Roof Osb Vs Plywood

Thankfully there are osb materials today that are designed to be moisture resistant.

Roof osb vs plywood.

When you count sub floors roofs and wall sheathing osb claims about 70 of the wood sheathing market in north america over plywood. Both cdx plywood and osb tend to come in standard sheets of four foot by eight foot 4 8. About osb compared to cdx oriented strand board osb is made very differently. When it gets wet the sheathing could swell and thicken up because of the moisture.

It becomes soft and weak when it delaminates. A few other downsides to plywood. So which one is better the old fashioned plywood or the osb. Up until 2000 plywood held the majority of the market for wall roof and floor sheathing when it was surpassed by osb which as of 2018 held about 75 of the market share.

While a sheet of plywood might be 5 to 7 plies thick a sheet of osb is made from as many as 50 strand layers packed and compressed into the same thickness. Osb is cheaper than plywood by about 3 to 5 per panel. Osb boasts a more consistent density. However you might find that osb can better suit your needs than plywood for the roof.

Unfortunately an osb is less resistant to water compared to plywood. Osb is made by combining glue resin and wood chips and pressing them into the shape of a plywood sheet then baking everything together. The roof can be made out of several common materials and plywood is one of them. Tall wall and the joists below with a single sheet.

Sheets which means you can sheathe an 8 ft. Because of this manufacturing process osb is at least half the cost of cdx plywood. Osb panels can be manufactured in lengths up to 16 feet or sometimes even higher while plywood is generally limited to 8 to 10 feet. However these days roofing can be made out of osb or oriented strand board.

Osb sheathing has one irritating characteristic but only if you abuse the stuff. One of the nice things about plywood is the variety of options you can buy. For a typical 2 400 sq. Plywood is made with an odd number of layers for optimal strength and performance.

Odds are that if you pass a housing development of wood framed houses it will have osb oriented strand board as exterior sheathing. This is one of the reasons why some people prefer using plywood for their roof or subfloor. Because of its construction some manufacturers actually make larger sheets of osb. Osb v plywood which is best.

Osb sheathing costs a few dollars less per sheet than 1 2 in. In our area 1 2 in. To understand plywood vs osb for roofing is probably very important when you are doing house renovating or remodeling.