Carpenters-Need info on OSB

[carpenter383]

You make some good pionts Eddie, these are pretty much inline with what I was thinking about the subject. I am just a very slow typer and I'm not very good at clearly explaining things by typing.
I know what you mean about varying thickness on 2x8's, 2x10's etc. I don't know why they can't keep a consistent width like 2x4's and 2x6's are.
Another thing about shingles, if you want them to withstand high winds you need to get the nails through BOTH shingles where they over lap, which is just above the tar strip not 2 or 3 in. above it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Just to wonder off topic a bit more on shingles. The instructions on how to nail them properly are on every package that I've ever bought. It's pretty straight forward.

I did a remodel for a client who told me before I started that they had 8 years experience as roofers in Houston and knew allot about construction. They would do the roof after I decked it. They wanted OSB, which I installed. It came out real nice, but then they put on 15 pound paper. It rained and the paper tore. The OSB got wet and the edges raised on them. I told them to tear off the paper and wait for the OSB to dry out, then I could fix or replace what's damaged. Until it dried out, we wouldn't know what the damage was.

They were kind of funny with what they spent money on, and where they cut corners. They bought a new patio set after construction had started, but didn't have the money for 30 pound paper. They bought a new stainless steel range for the kitchen, even though the black one they had before was only a few years old and in perfect condition, but they couldn't afford archetectual shingles.

Over the weekend, and without saying anything to me, they started installing the shingles. When I showed up Monday morning, and the were all at work, I was shocked to see that they had left the damaged paper on the roof, and just shingled over it. They didn't nail it properly, or overlap them the way you are supposed to. And what really blew me away, was that they nailed the shingles over the ridge, then cut them in place with a knife. They cut through the shingles, through the paper and into the wood.

I waited for them to get home, and showed them the wrapper on the shingle that shows how to nail them down. He said his way worked for him and that's how they did it in Houston. I told them that cutting through the paper ruined the paper and that it would leak. He said that's the way they did it in Houston, and they never had a leak. I asked if he replaced the damaged paper or if the wood was dry, he said that he did, but then walked off when I asked how. It was their house, and I made notes in my paperwork what they did, and took pictures. I think I was real close to getting fired, but I wanted to cover myself on that part of it.

I don't know if they ever put on a roof or not. I wonder if they worked in Houston and to what degree they were involved with installing roofs for 8 years. Another clue that really caused me to doubt them was when they asked how big a square was when measureing the roof? While it's not common knowledge to somebody who's never done a roof, it is pretty basic for anybody who's done just one roof before.

That roof is a big embarrasment to me. In all the pictures that I have of that job, I hide the roof in them so you won't see the waves in it. It's absolutely the worse looking roof that I've ever seen, or been involved with. It's so bad, that while I'm very proud with the rest of the job, I won't send clients out there to see the house because I don't want them to see that roof.

Later, while drunk, the wife appologized to me about the roof and said that she was going to hire a crew to come out and redo it when they had the money. She said it that one time, and never brought it up again.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

I wonder if they worked in Houston and to what degree they were involved with installing roofs for 8 years.

I once hired a guy to help me put on a roof. He was very pushy and started telling me how to do it, since he supposedly had more experience than I did.

It turns out he was wrong on almost all counts, and when I showed him the instructions on the shingle wrappers he just said "That is BS, they don't know what they are talking about." Fortunately, he quit the next day so I didn't have to fire him.

Many times, years of experience does not equal knowledge or a good job.

 

[hitekcountry]

Eddie
Wow that's just pathetic, and they were doing this on their own house!! Clearly they knew nothing about roofing. That will end up being the most expensive roof they could have chosen.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

7/16 osb is a lot better than what a lot of builders around me are using. They use 7/16 osb on the corner only and then use foam for the rest. A lot of siding blows off because they have foam underneath and failed to nail the siding into the studs.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

If using air nailers for nailing the OSB to the walls make sure no one is on the other side of the wall. I had a 8 glance off my leg as our worker was shooting the OSB to the wall while I was inside the wall working in there. He missed the stud and the nail blew through the OSB when it missed the stud. When it hit the stud it would be sunk properly but if it missed it was going through

Eddie, I see a lot of guys here roof like that. Hanging the shingles and cut through after. The house about a mile down the road has the home owners remodeling it. They parked their corvettes in front and stripped off two layers of shingles, left the rest and put 3 tabs on it without any other work to the deck. That roof has shingles sticking up all over as the wrinkles are so bad they didn't set down. It looks terrible and all they did was waste a lot of time and money. A roof is one spot you do not want to cut corners or save money on.

I also disagree with using foam or cardboard for sheating under siding. Any idiot with a utility knife and sharp blade can just cut through the wall and be in the house in a couple minutes with hardly any noise being made. Same with the drywall inside the wall, a sharp blade and its gone. Of course it makes it easy to add windows and doors in the future as you send a guy with a utility knife and hand saw and the opening is cut out in about 5 minutes and ready for the window/door

 

[herd]

Regarding OSB vs CDX plywood, I was a late sell to OSB myself but now I would never use plywood again, even in subfloors. Plywood not only delaminates, but it is full of voids (unless real expensive like Marine plywood), and those voids make it weaker, in my opinion, than OSB ("old-sum_beech"), which has no void.

I have never built less than 16'' centers but have supervised a few 24'' OC projects; I always demanded 5/8'' + plywood clips in that application--seen too many dips!

 

[tallyho8]

In our area most subdivision homes were built with sheathing only on the corners and insulation in between until Katrina. After Katrina new building codes required homes to be fully sheathed.

I could never understand how someone could make a wall of their home with nothing except drywall, insulation and vinyl siding between them and the outdoors.

 

[bp fick]

In our area most subdivision homes were built with sheathing only on the corners and insulation in between until Katrina. After Katrina new building codes required homes to be fully sheathed.

I could never understand how someone could make a wall of their home with nothing except drywall, insulation and vinyl siding between them and the outdoors.

Yes, Corner braces, either OSB or corner ties you lay in a saw line.
Actually, there are 100s of 1000s of homes built exactly like that. Yes, it meets code. I lived 6 months, in the model, for about a year of homes we were building just as you described. Slam an entrance door and wall shakes a little. Seriously. It actually is fine. It just isn't what I'd prefer in my own home, thank you.

 

[JB4310]

I could never understand how someone could make a wall of their home with nothing except drywall, insulation and vinyl siding between them and the outdoors.

I know it drives me nuts to even think about it, could get injured in your house from a kid playing with a bow and arrow in the yard! Or break in with nothing more than cutting out a hole with a razor knife!!!
But apparently isn't new. I have seen on a few occasions, houses built in the 50's with a corky particle board sheathing, you could almost poke a finger through.

As far as roofs go, if you ever walked on a roof that was poorly designed, or had it's decking compromised for any reason, you would quickly realize it's better to overkill than just go with the minimum grade material that's "accepted".
I know for some it comes down to profit, that's why I would never want a house built on speculation.

All the older buildings I grew up working on had 3/4" boards for roof deck, very tough stuff and can handle water leaks far better than even good plywood. took me a long time to accept plywood as a good roof deck, don't know if I'll ever come around to OSB.

.