February 26, 2004
Plywood
Plywood is on its way out. Oriented strand board, commonly referred to as OSB, is replacing plywood for any number of reasons. I am not happy about this transition.
This is a battle I can't win. The huge lumber mills control what happens to a large degree. The growing population consumes more resourses. Wood is a wonderful renewable crop resource, but plywood devours entire logs while OSB and different fiberboards eat chips and sawdust.
But in my humble opinion, plywood works better for many things. I love it for storage shelves and subfloors. It has a smoother surface than OSB. Plywood seems to hold screws better, but that may be my partiality showing.
All I can say is that if you are like me, keep buying plywood. If the mills see a demand, they will continue to make it. Economics 101 dismissed.
Posted by Tim Carter at February 26, 2004 2:47 PM
