Construction is extremely expensive. This is immediately understood by everyone who undertook the construction of their own home. Of course, there is always a desire to reduce costs as much as possible, but not to the detriment of the final quality. And therefore OSB plate is so widespread recently. Reviews indicate that it is a great alternative to many traditional building materials.
What it is?
By the way, what kind of stove is this, why is it so good? Object Oriented Slab (OSB) is a type of particle board. Unlike the banal chipboard, it has some features. Firstly, tight quality control of wood chips, which distinguishes the production of OSB-boards from the production of conventional wood-based panels.
Only carefully selected high-quality shavings go into production. In the plate itself, it is also located in a special way: first it is placed in the perpendicular direction, in the middle there is a parallel layer, and again the chips are placed across from above (of course, relative to the axis of the OSB itself). This approach allows you to get a thin and extremely durable material, from which in most cases you can even make overlap.
In addition, an OSB wood board is molded under high pressure and temperature using special synthetic resins. All this gives the finished material excellent characteristics: it is durable, resistant to mold and fungus, extremely durable. It is not surprising that the OSB board, reviews of which we will consider, has diverged in recent years in large batches.
About moisture resistance
OSB moisture resistant board is also currently available. This is not to say that she could withstand a year-round stay in the pouring rain, but the reviews are encouraging. In particular, some owners erected outbuildings from moisture-resistant slabs. As their experience shows, even after five to six years no signs of destruction and delamination of the material are observed.
How safe is this material?
The debate around this issue has been going on almost since this material appeared on our market. Most of our consumers at the word "chipboard" immediately recall the products of the USSR. The synthetic resins used in their production contained such an amount of phenol that respiratory diseases caused by the constant presence in houses with such furniture were very common.
Do not worry! Reviews of modern buyers indicate that there are no side effects from the use of this material. The whole thing is in the manufacture of plates: a special resin is used, which practically does not contain harmful substances. Many people have been living in OSB houses for the second or third decade, but they donāt notice any problems.
Only one remark can be made. Given that synthetic resins are still used in the production of the material, the attic heated by the sun (if you have one) should be aired often. The fact is that in the first years of operation, a not too pleasant smell may appear. This happens not always and not at all, but keep in mind this circumstance will not hurt.
Practical examples and feedback. Construction of houses
The construction of houses from this material causes a lot of fierce debate, in which sometimes even professional builders are involved. Since interest in the topic is largely artificially heated, debating experts sometimes turn to individuals. But chatting on forums is far from the best way to get your own opinion on OSB's prospects. To do this, you need to talk to practitioners.
What kind of sensation does the OSB cooker have? Reviews indicate that professional builders are on the side of using building blocks. Thus, the maximum allowable plate size cannot exceed 1.5 meters. Alas, this is precisely what causes the main stream of complaints: whatever one may say, you will have to make walls with at least one joint. Practices of such ādockingā are advised to avoid in every possible way.
This is due to the fact that the extreme sections of the slab in this case have an extremely high load. Therefore, the probability of damage is high. Many owners of country houses who used this solution during construction complain about broken and damaged sections of slabs. This does not add much decorativeness to the house.
Construction approaches
So what is OSB suitable for? Reviews say that this material is ideal for the construction of small country houses. The main thing is not to forget to provide normal ventilation in the dwellings. Builders themselves say that the following approaches to building from OSB panels currently exist:
- In the first case, any project of the house you like is simply selected, after which it is adapted to the existing realities.
- The second approach is much more pragmatic: a specialist is hired who draws up a project that takes into account all the strengths and weaknesses of the material.
Alas, the first way is the most common. Our builders are constantly looking for approaches to reduce the cost of the project, so this does not end with anything good. Often you can find reviews of dissatisfied customers who complain about the poor quality of such structures. Houses can sag, wall structures often warp. As you might guess, overly thrifty customers are to blame for this.
A bit about the cost
Oddly enough, but specialized design in practice comes out much cheaper. The builders themselves explain this simply: the fact is that architects immediately calculate the required amount of materials and make up the estimate of the project, which practically does not change during the work. The reviews indicate that when adapting the project, it is possible to use no more than 48% of OSB panels. If specialized projects are used, it is possible to take up to 80% of this material.
In this case, the OSB-plate, the application of which we are considering, is extremely cost-effective.
Do not repeat the mistakes of others!
Of course, in an effort to save money, many themselves are trying to draw up a project. But along the way, many pitfalls lie in wait for them. If you strive to maximize the use of OSB-plates, the result will be a large, beautiful, but ... a hut. In addition, the typical technology leads to the fact that the houses take on exactly the same look, and some architectural features are completely replaced by ācubicā buildings.
By the way, it is precisely this circumstance that many newly made homeowners complain about: they donāt really like that many thousands of almost the same houses can be found all over the world.
Apparently, this is built only because of the deep-rooted opinion that the āCanadianā construction technology involves exclusively direct forms and the simplest form of houses. In fact, this is not due to technology. Just developers do not "bother" with something more complex, but use the simplest forms and technological solutions. If you are building a house for yourself, then you can make it from OSB-plates, but give it any shape.
In any case, the article has a photo. OSB-plate on them looks like a completely āplasticā material, which can be given almost any shape.
Useful optimization tips
As we have already said, the most common is the optimization of standard projects for OSB-boards. Although this is not very welcome, there are some ways that help optimize the project with the least loss and maximum return. Consider the most effective of them.
As we already said, standard panels will have to be joined and trimmed, since the usual ceiling height (2.5 m) is larger than the size of the plate. Where it is better to put panels on an edge. Since the OSB chipboard has a standard width of 1250 mm, fewer joints can be dispensed with, which will increase the strength of the structure as a whole. Self-taught builders who built their own homes using this technology speak of a significant reduction in waste.
We correctly calculate the windows!
In addition, from the reviews it can be understood that a significant reduction in the cost of construction (less building materials are spent) leads to a competent calculation of the size of window jumpers. The builders give an example: if you take the ceiling height of 2.8 meters, it is better to make the window opening 1250 mm wide and 1400 mm high. In this case, the installation of OSB-plates is so accurate that you can place solid panels on the walls without making a single cut.
Another variant
If you cut the panel lengthwise, getting two pieces of 900x1500 mm and 350x1500 mm, you get two ideal blanks for window blocks with a height of 150 cm. Simply put, when choosing measurements, based on the characteristics of the material you have, you can almost completely eliminate waste and scraps. In principle, reviews indicate that the panels are generally often cut into two parts.
We cut it right!
And there is a logical explanation. For example, the standard block is divided into parts of 625x1500 mm. Given that the height of the attic walls is often just 1.5 meters, you can easily assemble the room from them without dividing the material into excess pieces. However, builders also note the fact that we should not forget about standard measurements of the project that you plan to ātailorā to your needs.
Explain with a simpler example. Suppose that you want to make a house out of such plates, which in the original project has dimensions of several hundred square meters, and even rises two or three floors. Should not be doing that! This material is intended for the construction of houses with a maximum of two floors high (and preferably one and a half), since in the future the bearing strength is already insufficient.
More tips
Remember, you cannot make multiple changes to a project if it was not originally created for using OSB-plates! In any case, the number of joints should be minimized. But in this case it is impossible to focus on it. The forums are full of stories about how the development of the final project was delayed due to such scrupulousness for whole months.
After studying the reviews, you can come to a simple conclusion: if you can do without cutting, do without it. If something doesnāt work out, then itās better to cut off the desired piece than spend hours crawling around the house under construction with a tape measure. In the end, you can cut the OSB-plate with a simple hand hacksaw, and this will take away a couple of minutes from the force.
In general, you should not get too carried away with self-processing projects. The fact is that a serious result can be obtained only if you are engaged in mass development. And the reviews on the forums say the same thing: panels should be used only in those areas for which their strength is sufficient.
So, we would not advise to order cheaper projects in specialized companies, since there will be very little effect. In this case, it is easier to order a finished drawing of the house, which will be based on the OSB-plate. Its application in this case is greatly simplified.
Other
The builders themselves also say that you should never forget about the width of the panels you use in the case of installing external walls. In our case, it is 1250 mm. If the walls of the house are 5x5 meters, then solid plates cannot be used. But 5.125 by 5.125 m fits perfectly, but you have to cut off much less. From people who independently engaged in the construction of such houses, one can often hear reviews that it is desirable to draw panels in the form of rectangles on the drawings of the panels: so you can accurately calculate their number in advance.
By the way, how much does an OSB plate cost? The price depends on the manufacturer and the type of panel itself, but most often it does not exceed 700-1000 rubles per piece.
The joint gaps, as practice shows, can be neglected. The manufacturing accuracy of the panels is not so high that they could be oriented seriously at these three to four millimeters. Note that when cutting this volume of material is also reduced, and when using saws with large teeth, this is most noticeable.
In general, an OSB-plate, whose thickness is about 8 mm, is not inclined to swell much, so that there will be no distortion of the structure due to too small a gap. However, you still should not dock the panels as tightly as possible, since technological backlash between them should be present in any case.