Osb Vs Plywood Roof

Compared to cdx oriented strand board osb is made very differently.

Osb vs plywood roof. Alternatively osb is created from wood chips resin and adhesive that is baked and formed into the shape of a sheet of plywood. Water test the edges of the 1 2 in. Plywood is created by taking extremely thin sheets of wood called plies and gluing them together. And stayed swollen while the plywood remained stable.

Osb boasts a more consistent density. It is extremely resistant to moisture. Despite its common use as such we don t recommend using osb for subfloors but that s really just for aesthetic reasons. Osb was introduced in the 1970s and steadily gained market share from plywood surpassing plywood in production in 2000.

The thickness of the plywood can be controlled by the number of plies glued together. Both osb and plywood absolutely hate water lipinskiy mentions going on to say that the most important part regardless of which decking option you choose is that all penetration points on a roof are sealed. At the end it will be your consideration to choose between performance and cost. Despite also being susceptible to water damage lipinskiy says that.

Unfortunately an osb is less resistant to water compared to plywood. It becomes soft and weak when it delaminates. The curb appeal of your home is lost because soon your shingles will start to misalign creating an eyesore on the top of your home. 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.

However osb is a lot cheaper and more affordable to buy. A few other downsides to plywood. Thankfully there are osb materials today that are designed to be moisture resistant. Osb these sheets of wood may look similar but they are not created the same.

Because of this manufacturing process osb is at least half the cost of cdx plywood. How it s made plywood vs. Oriented strand board osb board that soaked in my bathtub overnight swelled almost 1 4 in. Both of them are great for roofing.

Plywood has better performance when it comes to overall durability. However when it is penetrated by water it takes a very long time to finally dry out compared to cdx plywood. When it gets wet the sheathing could swell and thicken up because of the moisture. New homes will usually see a few rainfalls before a roof is on and as noted above osb doesn t handle moisture well.

Today osb has 70 75 market share and plywood has about 25 share. Plywood is better than osb for subfloors. Eventually you can decide which one to use between plywood vs osb for roofing. 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.