What Grade Should I Buy?

If an OSB product does not make grade at the mill, it generally falls into two classes of product – first downfall and second downfall. Although products from different mills may be very similar in grade, each manufacturer has varying terms and standards for their downfall products.

To help simplify this for you, Silvaris labels products on OSBMarket with LowGrade1™ for first downfall, and LowGrade2™ for second downfall. The general characteristics of each are below.

Description	First downfall	Second downfall
Downgrade Reasons	Core density not quite to spec Out of square Out of thickness tolerance Broken corners or edge damage Minor flaking	Blows - out of spec Loose core Delamination Extensive corner or edge damage Surface flaking
Uses	Great for cut-up applications - crates, furniture, reels, ag shelters, temporary structures Roughly 75% usable for cut-up	Good for dunnage, slip sheets, padding, crate tops, temporary protection Less than 50% usable for cut-up
Price	Big discount to on-grade	Often your best value
Common Grades	Many mills pull different downfall grades at different facilities. The information listed below describes the mill's general practices, but there are often regional differences.
Huber	Shop	Reject
Weyerhaeuser	Non-Cert	Reject
LP	Northern mills - Utility Southern mills - Economy (mixed first and second downfall)	Northern mills - Economy
Tolko	Shop	Dunnage or D grade
Norbord	Shop	Reject
Langboard	All product is mixed first and second downfall and graded Utility	-
Grant	D Grade	Reject

Damaged or weathered on-grade products, or specialty products downgraded by the mill may have other grades not shown above, and are generally categorized as LowGrade1. For details on individual products, review the product description.

Questions? Call us at 866-809-8101 or contact us.