Mike: We’re using a building material called Oriented Strand Board or OSB throughout the project house this year. OSB is an engineered wood product, it’s made of tiny wafers of wood that have been sliced from small diameter logs and bonded together under tremendous heat and pressure using waterproof resin binders. All the OSB in this year’s project house is supplied by the Potlatch Corporation. OSB like other engineered wood products is environmentally friendly. By using smaller new growth lumber, OSB manufacturers are able to ease the strain on the nation’s old growth lumber supply. The first place we used OSB in our project house was in the subfloor on the ground floor of the house. This ¾-inch dirty floor material performs very much like plywood but at a lower cost.
John Vavrosky of the Potlatch Corporations says that this particular kind of OSB flooring was created to address a specific concern from builders.
John: And that was edge swelling during the construction process where the floors just been laid, there’s no roof on the structure, it was prone to get a lot of stagnant water and some climate, snow on the flooring before the structure was closed in and covered up. And we’ve added more wax, more resin, created a denser board that really repels water much better and eliminates the need for floor sanding prior to floor preparing installation.
Mike: Now another place we’re using OSB is on the exterior of the house. We wrapped the whole project house in Oriented Strand Board to add strength. Now you got your studs running up and down but on the outside we nail these big 4 by 8 panels. If we didn’t do that when the wind hit the exterior of the home, the home would actually rock back and forth. Take a box and look at it, this is the motion that happens in homes all the time. Have you ever wondered why do I have a drywall crack, or why are the nails popping out, the home is actually in motion moving back and forth. Heaven forbid, we ever got a hurricane or a tornado you really want to hold your house together, this is the way to do it. Go ahead and wrap the whole thing in OSB and nail it to all the studs to make that thing into a little tank. We’ve managed to get an extra measure of protection by shaving this house with OSB that’s been specially treated.
John: It has an EPA approved copper chemical that’s mixed throughout the entire panel in the manufacturing process. It gives you resistance to termites, other wood boring insects like carpenter ants, a very good fungal rot resistant capability. So if you ever do develop a water leak or have a flood in your home, when it dries out, you’re not going to have dry rot occur in this panels and also gives you superior resistance to mold versus untreated products.
Mike: We’re taking that extra layer of protection all the way to the roof. We’re using treated OSB for the roof decking as well.
John: If you ever get some wind driven rain under your shingles or if you have a shingle leak, it will protect you against dry rot, it will offer protection against mold. If you do have termites that find their way up to the roof structure, it will offer protection against that. It’s just an added measure of safety at homeowner.
Mike: For more information on using special treated OSB for your new house, visit oxspecialties.com.
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