When it comes to structural integrity, cost is less of an issue among consumers than structural performance. It looks like a bunch of junk pounded together. Public perception is that we are getting stuck with scraps. The uninitiated don t appreciate the high-level of science and technology used to produce engineered wood products. And oddly, plywood is perceived as solid wood to a lay person.
Customers don t want technical explanations about many things.
However, customers are nervous about engineered wood because all they see are little pieces of wood stuck together. Osb is so visually striking that customers need a technical explanation about this material from their builders. Future Watch Osb is unceremoniously pushing plywood aside as the structural panel of choice. Twenty-one osb plants are scheduled to open between 1995 and 1997. Nobody is building plywood plants.