Wood Advice

Knowledge of customer requirements is an integral part of any successful business, but many merchants could be missing out on sales opportunities when it comes to specifying timber panels, as PBM reports.

The marketplace for timber within all manner of construction work has grown in recent years, and despite there being a downturn as far as property is concerned, the attitude of the building industry as a whole has shifted towards the preferential use of environmentally sound materials that will tick all the right boxes for sustainability, strength and performance.

It's been a long time coming, but one such timber panel benefiting from such interest in green credentials is Oriented Strand Board (OSB). Despite having been available in the UK and Ireland for over 20 years, a general lack of awareness of its properties and the applications it can be used for has meant that merchants and builders alike have sometimes been slow to pick up on the possibilities.

However, according to recent industry-wide research carried out by JOSB Done campaign, which is now in its fourth year and is supported by manufacturers Norbord and SmartPly, resin supplier Huntsman and the WPIF, interest in OSB is at an all time high especially as builders are realising its viability within the current climate.

As part of this in-depth survey of over 350 respondents, JOSB Done spoke to both merchants and builders to gage common opinion when it comes to choosing timber panels, and the results provide a useful insight into the requirements and priorities of both parties.

Question of Opinion

From the merchants questioned, 79% said that they would recommend OSB over plywood, citing its price point and strength as key reasons for doing so, whilst 78% of the builders who took part in the research would make the same choice, giving the reasons of price, quality and comparative strength/stability.

The uses for OSB mentioned by the builders were numerous - from roofing, flooring and cladding to shuttering, hoardings and boarding up windows - and interestingly for those who said they wouldn't choose OSB over plywood, it was a question of not knowing enough about OSB to make an informed choice.

When the participants were asked whether they were aware that some plywood imports can be uncertified and may be sourced from illegal wood sources, 71% of merchants said they were compared with only 44% of builders questioned. Four out of five merchants said that they look for FSC certification of the materials they stock as well as the CE mark, whereas half of builders said they did the same when specifying. As builders often rely on their local merchant for advice as well as stocking the right products for the job at hand, this difference in awareness levels represent a real opportunity for merchants to take the lead and steer them in the right direction.

According to the research, when it comes to prioritising quality, price, availability and environmental credentials during the specification of timber panels, there is quite a difference between what merchants and builders deem important.

For six out of ten merchants, on a scale of one to four (one being the highest, and four being the least important), quality was identified as the number one consideration followed by price. However, when the builders were asked the same question, a third said that price was their primary concern when purchasing timber panels, closely followed by environmental credentials with 28% stating this as a number one priority.

Almost two thirds of merchants said that the environment was fourth on their list of priorities, but in contrast, availability was of least importance to builders. It is clear that there is a difference in approach to specifying timber, and if green issues are of increasing interest to builders as a whole, merchants who are aware of this trend and who can advise their customers on the most environmental sustainable timber panels available will be sure to reap the benefits.

A Wood Choice

Four years ago when the JOSB Done campaign began, initial research revealed a lack of understanding or awareness of OSB, but it seems that this may no longer be the case as the industry starts to embrace the benefits it can offer today's construction industry.

For one builder questioned during the campaign's recent research, it is simply a matter of changing habits. Mark Warburton, Director of Bespace Urban Design, commented: "I've been in the industry for over 22 years and as part of the ‘old school', I always used to use plywood because that was the norm. Builders can get set in their ways and it is hard to change their mind when they are used to working a particular way and with specific materials, but once they understand OSB and start using it like we have done, they will see what it can do.

"For the last two years, I can't remember a time when we've had to use plywood for a project. OSB can do everything we need it to. The quality is there, the accuracy is always 100%, there's no risk of tolerances. With plywood you nearly always find voids, or have trouble with splitting, and weak spots, which you don't get with OSB because of how it's manufactured. You never see any differentials or have a problem panel, out of shape or a weak panel."

"You're also guaranteed that it is from a sustainable source so there's no need to question, which is reassuring. For us the whole product has to tick every box for sustainability and for our clients, we can't afford to cut corners."

Likewise, Roy James, of RJ Joinery, used to favour plywood over OSB because of uncertainty over how it would perform: "However, we saw our competitors start to use OSB panels and we wanted to see why this was becoming more common place. Once we started to work with OSB ourselves, we quickly gained confidence in its stability and longevity and know that in most given situations, it can live up to ply.

"Some people may be stuck in their ways and assume that OSB has a lower quality, but when you come to use it you realise it has that strength and durability you need. On occasion, I have had problems when buying in plywood and the consistency of the boards can sometimes be touch and go. In the past two years, the issue of unsustainable plywood imports has been widely highlighted, and so I will now make a point of asking where the timber I use comes from."

"At the end of the day, I feel as a business we had to make the change to OSB because otherwise we would have lost out to our competitors. The important thing is to specify the right product for the job at hand, and the lower price-point of OSB means that we can produce high quality timber frame buildings without a high cost to our customers."

Essentially, industry attitudes are changing and with green issues increasingly high on the building agenda, merchants who can provide all the wood advice will help ensure that the best timber panels are used for the job at hand.

To find out more about the campaign, please visit the website - www.josbdone.com.

Press enquiries to: Kelly Edmonds Willoughby Public Relations 43 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 1TS Tel: 0121 456 3004 Fax: 0121 456 9300 kellye@willoughby-pr.co.uk