Plywood sheathing for the small home plan

Small home plans make the job of securing the plywood easy because of their small size. This can be plywood or OSB. (Oriented-Strand-Board) It can also be T-111 wood siding. Sheathing not only encloses the framing, but it also helps make the structure a lot stronger by joining everything together as one unit. The walls and roof will need to be covered with sheathing after the framework is done. A lot of carpenters build the walls, then make them stronger by putting the plywood on before they start the roof.

I've seen several different ways of putting the sheets on. I really don't think it matters very much anymore. This is the most common way of doing it. I say that it doesn't matter because most homes are now sheathed with OSB which is made out of wood chips and glue. Actually, it is made of several layers of wood chips and glue, but the pattern of each layer is alternated to make the sheet stronger.

Start with the walls and put the first sheet so it covers the rim joist and part of the foundation wall. See pic

You will need to overlap the seams for extra strength. This will be especially necessary when doing the flooring. See pic.

You will do the same thing on the roof. The direction of the plywood doesn't make that much difference anymore.

It's probably best to cross the joists and trusses, but I've seen it done both ways. See pic

top of page

Sheathing continued here