Oriented Strand Board

Oriented strand board, abbreviated OSB, is an engineered wood panel manufactured by compressing layers of wood strands bonded with resin, with the strands in each layer aligned in a consistent direction and alternated between layers for strength, similar in principle to plywood but made from fast-growing, smaller-diameter trees rather than veneer logs. Developed in North America in the 1970s and 1980s, it became a lower-cost substitute for plywood in wall, floor and roof sheathing, and its efficient use of otherwise low-value wood fiber has made it one of the most widely produced structural wood panels in North American residential construction since the 1990s.