OSB vs Plywood: Is there even a debate?

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[jameshalliday]

I had a house built in 2006 and had osb flooring. It was exposed to weather for about 2 months before it was dried in. The second floor (where the water pooled during rain for a couple months) had the worst floor ever. I even put my foot through it during the construction phase with ease so they had to replace quite a few sections. For the 10 years i owned that house it had the spongiest floor I ever walked on. When we built our house in 2019 I insisted on plywood floors. Night and day. So much better. Even built the kids tree house with plywood floors. We built the deck and sheeted it in the fall, left it for six/seven months through the fall (rain) winter (snow) and spring (more rain) and then built the rest the following summer. No delaminating at all. Plywood is the best.
Keep up the great work.

Market share indicates cost, not quality. Most builders are out to maximize profit, not product. Since almost nobody buying a house knows the difference anymore, they take what they’re given. The general public is not knowledgeable about these things and just accept whatever the builders say as truth.

[steamfan]

In my area, the houses that have stood the test of time, weathered a 100+ years of floods and Hurricanes all have one thing in common. Diagonal plank sheathing.

[ajleuty]

I am an electrician by trade. On the hotel project. I’m working on the framers used all OSB subfloor. It obviously got soaking wet during construction, and now that the plumbers are bringing cast-iron tubs through on dollies they are breaking through the subfloor. You can literally tell where all the joists are because the OSB sags. I’m guessing Weyerhaeuser has a ton of hoops you have to jump through to claim their warranty

[bondking]

I loved the last part about building a house by yourself. When y'all started the dirt work on the spec house I started the dirt work on a 540 square foot addition to my old farmhouse. As of today, I am only to the point of hanging the drywall. I have done all the work myself. It is slow going, but satisfying.

[chrishayden]

I took two sections of I-beam that have advantech webbing and I have been using them for a very simple boat ramp for the last 5 years. I don't even take them out of the lake during the winter when the ice wraps everything up. They are still very solid and working as designed. This is underwater OSB that never dries out unless the lake level goes down

[jpvillth]

Talking about floor stability, I grew up in a home that was built in 1920. In addition, it was a Sears home. The sub-floor is full dimension lumber, 1X8 shiplap installed at 45 degrees to the perimeter joists. Then there was a layer of lapped greenish colored paper covered by 1 inch X 3 inch white oak tongue and groove planks. Cut nails were used to attach the oak flooring through the tongue so the nails were not visible. The floors on the first and second floor never had any give in them, even when jumping on the middle of the floors in the rooms. The first floor was over a basement. All of the joists were on 16 inch centers. All of the lumber that was seen during remodeling was old growth, full dimensions and Douglas fir. The original cedar lap siding came from Washington State and was 5 inch exposure with boards of 20 feet maximum length. Many of these details were discovered when I did an enclosure remodel of a side porch that was the full width of the house. The one major mistake we found was that the cedar siding was never primed on the back side. If it had been primed it is likely the exterior coats of paint would not have blistered. Today, a rain screen will help to prevent paint blistering and will allow the siding to breathe. The rain screen will also eliminate the need to caulk all the joints between the trim and the siding.

[Materials-for-house]

14:36 Is it acceptable to insert wedges in this way? looks very unstable

[jeffcourtney]

For subfloor, I recommend Advantech. I've yet to see anything perform as good. Yes, it's more expensive but IMO it's worth it. Having subs who take pride in their work and refuse to cut corners to save time/money is worth everything. Especially on a custom homes.

[libertarian]

OSB is the market leader because it’s CHEAPER. I’ve been in the trades for over 3 decades and have experience with both plywood and OSB and while OSB has gotten better over the years OSB doesn’t age nearly as well as plywood nor is OSB as strong as plywood. OSB also doesn’t do as well, structurally, in a fire compared to plywood as the glues break down with heat.

[trailrunner]

I’ve been in excavation for 20 years and have demolished dozens of buildings including: houses, shops, barns, sheds, commercial buildings etc, and the debate over strength between the two isn’t even close. Plywood wins with a huge margin of victory. Buildings built with osb almost fall over by themselves when attack with an excavator. And yes, I’ve demolished newer buildings with the newest versions of osb, and while they have improved over time, they are still no match for plywood.

[mike-n-texaswoodturning]

From reading most of the below comments, yes there is a debate. I've only used 3/8 OSB on the inside walls of my wife's she shed in place of sheet rock, it did not do well with screws, especially near the seams it would just crumble away, but that was probably because it was so thin. I can't believe the cost of plywood these days.

[hibiki]

Thats a framing crew I can respect. Working in the rain is no joke. A popular joke in commercial construction is to draw a 12 inch circle and if you get more than 5 drops its time to roll up.

[joeidaho]

There isn't any real debate about laying it on the floor. There is certainly a debate about using it for wall sheathing. I did enough work in British Columbia, in regard to water damage. OSB used on walls is horrible if it gets wet repeatedly. It completely turns to dust....completely crumbled. It has zero real structure if it goes through a number of wet and dry cycles. Ya...the manufacturer can say what they experience shows it to be very different. It has always been the cheaper alternative. People used to use it on roofs....and then most developers went back to plywood, as a pretty constant rule. And yes, it does swell when left wet for long periods during is especially pronounced with pre-fab walls. Made it very very hard to get real precision when connecting walls at corners. The swelling would clearly be pronounced. I'm not talking several days. I'm talking about numerous weeks of exposure to water....before a roof finally goes on a building. I only use it for limited purposes. This video comes across as a bit of corporate shilling....as if everything one of these large corporations say...is the truth...lol. How often do building codes change...because of information that was perceived in a certain way...and turned out to be questionable??

[gernblanston]

The edgegold you’re using for your floor is much different than standard osb. I recommend a product like this over plywood for subfloor but never over standard osb. I prefer osb for the walls over plywood and plywood for the roof, or better yet zip sheathing for both the walls and the roof

[kevinsworkshop]

I can sympathize with the comment about how the size and layout of a house feels during different phases construction.
That said; when building a barn it feels as if there's going to be so much room for activities once its done. Then realizing its never going to be big enough. hahaha
Managing expectations is sometimes difficult; even on personal projects.

[Dimythios]

Your house. Your choice. 38 years doing turnkey work repairing income investment property. I've seen damage to both plywood and OSB. I will take plywood every single time. This is by experience. This is by my own testing on exposing plywood and OSB to the elements. It started off as a meh accident and then went into testing for 20 years. So you can take all of your data and I'll stay with mine.

[AndyGneiss]

Great footage! It's nice seeing the house's frame coming together in this format of a video.

[Grhb]

Nice to see these framing carpenters taking their time and favouring quality of work over speed. Definitely not something you see a whole lot of for the most part 👍

[rickrudd]

I'll take the bait. I have little reason to have confidence in the long term longevity of OSB. If advesives deteriorates and plywood delaminates, you still have multiple plies providing strength.
If, in 100 years, all the OSB we use deteriorates, our houses are going to implode.
Why arent boat builders using Advantech for boat stringers and floors?

[IBryanValko]

Love hearing you doing more narration Nate. I enjoy your commentary just as much as your pops. Think you might have picked up his way of speaking. You guys have a gift in the way you share stories and Information. Thank you for sharing!!!