Osb Vs Plywood For Roofing

Both plywood and osb will meet the code.

Osb vs plywood for roofing.

Plywood is better than osb for subfloors. Because of this manufacturing process osb is at least half the cost of cdx plywood. Although we did mention that there is an osb today which is manufactured to be resistant to wet conditions. You won t have to worry about the material expanding anytime soon like when you use osb.

When the roofing material cannot hold nails and screws properly of course they cannot hold its shape very well. Osb boasts a more consistent density. 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. 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.

Osb vs plywood screw holding. Screwe holding ability is a critical matter in roofing. Lipinskiy says that both plywood and osb are sufficient but that he does prefer osb. This is why plywood is considered as the better option for roofing.

Compared to cdx oriented strand board osb is made very differently. Osb is made by combining glue resin and wood chips and pressing them into the shape of a plywood sheet then baking everything together. Plywood is the ideal material for places having a wet weather condition. You can consider this as an advantage but it can also have some drawbacks.

New homes will usually see a few rainfalls before a roof is on and as noted above osb doesn t handle moisture well. This is why you need to know the screw holding ability between plywood vs osb for roofing. Despite its common use as such we don t recommend using osb for subfloors but that s really just for aesthetic reasons. Performance over a long period of time.