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I am curious how long OSB bd. will last being exposed to the elements.There is a neighbor down the road from me who is building his house.He has had OSB on his house for two years without any siding installed to protect it, or for that matter any housewrap either. Whats the time frame for it’s exposure so that its structual integrity is not compromised? thanks
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I was at a barn today that has OSB "siding" here in Colorado. It was painted about a year after it was put up which was about 5 years ago. The strands are mostly intact but flaking at the outer layer.
The polymer based resins that bind the strands together are an improvement over the old formaldahyde resins used when OSB was first introduced. Still OSB is not meant to be used as an exterior grade finish product. I do not know what the statute of limitations is but I would suspect that at best the neighbors house has lost years off its life. Of course he could always just apply another layer.
Around here in order to get a certificate of occupancy from the county you need to have the siding on your house 75% finished.
*Judging from the scraps of OSB I collect in my back yard I'd say you can expect OSB to hold up as well as and perhaps better than the plywood. Most of my plywood scraps delaminate after 8 months. The OSB swells a bit (3/4" becomes 7/8" around the edges after 6 months )and it flakes a little but it doesn't fall apart. My back yard is actually a swamp and rather shady even during the winter. Not a good place to store anything.
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I had a similar situation a few years ago, with a neighbor who refused to finish their house. I called the wood product lab in Madison Wisconsin. They sent me some materials on OSB and the test they had performed with respect to the elements. Basically, their answer was it lasts a long time exposed to the elements...
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I am curious how long OSB bd. will last being exposed to the elements.There is a neighbor down the road from me who is building his house.He has had OSB on his house for two years without any siding installed to protect it, or for that matter any housewrap either. Whats the time frame for it's exposure so that its structual integrity is not compromised? thanks