JLC • FEBRUARY 1994
Since plywood became widespread after the Second
World War, builders have come to take it for
granted. Practical, strong, cheap, and durable —
it's easy to see why nobody thinks twice about the stuff.
Not so with plywood's younger cousin, oriented strand
board, or OSB, which was introduced in the early
eighties. Though OSB offers comparable strength to
plywood at a lower price, some builders still don't trust
it. And after Hurricane Andrew devastated huge
numbers of homes in South Florida in 1992, OSB was an
early scapegoat. South Dade County's zoning board
outlawed its use as roof sheathing, saying it was a factor
in many unnecessary roof failures,