OSB Siding Failures Add to L-P's Woes

Choosing an environmentally friendly siding material has never been easy. Often the more “natural” products, such as wood clapboards, are associated with depletion of sensitive forest resources, while materials that are highly manufactured—such as vinyl—raise questions about chlorine and petrochemicals as feedstocks. One of the few competitors to vinyl at the affordable end of the spectrum is oriented-strand board (OSB) siding, such as Louisiana-Pacific’s Inner-Seal®.

OSB siding makes efficient use of wood fiber (none of the log is wasted) and utilizes relatively uncontroversial species, such as aspen and pine. As a result, it is a leading choice among environmentally concerned designers. As the product has gained in popularity, however, increasing experiences of premature decay due to moisture are leading some to question its appro­­­priateness in humid climates.