That OSB is inferior to plywood, or that plywood is superior to OSB board, is a myth that is propogated by the ignorant.
In fact OSB is superior to plywood in several key areas which include:
-stronger sheer strength and greater resistance to blowing off in high winds
-better ability to span distance and bear weight per equal thicknesses.
OSB also shows no difference at all in nail holding power to plywood.
OSB has been proven to actually repel water better than plywood.
All major code, manufacturers and scientific studies and organizations list plywood and OSB, both engineered wood products, as EQUAL in overall performance with only minor differences between the two for application consideration.
If your OSB rotted eaily, it was likely not OSB at all, but rather a separate grade of waferboard or 'Aspenite' which is not the same thing.
In my 30 years of homebuidling experience, I have never seen any major differences in performance between OSB and plywood and have even conducted my own tests on the products which support the scientific findings.
OSB is more environmentally friendly than ply because it uses wood products that would otherwise be sent to the garbage heap.
OSB makes better use of limited natural resources getting more product out of a single tree with less waste.
Here is a helpful link to dispel the many myths about OSB and plywood:
http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/publications/articles/osb_vs_plywood.html
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