osb vs plywood shelves

Dade’s banning of osb spawned several research initiatives to explore the suitability of osb as a structural sheathing. Model building codes typically use the phrase “wood structural panel” to describe the use of plywood and osb. Dried strands are mixed with wax and adhesive, formed into thick mats, and then hot-pressed into panels. One thing is certain: osb is in our future. But price is not the whole story. So both products perform equally well as shear-wall … OSB Vs Plywood. Codes recognize these two materials as the same. and Ph.D.), Wood Engineering and Bio-Based Building Materials Specialization, Building Science and Green Building Specialization, UWW Professional Education and Online Courses, Certificate in Sustainable Building Construction, BCT Professional Masters Info Session, 2-17, Tedd Benson speaks about a better way to build in the 21st Century, Heidi Jandris speaks about lowering the embodied carbon of concrete masonry units. plywood. Sheets of OSB or plywood usually come 4 feet wide and 8 feet long, so each sheet of OSB made 2 shelves. I recently made a couple of 12' long x 24" deep shelves using OSB. when deciding between wire shelving and wood shelving. Don’t store OSB in a full bathtub. Possibly the scrap plywood (OSB or whatever I used for the shelves) I had laying around. Thanks for these plans! The National Oak Flooring Association (NOFA) in Memphis recommends either 5/8-inch and thicker plywood, 3/4-inch osb or 1-x6-inch dense, group1 softwood boards installed at a diagonal under hardwood flooring. Like it or not, osb will define the future of the structural sheathing market. Osb and plywood are equals structurally, but flooring manufacturers make different recommendations regarding their use as a substrate. In his study, Loferski simulated what happens on a real construction site. To enhance the durability and consistency of plywood, the grain of each layer is oriented in a different direction. Plywood is manufactured from thin layers of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers, having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. Check out the differences between oriented-strand board and plywood. Estimates put its … This price spread means that a builder can save $700.00 on a 2,500 square foot house if osb is substituted for plywood sheathing on floors, walls, and roofs. Like-thicknesses of these two products can span the same distances between studs or rafters, weigh about the same and offer similar nail-holding abilities. oriented strand board (OSB board) that soaked in my bathtub overnight swelled almost 1/4 in. Throughout the thickness of the panel, the grain of each layer is positioned in a perpendicular direction to the adjacent layer. Plywood, on the other hand, needs to be covered by a decorative material such as veneer in order to appear pleasing to the eye. However, they have received complaints of edge swelling that has telegraphed through their flooring products. OSB is now used for about 70 percent of all floor, wall and roof sheathing in North America. Osb, on average, is 7% less stiff because it stays closer to its target spec. It is more costly than the garden variety osb product. Enter your email address to subscribe to our news and receive notifications. Here's a rundown of the advantages and disadvantages of each. Each of these shelves is the same thickness, length and width. Osb is acceptable as a subfloor material. OSB (Oriented Strand Board) and particleboard are two different types of manufactured wood products. but choosing between differing wood types. Please note: This older article by our former faculty member remains available on our site for archival purposes. Plywood has a broader range of variability. Wood species has a significant impact. Irreversible edge swelling has been the biggest knock on osb. OSB is the acronym used for Oriented Strand Board. However, ARMA, NRCA and representatives from at least 2 roofing manufacturers, Cellotex and TAMKO, prefer plywood roof decks. In our area, 1/2-in. The existing shelves are OSB. D: Strengthening Plywood and Composite Shelves. Osb manufacturers can formulate their process to provide virtually any property they want. Both products serve equally well as a nailbase.”. On the plus side, osb is a more consistent product. We do it quite often. I was planning on buying 3/4" plywood, but the reviews on it at Lowes (the only place locally to buy plywood) are terrible. The most common size used in shelving is a 3/4 inch thickness. Technology involving the random alignment of wood-fiber in waferboard soon gave way to the development of structurally superior oriented strandboard. Resulting veneers have pure tangential grain orientation, since the slicing follows the growth rings of the log. I am putting up some shelves in the pantry; 24" deep, 36" long. Perhaps thickness-swell will be included in future performance standards. The term ghost lines or roof ridging was coined to describe the effect of osb edge swelling under thin roof shingles. All wood products expand when they get wet. When deciding how to finish your plywood shelf … Osb is so visually striking that customers need a technical explanation about this material from their builders. Logs are ground into thin wood strands to produce oriented strandboard. Although oriented strand board (OSB) has a commanding 75% market share in sheathing for new home construction compared to plywood’s 25%, it’s a much more competitive race in subflooring. Osb has earned its reputation as a low-cost substitute for plywood. Plywood actually gets saturated much faster than osb, but it is not prone to edge swelling and it dries out much more quickly. Damage to roofs during hurricane Andrew were originally blamed on osb’s poor nail-holding power. This opinion has a familiar tone. It should. LP said the problems were caused by improper installation. Cabinetry, furniture, and smaller decorative projects might generally use a combination of 1/2 and 3/4 and occasionally 1/4 inch. OSB offers you a consistent density. If osb is made from aspen or poplar, it gets a big fat zero with regard to natural decay resistance. Not many builders share that view today. Is it some special super stiff OSB… I wanted plywood but I decided to save a little bit of money and go with OSB while standing in the store. Delaminations were routine until waterproof synthetic resins were developed during world war II. Installation requirements prescribing the use of H-clips on roofs, blocking on floors and allowance of single-layer floor systems are identical. Michelle says. “It looks like a bunch of junk pounded together.”, is how one homeowner described osb to me. When the exterior foam boards were removed, wet, rotted, crumbling osb was exposed. Finished floor systems were cycled in an environmental chamber to simulate the changes that occur in summer and winter months. The wood veneer is literally peeled from the log as it is spun. The Structural Board Association (SBA), a trade association that represents osb manufacturers in North America, has issued a technical bulletin outlining a plan to prevent this phenomenon. Aspenite, the first generation waferboard (called chipboard by many builders), was manufactured from the abundant supply of aspen found in the region (credit julio). Enquire Now for Plywood. I recently used them to build shelves … However, osb feels stiffer when you walk across a floor covered with it because there are no occasional weak panels like plywood. Manufacturers are not always right. With the center support, it will be like having shorter shelves without the center plywood divider. Manufacturers of oriented strandboard and plywood claim both products work well. They share the same set of performance standards and span ratings. Professor Poo Chow, a researcher at the University of Illinois, studied the withdrawal and head pull-through performance of nails and staples in plywood, waferboard and osb. Customers become suspicious that builders are trying to put something over on them: charging for an expensive product like plywood and substituting it with something cheap, like osb. The wood used in plywood layers can also vary depending on the desired characteristics of the final product. Osb is stronger than plywood in shear. Choosing building materials for a shelf is a simple task. For example: Marine plywood is more moisture resistant than standard plywood… … OSB sheathing costs a few dollars less per sheet than 1/2-in. Performance is similar in many ways, but there are differences in the service provided by osb and plywood. The edges of cut sheets are seldom if ever treated in the field. Plywood long ago lost its market leadership to oriented strand board (OSB), which is now the most-used sheathing and subflooring material. Homeowners expect builders to select materials and systems that perform well. Most plywood panels are overbuilt to cover the statistical range that guarantees each sheet of plywood meets the minimum standard. So store your OSB wood in a dry place, then cover it with tarpaper or siding ASAP to protect it from the elements. Manufacturers have done a good job of addressing this issue at the manufacturing facility and during transportation by coating panel edges. During the manufacturing process, plywood veneers are randomly selected and stacked up into panels. Who knows? It is highly versatile. In fact, recent price quotes from Denver, Boston and Atlanta put 7/16-inch osb $3.00 to as much as $5.00 per sheet lower than 1/2-inch cdx plywood. Compared to CDX, oriented strand board (OSB) is made very differently. UMass Amherst | Department of Environmental Conservation, Home > Publications > Articles > Choosing Between Oriented Strandboard and Plywood. The adhesive used to bind these layers together is typically made of resin, the specifics which vary from one plywood to another. This strategy makes plywood stable and less likely to shrink, swell, cup or warp. A plywood subfloor generally uses 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch-thick sheets of plywood that have one rough side (which faces down) and one smooth side, … This results in ridges that can “telegraph” through shingles, and even carpet when OSB sheathing is used for subfloors. Reports indicate that some homeowners worry about builders “cheaping out” when they use osb. i have one from Emerson which gets good reviews and i've seen other brands at the hardware stores which … They can build panels to resist high relative humidity, deliver more strength, or provide a harder surface. MacMillan Bloedel opened the first viable waferboard facility at Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan in 1963. OSB has its advantages. For shelves and cabinets: Plywood comes in many different textures and styles. Both are very moist climates. However, with OSB, the layers are more cross-oriented. A substantial savings to be sure. Statistically, 5/8-inch plywood and 3/4-inch osb worked the same. Manufacturers have not seen a deluge of failures due to the use of osb under resilient flooring. This means it can be employed for exterior use such as cabinets and shelves. Osb was slammed in the press. They typically don’t want to know what weight roof shingle you are using; or even what depth floor joist you have speced. Suggested Post: MDF vs. Plywood vs. Many experts think the ban makes no sense. They feel that if osb gets wet, it transfers stress and causes the tile to fail. Plywood i… Although oriented stranded board (OSB) has similar uses to plywood, it has a much coarser finish. in Building and Construction Technology, Minor in Building and Construction Technology, Graduate Studies: Sustainable Building Systems (M.S. Research conducted by APA, Chow, LaTona and others have conclusively proven osb seaworthy. The trend among builders is to switch to osb. Production in the future will reflect market needs. And OSB is available in 4 x 9-ft. sheets, which means you can sheathe an 8-ft. tall wall and the joists below with a single sheet. Elmendorf Manufacturing Company made the first osb in Clairmont, NH just 14 years ago. how to make floating shelves out of plywood Once your hidden supports are installed its time to make the actual shelves. Osb, in its current state of development, is more sensitive to moist conditions. OSB sheathing has one irritating characteristic—but only if you abuse the stuff. This speaks volumes for the importance of protecting materials during transport, storage and early stages of construction. Finishing plywood for shelves. Don’t mistake osb for chipboard or waferboard. However, 3/4-inch Sturd-I-Floor plywood weighs 70 pounds, 10 pounds less than its osb counterpart. I always thought OSB was not stiff enough for shelves, but these seem to be doing just fine. To my knowledge, there has not been a problem of similar scale associated with plywood siding. We form the layers by shredding wood and … This plywood, like all structural plywood made until the mid 1930’s, was bonded with non-waterproof blood and soybean glue. All cases I’m familiar with were caused by improper installation of flashing or protective coverings. Osb is engineered to have strength and stiffness equivalent to plywood. The strands in osb are aligned. Today, southern pine plywood accounts for about half of all structural plywood sold. Osb responds more slowly to changes in relative humidity and exposure to liquid water. Reply. Shear values, through its thickness, are about 2 times greater than plywood.This is one of the reasons osb is used for webs of wooden I-joists. OSB panels often have lines at 16- and 24-in. We'll help you find the right plywood for you. This career fair is free and open to[...], Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), The John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst, Design Building Virtual Construction Site Visit, Undergraduate Major: B.S. The uninitiated don’t appreciate the high-level of science and technology used to produce engineered wood products. In this example we made two shelf units in an L shape. The solid wood shelf holds up four times the weight of the plain particleboard shelf. Kept high and dry during storage and after installation, OSB has the same strength and durability as plywood but costs less. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) in Rosemont, IL and the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) in Rockville, MD both recommend the use of APA performance rated osb and plywood panels. So both products perform equally well as shear-wall components. It becomes a question of cost vs performance and we will dictate the final product. The shelves … Delamination of early plywood sheathings gave plywood a bad name. If you are planning to use osb as a subfloor OR underlayment for your next tile floor, you may want to think again. I used a 2x2" cleat on the wall and a 2x3" for the front horizontal support with 1 2x4" in the center. The longer that water remains within osb the more likely it is to rot. In the late 1960’s advances in adhesive technology brought southern pine plywood to residential builders. Roof sheathing is a mixed bag. Many of the western woods used to manufacture plywood at least have moderate decay resistance. Each 8 foot shelf … However, nail-holding ability controls performance in shear wall applications. And a disproportionate number are related to osb. And oddly, plywood is perceived as solid wood to a lay person. Imagine the raw log as a pencil being sharpened in a big pencil sharpener. Portland Manufacturing Company made the first structural plywood from western woods in 1905. It is human nature to be afraid of a new product. In the past we’ve heard that walls in many Southeastern homes covered with the Exterior Finish and Insulation System (EIFS) were rotting. Plywood vs. OSB (Oriented Strand Board): Major Differences . For example: Most do not want to know how blown-in fiberglass insulation performs differently than batt insulation. Many “old-timers” swore by solid board sheathing until the day they hung up their aprons. Mark Graham, NRCA’s associate director of technical services says, “We hear a lot of complaints related to dimensional stability. Waferboard, a weaker and less-stiff cousin of osb, is a homogeneous, random composition. Plywood is so-called because it is made of thin layers of wood veneer or “plies.” These layers are glued together to achieve the desired thickness. Some information contained in it may be outdated. Use the right type of nails to fix the OSB wood. Here is what the finished product looks like…hopefully having this … LP settled a class action suit in 1995 to the tune of $350 million. OSB is made by combining glue, resin, and wood chips and pressing them into the shape of a plywood sheet then baking everything together. Exterior plywood used the traditional grading system but uses the letter “X” to indicate it was made with exterior glue. Osb is different. We recommend our users to update the browser. Pros of OSB. The claims were that osb siding was rotting on the walls of many homes in the South and Pacific Northwest. To begin with, the composition of each material is different. But using panels made of wood chips makes some builders nervous. Osb products will improve. intervals so you know where underlying studs, rafters and joists are for nailing. Because of this manufacturing process, OSB … Joe Tarver, Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association, Jackson, MS says, “ Osb is not an acceptable substrate to receive ceramic tile, period!” NTCA lists osb, along with pressboard and luan plywood, as “not acceptable” in its reference manual. On the other hand, OSB does not have a top … Market data show that conversion from plywood to osb among builders is irregular, but clearly moving toward osb and away from plywood. Likewise, APA the Engineered Wood Association, the agency responsible for approving more than 75% of the structural panels used in residential construction, treat osb and plywood as equals in their published performance guidelines. I would use solid hard maple for the shelves, and put a 1/4 plywood … It is made from thin sheets of veneer peeled from debarked wood. such as melamine and other pressed boards or plywood… The problem really isn’t osb’s fault. (and stayed swollen), while the plywood … The results of another independent study conducted by Raymond LaTona at the Weyerhauser Technology Center in Tacoma also showed that withdrawal strengths in osb and plywood are the same. Builders need assurance from manufacturers that new products will work. However, nail-holding ability controls performance in shear wall applications. The NOFA recommendation is based on research conducted by Joe Loferski at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. OSB stands for Oriented Strand … Detractors of osb are quick to say: “osb falls apart”. The issue for most builders who choose between plywood and osb is durability. Kevin Chung, Engineer with Western Wood Products Association in Seattle assures us, “There have been no problems reported from the field. You never have a soft spot in the panel because 2 knot holes overlap. I used 5/8" osb in my garage. The question is what is osb? The technical fix for delamination was inspired by the 1950’s housing boom. It takes longer for water to soak osb and conversely, once water gets into osb it is very slow to leave. Both materials are installed on roofs, walls and floors using one set of recommendations. OSB and plywood can both be used for walls, floors and roofs, but there are some differences between them. Dade’s position is perceived by many industry insiders to be a political maneuver to satisfy public concern. Louisiana-Pacific’s osb inner-seal siding also made the news. Wood fiber is used more efficiently in osb. Certain grades of plywood may be more susceptible to moisture, and less expensive veneers can have inconsistencies in the surface due to knots in the wood. However, if the nails are too thick, they will splinter, damaging the wood. These materials are being used in an increasing number of construction projects, because they are much cheaper than wood and most other engineered wood products, such as plywood … However, AdvanTech and products like it have greatly improved performance qualities. D.) Fig. It has to do with thickness swell. Chow found that in both dry and 6-cycle aged tests: osb and waferboard performed equal to or better than CD-grade plywood. Home House & Components Parts of House Walls, By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine. RFCI installation specifications recommend plywood as an underlayment material. So we are a little bit cautious.” Grahm also acknowledges that APA, an organization he clearly respects, is standing firmly behind the osb product. They are known as wood structural panels. You don’t have to worry about knot holes at the edge of a panel where you are nailing. OSB is made of many smaller pieces of hardwood and softwood mixed together in strands. Shear values, through its thickness, are about 2 times greater than plywood.This is one of the reasons osb is used for webs of wooden I-joists. He built several full-sized floors out of boards, plywood and osb and weathered them for 5 weeks before installing hardwood flooring. there are 50" circular saw cutting guides that clamp across plywood for such tasks. Plywood, although not immune, is somewhat forgiving. Not only does this ma… Plywood is available in various thicknesses with ½\" being the most popular for general construction. The rigidity of plywood and composite wood can be improved by gluing on solid wood edges or plastic laminate faces (Fig. Customers don’t want technical explanations about many things. APA’s market data indicates that more than half the structural panels used in residential construction in 1995 were osb. Some panels have a textured surface, which makes them less slippery when used for roof sheathing. OSBs are wood panels used as an alternative to plywood because they cost less than plywood and have greater uniformity and stiffness. Warranties on shingles are extended to both substrates, but manufactures feel more comfortable with plywood. Products like AdvanTech by Huber Engineered Woods (http://huberwood.com/)  is an example of a premium osb product line. Both shelf units were 8 feet long and 18 inches deep. There is always an odd number of layers in plywood panels so that the panel is balanced around its central axis. And wood scientists agree that the structural performance of osb and plywood are equivalent. Any shelf over 34", we laminate 2 layers of 3/4 ply and use 1 1/2" shelf nosing. Swollen edges of osb panels can telegraph through thin coverings like asphalt roof shingles. They think that “glued-together” is not as good as “nailed-together”. Osb is stronger than plywood in shear. You may get 4 veneers of earlywood stacked above 1 veneer of latewood. The edges tend to swell when they get wet and remain swollen even after drying out. However, customers are nervous about engineered wood because all they see are little pieces of wood stuck together. Osb is perhaps 50 strands thick, so its characteristics are averaged out over many more “layers” than plywood. It’s been a few years since that project so I don’t remember what factors went in to my choice for shelf width. Houses under construction get rained on. Nails that are too thin will not help you to keep the wood in place. Unlike OSB, plywood has been developed into different types over the years in different ways to be used for different purposes. It is truly an engineered material. Because the pieces are smaller, the sheets of OSB can be much larger than sheets of plywood. (and stayed swollen), while the plywood remained stable. But right or wrong, a manufacturer’s support is often where the rubber meets the road. Building codes, the Engineered Wood Association, architects and most builders rate plywood and oriented strand board (OBS sheathing) equal in strength and durability. Osb looks like, and is, a bunch of wood chips glued together. Plywood and MDF are useful materials for many DIY projects around the home. Aren’t there any more trees?” Public perception is that we are getting stuck with scraps. While plywood is often 6 feet per sheet, OSB … But two significant observations were made during the study: Some of the plywood delaminated during the weathering experiment and new patches had to be spliced into the subfloor system. Another homeowner asked, ” What the hell is going on? Plywood vs. OSB: Which is Better? And if you use osb in an area of very high humidity, like over an improperly vented attic or over a poorly constructed crawlspace, you are asking for trouble. Manufactures feel more comfortable guaranteeing their products when they are installed over plywood. The lesson? A builder’s reputation often hangs on the ability of new technology to deliver on its promise. “Strand plies” are positioned as alternating layers that run perpendicular to each other. Wall sheathing: No news is good news. But, while the two products may perform the same structurally, they are undeniably different materials. OSB vs Plywood: Water Test The edges of the 1/2-in. November 8, 2020 at 10:16 am. Smaller trees can be used to make osb. oriented strand board (OSB board) that soaked in my bathtub overnight swelled almost 1/4 in. The weights of osb and plywood are similar: 7/16-inch osb and 1/2-inch plywood weigh in at 46 and 48 pounds. Laminated plywood is fine, just more expensive and will show stains quicker than osb from all the oils and … Osb and plywood share the same exposure durability classifications: Interior, Exposure 1 (95% of all structural panels), Exposure 2 and Exterior. This structure mimics plywood. But the reality is that builders don’t limit osb use to full-sized sheets. You can find it in most sizes, some larger than plywood… All manufacturers of siding products I contacted agree that osb and plywood are equals. Plywood suffered the same criticism not too long ago. Subfloors and underlayments serve as structural platforms and as a base for flooring products. Florida’s Dade county is the only building code district in the country that prohibits the use of osb as a roof deck. The bottom line: The type of project will guide your decision, MDF vs. plywood.

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