Plywood or OSB3?

[TheWalrus]

I fitting out a shipping container workshop on a budget (thread here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-workshop-aka-the-bunker.480285/#post-9199868 ) and need to choose what to cover the floor with. The original floor is mostly good but there is some damage near the doors. I've joined 2 containers together so there is a slight raise between them I need to cover too. I've looked at lots of options (fully replace the floor, repair, cover with chequerplate etc) and decided that covering with sheet wood is the way to go as this lines up with my budget/skill level (I may paint/cover it later).

My problem is I don't know which would be better: non-structural plywood or OSB3. Both have a similar cost. Specialist flooring (including structural ply) is beyond the budget.

Opinions please?

 

[FMB4]

Neither in imo. I'd consider vinyl sheet as a budget option before those two.

 

[TheWalrus]

I thought about vinyl sheet (and rubber/vinyl floor tiles) but the cost is about the same and it won't help with the lumps, bumps & dips, nor cover the gap between the units very well. Also if used as a garage, any oil spill would be lethally slippery on a vinyl floor. And vinyl/platic/rubber doesn't respond well to weld spatter; wood can scorch too, but at least it wood (geddit?) have a bit of depth to absorb any accidents.

 

[pbon]

I used OSB/3 in my garage but I painted it with a heavy duty water resistant primer first. Then I put down pvc tile because I wanted a waterproof fancy floor in my garage workshop.

For a budget, paint the OSB/3. I also considered 2” thick barn board flooring but that is not really a budget option. In hindsight I sometimes think I should have done the 2” thick barn board since the garage shop once was a carriage house and had such a floor with 130 years of wear.