OSB Board

OSB board stands for Oriented Strand Board. This is the next generation of wafer board, brought to life in 1978. Whether you're remodeling or weatherizing, OSB board is a good alternative to plywood (and the cost that goes with it).

The advantages over plywood are:

1) OSB is generally more square and has smaller dimensional tolerances.

2) It can be manufactured into panels larger than 4' x 8'.

3) There are no soft spots such as those that can occur in plywood.

4) OSB is made from smaller (often farmed) trees, reducing the demand for old growth timber.

5) OSB has greater shear strength than plywood.

6) It can be $3 to $5 a panel less expensive.

The major disadvantage of OSB is that if it gets exposed to significant amounts of water or moisture, the edges expand by up to 15%.

With this being said, OSB is HZG's preferred source of lumber panels.