammerstapler

 

[sideways]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Really makes me appreciate how much thought and planning can go into what might seem like a simple task. Decided to purchase a Bostich electric stapler. I ran the plastic roll over my last truss and fed it all the way back to my son-in-law at the far end of the shop. he pulled the end up tight and stapled it while I used a makeshift "T" made out of cheap electric coduit and pushed the plastic up to the bottom of the rafter. It seems to be working and the son-in-law likes using the electric stapler. I'm keeping the plastic up and staying 1 span (4') ahead of him to keep weight off of what he stapled. Seems to be working great. After a couple spans we were in the groove. Just did one row to see how everything would work. When we get a few rows up, we'll tape the seams and start putting up the metal ceiling and insulation....and then start a few more rows of plastic. Thanks again for the ideas. The "T" idea is a big help!

 

[Angelfire]

I used a small pneumatic stapler from HF that I think I paid $9 for a few years ago. Worked great. I am now gearing up to insulate and put up a vapor retarder in my detached garage and plan to use the stapler again. The model I have takes standard T50 staples so it's easy to keep stocked up.
Cheers.

 

[James-W]

I was looking for a thread about a stapler made out of plastic...

That was my first thought too.
I have an electric stapler that works well for stuff like this.