by Shane Henson — October 18, 2013—Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd., a Canada-based manufacturer and supplier of engineered wood products, has reintroduced two of its popular oriented strand board (OSB) products under the company’s new OSB XL brand.
To answer clear market demands for OSB panels longer than 8 feet, Ainsworth now offers OSB XL 9-foot and OSB XL 10-foot OSB panels, it says. These longer OSB XL panels are offered in addition to Ainsworth’s standard 8-foot OSB products. Ainsworth’s OSB XL 9-foot and 10-foot OSB panels are available in multiple thicknesses, and even custom length, just like the company’s 8-foot OSB product line.
According to the company, the products were developed because of the trend toward higher ceilings in building designs. Additionally, with longer boards, the company saw a unique opportunity to offer its customers cost avoidance on labor, since there is less cutting and installation labor required when sheathing with longer OSB boards.
“The launch of our OSB XL 9- and 10-foot OSB panels is another sign of Ainsworth’s responsiveness to the needs of our customers, and that’s something we have always taken pride in,” said Bart Bender, Ainsworth’s vice president of sales.
The launch of OSB XL comes on the heels of Ainsworth’s re-opening of its High Level, Alberta OSB mill after an extensive equipment upgrade, and the filling of 135 new positions, the company adds. Moreover, Ainsworth recently announced the continued success and broad market acceptance of its innovative pointSIX Flooring, a patented tapered-edge subfloor technology designed to offset the effects of moisture and conquer the age-old problem of edge swell.
