Today, science allows us to engineer a wood panel that delivers exceptional performance. It is oriented strand board, OSB. Providing uniformity, strength and versatility that could change the way you look at structural panels forever.

History of OSB

OSB evolved from waferboard in the late 1970s. OSB differs from waferboard in that long OSB wood strands are oriented, not randomly placed. Since its debut in the marketplace in 1978, OSB has been rapidly accepted. In many areas of North America, OSB has virtually replaced other panels in new residential construction. Today, all model building codes in the U.S. and Canada recognize OSB panels for the same uses as plywood on a thickness-by-thickness basis. In 1996, OSB was accepted by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for trading in futures and options.

OSB Manufacturing Process
Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and waferboard are engineered, mat-formed panel products made of strands, flakes or wafers sliced from small diameter, round wood logs and bonded with an exterior-type binder under heat and pressure.

Strand dimensions are predetermined and have a uniform thickness. The majority of Structural Board Association (SBA) member mills use a combination of strands up to 6" (150mm) long and 1" (25mm) wide.

OSB panels consist of layered mats. Exterior or surface layers consist of strands aligned in the long panel direction; inner-layers consist of cross- or randomly-aligned strands. These large mats are then subjected to intense heat and pressure to become a "master" panel, then cut to size.

OSB's strength comes mainly from the uninterrupted wood fiber, interweaving of the long strands or wafers, and degree of orientation of strands in the surface layers. Waterproof and boil proof resin binders are combined with the strands to provide internal strength, rigidity and moisture resistance.

OSB, as a performance-based structural use panel, is recognized by all the major U.S. model code agencies through the adoption of DOC PS2-92 Wood-Based Structural Use Panels. OSB, certified to CSA 0325 and CSA 0437, is accepted in the National Building Code of Canada. OSB certified to EN 300 is recognized for structural use in Europe. In Japan, North American OSB is certified to meet the JAS standard for structural panels.

Members of the Structural Board Association are specialists in OSB and are committed to "Total Quality" manufacture of OSB and waferboard for use in North America and overseas.