Is it recommended to paint OSB?

[johnnyradiant]

Based on OSB from years ago my recommendation is don't buy it in the first place. Fortunately it isn't what it used to be but when it comes to OSB I'm heavily biased.
My personal preferance is the rough side but that ***** paint and lets more dust 'stick' to the walls and build up faster than smooth side. I've seen a few smooth sides stained with transparent stain in an artisan type environ. they looked kinda nice but they still registered heavily on my OSB radar.

 

[dcg9381]

We have "finished space" in our barn. I've settled on 7/16 OSB for the "finished walls" with 16" OC framing. It paints up with about 1.5 coats of quality paint... Depends on how "finished" you're going after, but we've got a whole living room/kitchen done in it. Not fire rated, of course..

 

[Falcon67]

The usual has been some oil based primer to seal the OSB, rather than a water based latex primer that would tend to "fuzz" the OSB. Then top coat. I left mine bear, the cost and the number of coats at the time said "F-it, move in and get to using the space". The walls have held up just fine uncoated. Don't buy into the negative waves about OSB, it's a usable material and cost effective.

As for a fire hazard, it's the same material as the roof decking, wall studs, door frames, etc that's covered with paper covered drywall and insulated with kraft paper backed insulation, so maybe we shouldn't build anything at all, it'll just burn to the ground with the first spark.

Also disappointing to the nay sayers, it doesn't immediately dissolve in the rain either. The shed in the yard behind us wasn't painted until sometime in 2018 then only on 3 sides. It's 11 years old now.

 

[ole442]

Here it is almost done.....I just have a little bit of trim left and need to get some peg board for the right side and some type of shelving. I used 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Showcase Stain Blocking Paint & Primer and it looks pretty good. Not inside the house perfect but pretty nice for my garage.