America Top 10

  • Home
  • Find A Top 10 List
  • News & Information
  • Our History
  • Contact Us

All About Oriented Strand Board

May 23, 2016 By Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Still choosing the right type of flooring for your new home? Ever considered oriented strand board? What strand board, you say? Here we tell you more about it, as compared to the very popular plywood.

Oriented strand board, also known as sterling board, sterling OSB, aspenite, and smartply is an engineered wood particle board formed by adding adhesives and then compressing layers of wood strands (flakes) in specific orientations. It is a material with high mechanical properties that make it particularly suitable for in construction purposes. The most common uses are as sheathing in walls, flooring, and roof decking

Both oriented strand board and plywood can actually be used for walls, floors, and even roofs, but there are some differences between them. And although manufacturers of oriented strand board and plywood claim both products work well, using the former has made some builders doubtful of its durability simply because it is made of layers of thin, rectangular wooden strips compressed and bonded together with wax and synthetic resin adhesives. Despite that, some still claim that OSB furniture will most likely define the future of the structural sheathing market.

What are the advantages of OSB though? Some panels of oriented strand board have a textured surface, which makes them less slippery when used for roof sheathing. OSB panels often have lines at 16- and 24-in. intervals too which means that you can easily identify where underlying studs, rafters and joists are. In some areas, OSB costs a few dollars less per sheet than plywood too so that’s definitely an advantage. Lastly, OSB is available in huge sheets, which means you can sheathe tall walls and the joists below with just a single sheet. One major disadvantage is when the edges swell when they get wet. They tend to remain swollen even after drying out.

An interesting fact is, back in 2001, oriented strand board surpassed plywood in terms of square footage produced. It is also now used for about 70 percent of all floor, wall and roof sheathing in North America. Why not try it for your flooring?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Random Fact

Cats have 32 muscles in each ear.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Twitter

Related Information

<?php echo Easy Wicking Tubs; ?>

Easy Wicking Tubs

June 18, 2019 By Elizabeth

<?php echo What is a Neurologist; ?>

What is a Neurologist

June 16, 2019 By Elizabeth

<?php echo Birdhouses from Recycled Material; ?>

Birdhouses from Recycled Material

June 14, 2019 By Elizabeth

<?php echo Rained In? Go to the Library!; ?>

Rained In? Go to the Library!

June 12, 2019 By Elizabeth

<?php echo Benefits to Brow Threading; ?>

Benefits to Brow Threading

June 9, 2019 By Elizabeth

About America Top 10

It is all thanks to you! We never envisioned when America Top 10 launched way back in 2011 that we would come this far this fast. And it is all thanks to you. You have made America Top 10 the successful resource it is for tens of thousands of people like you every single day.

And we cherish all the wise advice, suggestions, questions, and comments you send us every day even if we do not get a chance to get back with every single one. We take pride in helping people find trustworthy sources in their local areas and we hope to keep doing this for a very long time.

Recent Articles

  • Nerve Neuropathy
  • Easy Wicking Tubs
  • What is a Neurologist
  • Birdhouses from Recycled Material
  • Rained In? Go to the Library!

Search

Copyright © 2021 America Top 10. All Rights Reserved.