Osb Or Plywood For Attic Floor

Plywood comes in large sheets.

Osb or plywood for attic floor.

I ve used 7 16 osb for decking in an attic. X 47 75 in install over insulation or unreliable attic flooring boards lock together using a tongue and groove design. Platforms don t have to be plywood. It is too thin for a floor in a room but for a lightly used attic it is plenty.

You can install inch plywood or oriented strand board osb in 4 foot by 8 foot panels over existing 16 inch oc joists. Here are a few tips to help you and your house get through the attic flooring installation job unscathed. Osb is now used for about 70 percent of all floor wall and roof sheathing in north america. It is cheap and strong enough for the job.

Osb is not attractive enough to serve as a floor covering not only is the chip board appearance unattractive but the surface is also often marked with grid lines and manufacturer markings. Osb is cheaper than plywood by about 3 to 5 per panel. Cut the plywood into manageable strips about 10 inches wide to make the job easier. Building codes the engineered wood association architects and most builders rate plywood and oriented strand board obs sheathing equal in strength and durability.

For joists spaced. As a result osb floors are more likely to squeak due to floor movement cause hard floor surfaces to crack such as tile result in soft spongy floors cost of plywood vs osb. Attic pine oriented strand board common. Install two by four blocking between joists or wherever needed to support edges of the plywood that do not have support from the bottom.

Maneuvering heavy 4 x 8 sheets of plywood or osb oriented strand board up to an unfinished attic is sometimes like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. 7 16 and 6 00 sounds more like osb than plywood. In 2001 oriented strand board surpassed plywood in terms of square footage produced. However plywood subfloors are stiffer than osb by about 10.

A plywood subfloor generally uses 1 2 inch to 3 4 inch thick sheets of plywood that have one rough side which faces down and one smooth side which faces up. Osb when exposed to the weather will eventually swell and bubble up minor instances of bubbling can be sanded but for the most part the osb is irreparable and should be replaced. Installing attic flooring for light storage only. The decision regarding the thickness of plywood to use for the subfloor in the attic has a lot to do with how you intend to use the attic and it also.

Osb oriented strand board.