Osb Vs Plywood Roof Decking

Although plywood is traditionally used to create the roof deck it s becoming more popular for contractors to use osb.

Osb vs plywood roof decking.

The only downfall when comparing the two materials is cost. Building codes the engineered wood association architects and most builders rate plywood and oriented strand board obs sheathing equal in strength and durability. Sheathing a 2 400 sq. Lipinskiy says that both plywood and osb are sufficient but that he does prefer osb.

Home osb is about 700 less expensive compared with plywood if used as the subfloor sheathing and roof decking. It is often less expensive than cdx plywood because this manufacturing process doesn t require the same costly veneers found on the front and back of cdx plywood. The material is strong durable and tested over time. Osb is cheaper than plywood by about 3 to 5 per panel.

Osb boasts a more consistent density. 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. Oriented strand board osb combines wood chips glue and resin into the shape of a sheet of plywood and bakes them together. Originally plywood was the go to choice for roof decking.

Both plywood and osb will meet the code. There is nothing wrong with plywood but for me personally we always go with the osb he says. For a typical 2 400 sq. Plywood is made with an odd number of layers for optimal strength and performance.

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. The glue and resin that is mixed in with the wood chips makes it much less permeable so osb holds up longer in harsher conditions. Oriented strand board isn t plywood nor is it a type of particleboard fiberboard or wafer board and although it is a newcomer to a plywood dominated market its use for exterior sheathing is. Osb is now used for about 70 percent of all floor wall and roof sheathing in north america.

That is why osb is sometimes used to secure houses when a hurricane draws near. Home at current prices would cost about 700 more with plywood than osb. As a homeowner if you find yourself in this position know that when you install a new decking system you will have to decide between using plywood or osb. The reason is very very simple.

Osb is much more waterproof than plywood and cdx plywood. 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. Performance over a long period of time.