Staple Size for Mudding a Shower Wall

Wire Mesh

• Part of what holds the mud on the wall in the first place is wire mesh. Small, upward-angled cups make up the mesh, so that when mud is spread over the mesh, the mud will hold onto the mesh during the mud's curing time, or drying period. The wire mesh pieces are to overlap other pieces slightly at the edges where they meet, which means you need staples whose legs are long enough (and strong enough) to penetrate overlapped sections of mesh. But that's not all they staple will penetrate.

Moisture Barrier

• Although the thickness of a moisture barrier behind the wire mesh is minimal, it still counts toward the overall depth the staple needs to penetrate. Plastic sheeting is the most common type of moisture barrier used, and it is installed over the surface of the wall before the wire mesh is installed. The moisture barrier is stapled into place before mesh is applied, then gets stapled again by the staples used to hold up the mesh. The moisture barrier helps keep any residual moisture that wicks through the mud during its lifespan away from the wall, forcing it to drain downward into the shower pan.

Minimum Staple Size

• The minimum size of staple that you can use on top of wire mesh for a mud installation is a half-inch staple. This means the legs of the staple, the portions that penetrate the surface, are one-half inch in length. You can purchase longer staples if you prefer, but half-inch staples are sufficient for use with wire mesh for mud installations. The staples are applied with a staple gun or with a hammer tacker, which looks like a hammer but has a staple machine head and staples loaded into the handle.

Type of Staple

• Use staples that have sharpened tips to penetrate the mesh and the subsurface, and ensure these staples are galvanized to avoid rusting over the years with exposure to moisture. Concrete naturally wicks (soaks up) moisture and breathes, and that moisture will eventually make its way to the wire mesh and the plastic sheeting behind the wall. The staples should be high-quality and rated for exposure so that they keep on holding up the mudded mesh long after the installation.