In the past roofers preferred staple guns for attaching shingles to roof sheeting.
Roof staples vs nails.
Staples also offered excellent holding strength and could be installed over a larger roof area quickly.
Note the differences in the specification and length of the fasteners as well as the nail staple patterns.
The preferred fastener is galvanized roofing nails with a minimum 12 gauge shank and head diameter of at least 3 8 inch.
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Similarly 19 32 osb roof sheathing would be 8d common box or casing nails at 6 on center at the panel edges and 12 on center in the field or 2 16 gage staples at 4 on center at the panel edges and 8 on center in the field.
For one staples cost less than nails adding to their profit per roof.
Although staples are allowed in some jurisdictions they do not provide the same holding power.
In the past when it came to the debate of roofing nails versus staples the industry was split down the middle.