Up to this point, things had been cruising along. I was ahead of schedule, and probably for the last time. Day 4 is where things began to get physically challenging – all thanks to OSB.
On the previous day, I was able to sheet the East wall; thanks to some help. On this day, I was all alone. I previously mentioned that a sheet of 1/2” OSB is roughly 48 pounds. That doesn’t sound like much, but it is when you’re hauling 20 sheets, and then trying to place them four feet off the ground while you’re balancing precariously on a ladder. And yes, I did fall – multiple times.
The beautiful part of our homestead is that it’s situated on 25 acres of open hayfield. The downside is the unimpeded wind. Holding a 4×8 sheet of OSB like a sail on top of a ladder and trying to place it is just asking for the wind to pick up, and that it did. Irony is funny.
All things considered, sheeting goes quick in the grand scheme of things. Sure, it took me a day to sheet 3 walls, but given the size of a sheet of OSB, a lot of ground is covered quickly. The part that’s not quick is trying to get it into place by yourself.
Recommended practice in sheeting OSB is to sink a nail between sheets. This provides adequate spacing for expansion of the sheets. Even though they’re made of entwined chips of wood and less prone to expansion, it still happens. Trying to balance a sheet on two nails up in the wind led to many setbacks. Mostly from sheets that fell when they weren’t supposed to.
Yes, this would have been a great opportunity to enlist some help. Progress would have been made much quicker if I wasn’t so stubborn.