Being a wood-based product, OSB must always be protected against direct contact with water and should not be subject to sudden variations in temperature and humidity.
There are two situations when speaking about storage conditions:
a) Warehouse storage
b) On-site storage
a) Warehouse storage:
- Always store the boards indoor, in a dry and ventilated area, away from rain dropping and snow.
- Always store the boards on a stable and horizontal platform.
- Always store the boards (bundles) on top of each other using intermediate supports (wood spacers) of equal height, perfectly aligned vertically.
- Make sure that spacers are spanned at a maximum distance of 80cm, to avoid excessive deflection of the boards from the bottom of the stack.
- Make sure that the length of the spacers is equal to the width of the board.
- Always stack bundles of equal length (never stack longer-size bundles on top of short-size bundles).
b) On-site storage:
- Always keep outdoor storage on-site for as short a time period as possible (indoor storage inside a building is always preferred).
- Always store the boards on sufficient height wood pallets or supports to avoid direct contact with water on vegetation.
- Always protect boards against unexpected rain or snow by covering them with waterproof membranes (plastic foils, lorry canvas, etc).
- When applying water protection, make sure it allows for the free ventilation of the boards on the sides and on the bottom.
- Make sure the canvas (foil) is firmly secured against wind blowing.
- Cut and remove the fixing strips from the bundle at delivery on-site, to reduce the stress in the boards.