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Need your opinion of 3/4" T&G OSB flooring

02:43AM | 08/21/02

Member Since: 08/19/02
29 lifetime posts

Need your opinion of 3/4" T&G OSB flooring

I'm planning to build a combination vacation home and hunting/fishing camp, so we're not talking real fancy digs here -- just a good, solid, rustic, but comfortable structure.

And since this place will be a frill in my economic scheme of things, I'm greatly interested in keeping the cost as low as possible.

For subflooring, which may end up being the only flooring in it (no overlayment on top), I'm considering 3/4" T&G OSB rather than 3/4" T&G CDX plywood. That would save about five bucks a sheet.

From experiences with cabinets, I've never liked any kind of particle board, which I assume OSB is. Regular particle board is extremely heavy and has a tendency to blow up like a marshmallow if it gets wet, then crumble and fall apart.

We don't have a lot of dampness or humidity here in Eastern Oklahoma, so I'm thinking that might not be a problem.

Am I right? And is the glue that holds that stuff together waterproof?

Actually, the surfaces of the OSB are a lot smoother than those of CDX -- another plus.

I'll probably just cover it all with vinyl roll goods, with ceramic tile in a few areas.

If you've had any experience with OSB, I'd like to know how suitable you think it would be for my plans and any other issues that come to mind -- such as durability and logevity.

Thanks.

GlennG

01:36PM | 08/22/02

OSB has many of the same problems as particleboard only to a slightly lesser degree. I would spend the extra money on T&G plywood and save the headaches down the road. I definitely would not recommend using it under ceramic tile.

Glenn

HBB

01:54PM | 08/22/02

Member Since: 08/19/02
29 lifetime posts

Glenn...

Thanks for your thoughts on this and I'll take your word for it.

I was leaning toward that anyway because I hate particle board.

It would be pennywise and pound foolish to quibble over about $100 additional cost on a project that'll probably end up costing around $5,000.

I just happened to notice that stuff when I was checking around the T&G flooring at Home Depot and the $5-less per sheet price really grabbed the cheapskate in me.

BTW, who uses that stuff and is it good for anything except perhaps temporary buildings?

Is the glue even waterproof?

HBB

07:26AM | 08/29/02

Member Since: 08/19/02
29 lifetime posts

For anyone else interested, here's the link to an excellent article on OSB vs. plywood:
http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/osb.html