Osb Vs Plywood Roof Sheathing

Osb has earned its reputation as a low cost substitute for plywood.

Osb vs plywood roof sheathing.

Osb is cheaper than plywood by about 3 to 5 per panel. Osb is much more waterproof than plywood and 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. Today you can find osb in thickness from 7 16 to 1 1 8 for different applications from roof wall subfloor i joists and everything between.

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. Building codes the engineered wood association architects and most builders rate plywood and oriented strand board obs sheathing equal in strength and durability. Both types of panels contain phenol formaldehyde in the adhesive osb also contains isocyanurate resin but neither contains the urea formaldehyde which is quite toxic to humans. Both cost about the same to install 70an hour for a carpenter.

2x greater shear strength than similar sized plywood source. Home osb is about 700 less expensive compared with plywood if used as the subfloor sheathing and roof decking. University of massachusetts meets most building codes for roof and wall sheathing. Installing either sheathing over a 500 square foot area would cost roughly 160in material for plywood and 100for osb.

Talking about plywood or osb for roofing you cannot miss the information of the cost. 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. Sheathing a 2 400 sq. Osb is now used for about 70 percent of all floor wall and roof sheathing in north america.

A 4x8 foot sheet of construction grade plywood costs roughly 10a sheet while the same size sheet of osb costs only 6a sheet. Home at current prices would cost about 700 more with plywood than osb. It is generally believed that osb is cheaper than plywood. That is why osb is sometimes used to secure houses when a hurricane draws near.

It is true as the price of every osb board is around 15 20 per sheet 4 8 sizes. Osb boasts a more consistent density.