Advantech vs Plywood

[vulture]

First of all, Happy New Year everybody!
May the next year be 10 times better than the last 10 years put together...


Anyways, just wondering if anyone has any opinions on this Advantech sub-flooring material.
It's an OSB type product that uses a moisture resistant glue.
Their website seems pretty convincing (Google it) and the pricing at Lowes is pretty competetive compared to other available sub-flooring materials.

Is plywood still the best choice? or would this stuff be better?

TIA

Johnny5

[Greg]

I have always maintained that anything is better than particleboard. I think that from a water standpoint Plywood will always be the best choice. However when you add in cost factors things can change. OSB does hold up well then it gets wet for a short term, so if you catch a plumbing problem early on AND get things dried out it should be fine. Greg

[Rod]

Happy New Year!

Advantech will probably cost you a little more but will out perform traditional Ply. It has a lower absortion rate and less deflection. Most of the higher end home builders use it today. Dont confuse it with standard OSB.

http://www.advantechperforms.com/

[Brenda OH]

Rod,

I don't really see the question answered that I am interested in, which is after it is wet, does it hold together as well as plywood? if it costs less than similar plywood, or if I can use a thinner grade of advantech and get lower cost, weight of board at install, and similar strength after being wet a long time, only then would I consider it a winner vs plywood.

[Rod]

Brenda,

Yes it will hold together better after being wet. It has a much better resistance to water.
If you do some searches Advantech vs Plywood etc I'm sure you will find many articles on the topic. I believe it comes with a 50 yr warranty and a 300 day exposure warranty for new construction.

As for the weight plywood typically weighs 20-25 pounds per 1/4" for a 4'x8' sheet. So a 3/4" sheet would be 60-75 lbs (probably depends on manufacture, type of wood etc.)
Advantech is 75lbs for a 3/4" 4'x8' sheet. So not a big difference here.

As far as using a thinner grade Advantech also comes in 5/8. It might be a little less expensive. I wouldn't recommend if you had a job with 24" OC Joists. It would be fine @ 16" OC.

Georgia Pacific has a PLY product called Plytanium-Dry Ply. They introduced this to compete with Advantech. It is also made to be water resistant.

Maybe if I have sometime on Monday I will place a piece of each in a bucket of water for a few days and post the results.

Rod

[Brenda OH]

Hey Rod,

the side by side test would be cool...

Right now, I use 3/4 plywood, and I often take the measurements to the store and have them cut the piece out to lessen the weight, or I have the sheets cut in half as two 4x4 squares, so that I can handle the pieces by myself.

5/8 inch advantech may weigh enough less that I could move it as a whole sheet.

Brenda (OH)

[vulture]

Georgia Pacific has a PLY product called Plytanium-Dry Ply. They introduced this to compete with Advantech. It is also made to be water resistant.

Maybe if I have sometime on Monday I will place a piece of each in a bucket of water for a few days and post the results.

Rod

Hi Rod,

That would be awesome if you could do that, I've put my current project on hold until some tools I ordered come in, (Toe kick saw and batteries for my cordless)

I already bought a sheet of Plytanium and had it cut to size, but I don't really like the looks of it.(lots of knots n' stuff, Guess I can use it for something else).

I was really impressed the videos on the Advantech site though.

TIA

Johnny5

[Rod]

The Experiment has begun. I will post some info and pictures in the next day or so.

Rod

[Rod]

Ok we have done some experiments. First the Disclaimer...The tests are far from scientific!

Here is what we did. We cut 4 pieces of different types of flooring. All were cut to 12"x12".
We weighed them. Took moisture content readings before hand, although none of them registered on the meter.....so all were below 7%

img_0203.jpg

1. Standard OSB 3/4"
2. Standard Ply 5/8" ( I would have used 3/4" to keep it the same but didnt have any)
3. Advantech 3/4"
4. Plytanium Dry-Ply 3 /4"

After cutting and weighing we place them in a rubbermaid bin.

img_0204.jpg

We filled the bin with 6" of water apprx 1/2 way up the boards. We only filled 6" so we could see how far the water would wick into the wood.

img_0207.jpg

The wood has sat in the bin for 54hrs.

And here are some results.

Note: moisture content readings were taken in the dry face area of the wood about 2" from the top edge. If we had taken them in the below water line area they would have all been of the chart.

1. Std OSB 3/4" Starting weight 2lb 4oz
After soaking 3lb 5oz apprx a 47% increase in weight
Moisture content 15%
Bottom wet edge swelled 3/16"

2. Standard Ply 5/8" Starting weight 1lb 14oz
After soaking 2lb 8 oz 33% increase in weight
Moisture content 15%
Bottom wet edge swelled 1/8 (remember only 5/8 to start)

3. Advantech Starting weight 2lb 2oz
After soaking 2lb 12.5oz 30.8% increase
Moisture content 8%
Bottom wet edge swelled 1/8"

4. Plytanium Dry-Ply Starting weight 2lb 5oz
After soaking 2lb 15oz 27% increase
Moisture content 16%
Bottom edge swelled 1/8"


So the Dry-Ply & the Advantech absorbed less water. No suprise there.

What is interesting is the moisture content readings between the 2. Both were taken on the same place on the board between the water line and the top of the board. The Dry Ply 16% the Advantech only 8%. While the advantech absorbed almost 4% more water weight. The conclusion is the water wicked farther through the Dry-Ply while the Advantech absorbed mostly at & below the water line with less wicking.

After realizing this we took moisture readings at the very top dry edge of the boards to see how far the water had wicked on each. Here are the results

1. Standard OSB 7%
2. Std Ply 13%
3. Dry Ply 12%
4. Advantech 0%

Then I took readings on the Advantech & Dry-Ply undersides. The non-exposure side.
Dry-Ply 25%
Advantech 16%

So if you had a leak below your floor the Advantech would absorb less moisture....in theory.

A couple of other notes.

Both Ply products warpped more that either the OSB or the Advantech
The standard ply bottom wet edge was the only factory edge. Not sure it matters.
The Advantech was also the toughest to insert the moiture probe into.

For the $ I would still chose the Advantech. If you have a long term leak that goes undiscovered for long period of time the damaged area will be contained more as the water will not wick as much.

More pics to come

[Rod]

More Pics

Moisture reading on Std OSB

img_0210.jpg

Moisture reading Top side Ply-Tanium

img_0212.jpg

Moisture reading top side Advantech

img_0211.jpg

So tomorrow we will pull the wood out of the water. Take some more quick readings if there are no significant changes I will not post. We will watch the wood as it drys out and take notes. If there is any worthy info obtained from that I will post it.

I have another idea for a surface exposure test. When I get a chance I'll take a stab at that.

Rod

[JD]

What a great post! Excellent information. I have not used the Advantech product but I will on my next floor job. Thanks a lot, Rod.

JD

[vulture]

Thanks Rod, That WAS a great post!

Guess I'll do my bathroom remodel with Advantech instead.
With it's 50 year warranty, I'll be five score n'3 before it expires.
Wonder if that's pro-rated...

Keep up the good work.

Johnny5