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Faspac Inc., Vancouver, Wa., the parent company of Fastap Screw Products, has permanently ceased operations after 41 years of business.
Faspac also operated the Screw Outfitters online store (screwoutfitters.com), which too also been closed.
Over four decades ago, the principals of what would become Faspac offered an otherwise technically undistinguished screw product to contractors from a small store front contractor's supply in a suburb of Seattle, Wa. Although it might have looked like the average "self-tapping" screw product of the time, its one distinguishing hallmark over other screw products, was its uncompromising quality in materials used in its design and manufacture.
The product line grew over time until five years later, after a move to City of Industry Ca., the original company was renamed Faspac Inc. and offered up its established product line as Fastap Self Tapping Screw Products. As this transformation was taking place a new screw product was being developed that would define a new fastener category. That defining product was Fastap Plus Self Tapping Exterior Grade Screws, with a special polymer coating Fastap would later be trademarked as "Duracoat." This coating was common in automotive and aerospace manufacture and prized for its rust resistance while keeping the screw free from "hydrogen embrittlement" (a problem with galvanized products), but unheard of in woodworking circles. As was their way, Fastap offered the highest quality product for woodworkers and serious DIYers and were the first screws on the market to recognize a need for an exterior screw that could easily outperform galvanized screw products in the harshest applications outdoor applications and in pullout, shear strength and rust resistance. The product was a hit for decks and other outdoor projects both in commercial and residential applications.
Next came the biggest breakthrough for Fastap: the creation and development of the Power Point. Years in the making, the Power Point was a patented feature that others couldn't copy and made Fastap Plus (and later the rest of the Fastap product line) the first real self-drilling woodworking product. The Power Point and its concepts is still revolutionizing how wood (and later laminates) is put together.
Along with the development of the Power Point came Faspac corporate headquarters' move to Vancouver.
Once the interior woodworking and coated exterior products were safely established, work was started on bringing Fastap's high quality, no compromise engineering philosophy and Power Point to the stainless steel woodworking fastener category. The Fastap Tech 7 was introduced with a full line of woodworking and trim styles and with a new "Bin-Pak" feature built into its 500 count (5 lb.) packaging configuration. The combination of the self-drilling Power Point and stainless steel proved to be a big hit with professional remodelers and builders as well as no compromise DIYers.
Soon after Tech 7 was introduced came another revolutionary fastener product. Fastap Lamina Laminate Screws. Made expressly for melamine and laminate applications, it featured a newer generation Power Point called "Power Point 2". Augmenting this new tip design was an entirely new head configuration for self-countersinking into laminates. Originally intended for the cabinet and furniture trades, the Fastap Lamina products have proved to be an able and popular performer for attaching hardware and fastening together many other things originally unplanned. Folks tell us that its self drilling Power Point 2, smaller, thinner flat head with nibs, coarse threads and range of shorter lengths are perfect for light jobs around the home.
Next to be introduced to the Fastap stable of quality screw products was the revolutionary Fastap Poly2 Wood/Poly Composite Screw. Poly2 was the first screw product expressly engineered for use in the then new wood/poly composite lumber. Before Fastap Poly2, wood/poly materials had to be "finished" soon after fastener installation to keep "mushrooming" (also called "vocanoing") from marring the surface. Now, with Poly2, installation was a simple one-step operation that saved time and gave a cleaner installation that wasn't available before. Once again, as always, Fastap™ was in the forefront of making carpentry construction easy, quick and clean.
After the development of the Poly2 product line, we wanted to greatly improved the corrosion resistance on its patented Duracoat coating. On the horizon were new federal mandates for treated woods and every exterior grade fastener that was then available would be severely challenged, or not offer any corrosion protection at all, in these newly mandated treated woods. Years of development and research yielded DuracoatXT coating. DuracoatXT was eventually applied all across the Fastap exterior fastener line (Plus, Plus 10, Poly2, Poly3) for superior corrosion resistance to other exterior products.
The final addition to the Fastap product line was Fastap Poly3 Wood/Poly Composite Screws, the next generation of fasteners for the harder wood/poly composite lumber products.
