I got lured by discounted osb board

Lulu-vt

Songster
Jun 19, 2024
152
159
106
Northern Vermont
Osb was 50% off and I bought it for the floor of my coop. It’s 7/16th. Now that I’ve put it down I’m worried that it’s going to swell and fall apart.
Should I…

A. Take it off and use plywood?
B. Paint/Seal it on both sides?
C. Attach plywood underneath the joists, add insulation and then the osb on top. (This sounds expensive)

The bottom of the coop is 20” off the ground. For the inside I plan on using a smooth surface like linoleum on top of the osb

I’m framing the walls out soon and my plan was for the walls to go on top of the edges of the osb. But if they’re going to disintegrate then the whole coop could be in jeopardy. Or am I just being dramatic?

I live in Vermont
 
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Not sure I'd use OSB as a floor sheathing.

I am in Vermont.
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I have OSB floor over beams in my biggest coop and used vinyl tiles over it to protect it from moisture from manure. It’s held up fine for a year through a lot of rain and snow and stayed dry. However, I don’t put food/water in the coop except if I have to keep the chickens in for some kind of one-off reason. When I do that, I make sure there is a big plastic tray with a decent lip under the water in case of a spill.

I’m also using raw OSB that was spare as temporary poop boards. There is actually surprisingly little damage to it from that over roughly the same lent of time as the floor. Most is from me scraping it aggressively and pulling the occasional bit of wood off.
 
I would use plywood instead. I advise against using OSB in a coop in general as rodents can chew right through it. It might work as roof sheathing though.
 
I would use plywood instead. I advise against using OSB in a coop in general as rodents can chew right through it. It might work as roof sheathing though.
This post of mine shouldn't be taken as being against plywood since it's a good material too, but...mice can chew through just about anything made of wood if they have a reason to bore through it. OSB, plywood, some carving on 2x4s, even old PT and creosote-treated boards. It's possible plywood might slow them down more; I've only dealt with the mouse damage after the fact not knowing exactly how long it took them to get through it.

Regarding OSB for roofing, I know it's a thing but I've had some really annoying experiences with that. The previous owner of my property had a thing for patching roofs with OSB instead fo plywood and then not properly fixing leaks above that. While the water-damaged plywood was definitely getting fragile from the damage, there were a few places I could put my finger right through the newer OSB patches like it was butter (which is actually what I was expecting to see with my makeshift OSB poop boards; my area gets a ton of rain though so I guess a slow drip leak is just that much worse than whatever moisture is in chicken manure)
 
This post of mine shouldn't be taken as being against plywood since it's a good material too, but...mice can chew through just about anything made of wood if they have a reason to bore through it. OSB, plywood, some carving on 2x4s, even old PT and creosote-treated boards. It's possible plywood might slow them down more; I've only dealt with the mouse damage after the fact not knowing exactly how long it took them to get through it.

Regarding OSB for roofing, I know it's a thing but I've had some really annoying experiences with that. The previous owner of my property had a thing for patching roofs with OSB instead fo plywood and then not properly fixing leaks above that. While the water-damaged plywood was definitely getting fragile from the damage, there were a few places I could put my finger right through the newer OSB patches like it was butter (which is actually what I was expecting to see with my makeshift OSB poop boards; my area gets a ton of rain though so I guess a slow drip leak is just that much worse than whatever moisture is in chicken manure)
You're right, rodents can chew anything wood, but OSB is softer even when it's dry. My chickens eat it too, especially when it's been wet. I'm not worried about mice, it's mainly the rats.
 
I used OSB on the outside of my coops, I'm in Southern Ontario so not that different climate wise. They're painted three coats one both sides and have held up well. For floor though I would use either plywood sealed or lay down some tiles over the OSB
 

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