Properties
Adjustments to the manufacturing process can impart differences in thickness, panel size, strength, and rigidity. OSB panels have no internal gaps or voids, and are water-resistant, although they do require additional membranes to achieve impermeability to water and are not recommended for exterior use. The finished product has properties similar to plywood, but is uniform and cheaper. When tested to failure, OSB has a greater load-bearing capacity than milled wood panels. It has replaced plywood in many environments, especially the North American structural panel market. The most common uses are as sheathing in walls, floors, and roofs.
While OSB does not have a continuous grain like a natural wood, it does have an axis along which its strength is greatest. This can be seen by observing the alignment of the surface wood chips. The most accurate method for determining the axis of strength is to examine the ink stamps placed on the wood by the manufacturer.
All wood-based structural use panels can be cut and installed with the same ease and types of equipment used with solid wood.
Some manufacturers treat the wood chips with various borate compounds which are toxic to termites, wood boring beetles, molds, and fungi, but not mammals in applied doses.
Read more about this topic: Oriented Strand Board
Famous quotes containing the word properties:
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—John Locke (1632–1704)
“A drop of water has the properties of the sea, but cannot exhibit a storm. There is beauty of a concert, as well as of a flute; strength of a host, as well as of a hero.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)