Osb Or Plywood For Attic Floor

So while exterior glued plywood can be used outdoors it works best.

Osb or plywood for attic floor. Here are a few tips to help you and your house get through the attic flooring installation job unscathed. Building codes the engineered wood association architects and most builders rate plywood and oriented strand board obs sheathing equal in strength and durability. Moisture also affects the strength of plywood. Attic pine oriented strand board common.

Platforms don t have to be plywood. I ve used 7 16 osb for decking in an attic. It might seem impossible to haul it up to the attic. Plywood comes in large sheets.

The sheets are generally 4 x 8 or 4 x 12 feet in size. Installing attic flooring for light storage only. 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. It is too thin for a floor in a room but for a lightly used attic it is plenty.

X 47 75 in install over insulation or unreliable attic flooring boards lock together using a tongue and groove design. It is cheap and strong enough for the job. 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. In 2001 oriented strand board surpassed plywood in terms of square footage produced.

While osb oriented strand board is generally cheaper than plywood it is heavier and not as stiff as plywood and can result in soft squeaky floors under weight the biggest complaint against osb is that it doesn t handle moisture very well so it is more suited for indoor use. You can install inch plywood or oriented strand board osb in 4 foot by 8 foot panels over existing 16 inch oc joists. 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. 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. For joists spaced. Cut the plywood into manageable strips about 10 inches wide to make the job easier. 7 16 and 6 00 sounds more like osb than plywood.

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.