Staples protruding - Montana Owners Club

poloace · 02-08-2015, 08:37 AM

Just finished cleaning and treating my roof.
I noticed there are about 1/2 dozen staples protruding the rubber. Any tips on how to pound them back in without damage to the membrane?
Thanks..

JandC · 02-08-2015, 09:23 AM

You can gain some information on this issue by reading an ongoing post further down. One topic is titled "roof problems" and one is titled "Factory Warranty - no go". Or you can use the search function and search "roof" or "staples" and probably get additional information.

In summary, the roof staples do sometimes work their way up. It is a assembly defect that Keystone should authorize repair for up to 12 years. However, some of us (myself included) have been denied warranty repair even when this problem was detected in the first year. Others have been told to have a dealer fix the issue, and still others (Rondo) apparently was lucky enough to have Keystone fix his in Goshen.

I see yours is a 2013, so who knows how Keystone would react to a roof defect claim. I am currently still doing additional documentation on my roof, along with the assistance of my dealer, in an attempt to get Keystone to either do the right thing or at least explain to me why some units are being repaired and some are being told to "go pound sand".

jcurtis934 · 02-08-2015, 09:32 AM

I have at least a dozen along both sides of the roof. I just took my bionic finger and pushed them back down. None of mine are holding anything (plywood) to the roof framing. When I do run into one that takes force to push back down, I will do so with a piece of soft wood. If that makes a small hole, then I will use self-leveling dicor on it. Trying to deal with keystone on this isn't worth the effort. John

steves · 02-08-2015, 11:36 AM

Yep...push them back and use eternabond tape and dicor. Not worth the aggravation of a roof replacement.

1retired06 · 02-08-2015, 12:10 PM

Agree with above!

richfaa · 02-08-2015, 12:25 PM

yes the thing to do is to let Keystone slid on a manufacturing defect. Repair it yourself and forget about it till the next defect pops up then let keystone slide on that one.

clarkandsheila · 02-08-2015, 04:29 PM

They can buy staples that are glue coated. Then the darned things would not back out.

Even if you do not push hard now I think I would tell them strongly , letter, or you may find in another couple years that the problem is much worse and you have trouble. The longer it goes ignored the easier it will be for Keystone to simply ignore you.

Also you are not doing new, prospective owners any favours.

mazboy · 02-08-2015, 05:22 PM

address it with montana....get with the annual montana rally and have them deal with it. they removed the staples on our 2013 and screwed it down.

JandC · 02-09-2015, 12:34 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

yes the thing to do is to let Keystone slid on a manufacturing defect. Repair it yourself and forget about it till the next defect pops up then let keystone slide on that one.

The repair tip that Ozz suggested would probably work with the staple issue, plus it would not be detectable that a repair had taken place. But what if those staples missed hitting what they were meant to hold down, and that leads to portions of the roof coming up in the future.

Rich is correct, this is a defect in the way they are putting these things together. It can't be blamed on Norold, Atwood, or anyone else.

I guess what really makes me not want to let go of this issue is the fact that one owner can show up at a rally in Goshen and they take one look at some of his raised staples and can't wait to fix them. Then others, still under factory warranty make claims and basically Keystone says "yep, we will fix yours, as soon as those staples rip through your roof and you start seeing water pouring in".

poloace · 02-09-2015, 01:24 AM

Thanks for the input, looks like i will be taking care of this myself, as I just got a reply back from Keystone.
Keystone replied and I quote:
Staples showing on the roof, does not compromise the integrity of the roof, it is simply a cosmetic issue.

REALLY!!!!

Ozz · 02-09-2015, 01:58 AM

I would not like the staples showing under the membrane, but I do think it will not rub through. It is the top of the staple, the blunt end, and no pressure is applied to the bottom of the staple pushing it upward.
If you have enough loose ones, it might cause a problem with the roof underlayment BUT the reason they are loose is that they are not contacting anything solid, thus they are not holding down the roof anyway. If they were into a solid base, they would not be loose. I would glue them in and forget about it.
JMHO

poloace · 02-10-2015, 07:50 AM

Well, I used a rubber hammer, and was able to tap the staples down without and damage to the membrane. Put some eternabond over just to make sure no leaks.
Thanks for the input.

joe1047 · 02-10-2015, 09:12 AM

hi,
had the same problem on my 2008 keystone Everest and now on my 2014 Montana. both times the dealer fixed it under warrenty. you would think that from 2008 to 2014 , keystone would change the way they do the roof.
I would call keystone and complain, many others have the same problem so you are not the only one. even if you are out of warrenty, this is an on going problem and you should not have to pay for it. good luck

Chip · 02-10-2015, 10:18 AM

I have one that I cannot push down. Must have come completely out of its holes and is pushing against the membrane hard. I may have to cut it out. Of course Keystone refuses to address it.

Only a matter of time before it punches through the membrane or a branch catches it.

Jimmer · 02-11-2015, 04:30 PM

I have been dealing with the same problem. I contacted Keystone and found that they do not use staples on the 2015. They use screws to attach the aluminum curved pice that goes from the side to the wood on top of roof. Just pushing the staples down is not the correct way to repair this. It is hard to imagine that the staple is not damaging the rubber membrane. I have an appt to take mine in and have repaired and my dealer said he will replace the staples with screws. My aluminum is loose on top of the roof. You can push the aluminum piece up and down. This is on both sides and front to rear. The dealer said that it has to get approval to repair the roof. I am hoping they will fix it correctly.

JandC · 02-12-2015, 02:41 AM

After taking additional photographs of my staples and sending them to my dealer (Lazy Days), and having them submit additional paperwork to Keystone, I received an e-mail from Keystone Customer Service Rep Jamie Salazar yesterday. He simply stated that my staple documentation was now in my "file" and that if I wanted them to consider a repair I would need to have a dealer submit paperwork. This may not seem like much of an accomplishment to some, but since Keystone claimed to have never had knowledge of my staple problem prior to my warranty expiring, this was a huge mile stone for me!

Jimmer, when I was taking the new photos and inspecting the roof I noticed that the plastic (or possibly thin metal) curved edge piece on the sides under the roof membrane was raised. On mine this has caused the rubber roof to actually have raised unglued portions. Like you, I would guess the correct method to fix this problem would be to take side molding off, pull the membrane back, screw down the curved piece, and then glue the membrane back down.

It sure is good news to anyone purchasing a new 2015 that Keystone finally started using screws instead of staples!

jcurtis934 · 02-12-2015, 03:43 AM

When you are a full-timer, it is not so easy to take your "home" into a dealer and let them work on an issue. When I bought our 3800 from cw of southern alabama, I found one of the plastic lens on a pancake ceiling light had the tabs broke off one side. The dealer did the keystone thing and eventually I received a new lens. Staples in the roof fixed correctly...do we live in a cardboard box for months until we have a home again? John

MRSXBADHABITZ1 · 02-12-2015, 03:49 AM

Jandc. It is great news that they started using screws! Ty for that info.

JandC · 02-13-2015, 01:12 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Jimmer

I have been dealing with the same problem. I contacted Keystone and found that they do not use staples on the 2015. They use screws to attach the aluminum curved pice that goes from the side to the wood.....

So we have Keystone Customer Service Reps telling Montana owners (like me) that they won't fix the staple problem until it actually punches through the membrane and due to expansion and contraction the staples will actually go back down on their own in most cases.....when this whole time they knew this was a huge problem and have now started using screws?

You may also like: