Plywood vs OSB Oriented Strand Board | Everything you need to know!

Head to https://squarespace.com/belindacarr to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code BELINDACARR

Link to my Patreon page:   / belinda_carr  

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:49 How plywood is made
2:24 How OSB is made
3:51 Squarespace
4:30 Properties
5:35 Installation
6:00 Cost
6:37 Water resistance
7:04 Health
7:37 Fire resistance
8:09 Conclusion

These two products were developed for the same reason; to replace solid wood, which is getting expensive and scarce. They are made of cheap, fast-growing and inferior softwoods but they perform just as well, if not better than solid hardwoods. Why? For 2 reasons, the resins and glue embedded inside and the orientation of the wood pieces. In this video, we’re going to look at how plywood and OSB are made, their main differences as well as their pros and cons.

HOW PLYWOOD IS MADE. Tree trunks are placed on a conveyor belt and sent to debarkers. The machine removes the bark of the tree either with sharp-toothed grinding wheels or with jets of high-pressure water. To soften the wood, the logs are heated and soaked in hot water for over 12 hours. The ribbons are cut into 4x8 sheets and dried at 400F . Veneers are run through a glue curtain which coats all the sheets except the top most sheet. The veneers are layered crossgrain and put through a heavy press. This heats up the glue and binds the sheets together. Finally, the boards are cut to size.

HOW OSB IS MADE.
Trees are debarked then placed on a machine called a strander. This has a set of knives that cut the trees into strands of wood with a specific width, thickness and length. The strands are then dried to reduce the moisture content. After drying, the strands are filtered out into different sizes and blended in a rotating drum with resins and wax. OSB boards roll off the press and are allowed to cool down before being cut to the correct length and width.

PROPERTIES. Now let’s look at the properties of plywood and OSB
Appearance. Plywood is a very versatile product that can be found in different thicknesses from ⅛” to 3”. It can be made of several different wood products. OSB has a rougher appearance and surface texture. It can be found in thicknesses from ¼” to over 1”. Because it’s made of wood chips, it doesn’t have the same size constraints as plywood.

INSTALLATION. Plywood seems to leave behind less sawdust when cut. Cutting OSB is messier and the edges are more prone to splintering. Both plywood and OSB hold nails and screws in place.

WATER RESISTANCE. Plywood generally has better water resistance and dries out more easily but it is not waterproof. Prolonged exposure to moisture will cause rot. OSB has a reputation of performing poorly when exposed to moisture. The edges of this board swelled and it didn’t dry out as fast. However, OSB is constantly being improved.

HEALTH. If these engineered wood products are used inside homes, the chemical binder can affect our health. Most plywood manufacturers use urea formaldehyde glue which can off-gas. OSB can use melamine fortified Urea Formaldehyde, Phenol formaldehyde and polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate.

FIRE RESISTANCE. This piece PureBond plywood charred, but didn’t catch on fire. OSB charred more easily and gave off strong fumes. Some OSB beams burn 8 times faster than solid wood beams.

ENVIRONMENT. They are both excellent man made or engineered wood products. They allow us to use lower quality wood, fast-growing. OSB is generally considered to be more sustainable because you can use wood chips instead of a whole sheet. Nothing goes to waste.
--------------------
SOURCES:
   • Plywood For War (1944)  
   • How Plywood is Made in Factory | The ...  
   • How Plywood Is Made In Factories? (Me...  
   • Oriented Strand Board  - How it is made  
--------------------
Fluffy by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com
Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/stm-fluffy
Music promoted by Audio Library    • Fluffy – Smith The Mister (No Copyrig...  
---------------------
Disclaimer: This video was created for educational/informational purposes and qualifies as Fair Use. If you are the creator or own the footage featured in this video and have reservations please notify me via Youtube comments or email and I will accommodate you
#plywood #osb #sheathing #buildingscience #wood #construction