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waferboard
DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)
n. & adj. — Construction, Industry
a type of board produced by pressing and gluing irregular strands of wood together (see Image 1).
Type: 5. Frequency — Both waferboard and its synonym "oriented strand board", or just "OSB", are used in Canada (see Chart 2 and the 1983 and 2013 quotations). Waferboard is much more frequent in Canada (see Chart 1) than in other locations, such as the US, where "OSB" board is more common (see Chart 2). Waferboards are popular because they are a much cheaper alternative to plywood.
See also COD-2, s.v. "waferboard", which is marked "esp. Cdn".
See also COD-2, s.v. "waferboard", which is marked "esp. Cdn".
Quotations
1971
Waferboard Corp. Ltd. of Timmins will use the money for construction of a waferboard plant at Timmins to employ 113 people.
1983
Georgia-Pacific Corp. of Portland, Ore., plans to construct or expand at strategic locations a total of 10 strandboard or waferboard plants. The company will double existing capacity at its Dudley, N.C., plant to 120 million square feet a year.
1993
High prices and demand are giving Quebec's lumber industry its best year in more than a decade. Sawmills and factories making wood products like waferboard and plywood have been operating flat out since the start of the year in an otherwise lacklustre economy. The lumber industry in Quebec employs some 25,000 from the forest to the finished wood, making it the largest outside of British Columbia.
2005
Today poplars still serve as firewood, of course, but are also used for pulp and waferboard, and are apparently well suited to be made into -- of all things -- chopsticks. Time to look at the common poplar with a little more respect, don't you think?
2013
Is it safe to nail traditional hardwood flooring to a waferboard subfloor? Do I need to put down plywood first?
Waferboard is more properly called OSB, and the letters stand for "oriented strand board" - a sheet-type building material made of wood flakes glued together. Lots of houses are made with OSB subfloors these days. Opinions about its ability to hold flooring nails varies among contractors, but the official line is clear.
Hardwood flooring can be securely nailed to an OSB subfloor.
References
- COD-2
Images
Image 1: Surface of a waferboard Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: L. Allorge
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 30 May 2013
_oriented_strand_board_-_30_May_2013.JPG)