Two recent innovations incorporate the Top Notch system to protect subflooring against moisture and its harmful effects.
It's no coincidence that LP Corporation, the leading producer of oriented strand board (OSB) products, is also a longtime leading innovator in the field of engineered wood. Recently, LP pioneered several technological breakthroughs that have kept its OSB flooring products a step ahead of plywood as well as rival brands of OSB.
Oriented strand board is manufactured by compressing wood wafers about the size of a conventional business card into the same dimensions as a plywood panel. A shortcoming of OSB that is used for flooring is its susceptibility to swelling and wafer-lifting along its edges in wet weather during construction. In the mid-1980s, responding to contractor requests to remedy this moisture problem, LP engineers developed Top Notch OSB Tongue and Groove (T&G) Flooring.
If It Rains, It Drains!
With its exclusive vertical notching system in the tongue profile and the end of every panel, Top Notch quickly siphons off standing water before it can damage the subflooring. Standing water rolls off the flat panels through 1/8-inch crevices between them, falling harmlessly to the ground. In addition, the edges of every
Top Notch panel are treated with an advanced coating that boosts their resistance to water absorption.Top Notch also possesses all the other advantages of OSB over plywood. It lays rigid and flat, so it won't cup or warp after installation. Whether serving as a substrate for carpeting, tile, laminate or hardwood, Top Notch has a pre-sanded surface that stays smooth and uniform, avoiding the splits, cracks, knotholes, voids, delamination and other defects that plague plywood.
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Competitive Edge: Top Notch
 Eliminates moisture: Patented vertical-notch system in the tongue and groove drains standing water before it can cause damage. Smooth surface: Top Notch OSB is free of knots, patches and other defects often found in plywood. Flat, rigid construction: Top Notch won't buckle, crack or delaminate once installed. 90-day no-sand guarantee: Available in Top Notch HP and BarrierFloor HP only. SmartGuard anti-termite protection: Available in BarrierFloor HP only. |
Extra ProtectionThe LP Behind the Walls House features two new flooring products that represent further advancements over the successful Top Notch formulation: Top Notch HP (High Performance) and BarrierFloor HP.
Top Notch HP is featured on the second and third, or loft, levels of the Behind the Walls House. Top Notch HP has been engineered to offer even greater resistance to swelling and wafer-lifting when exposed to standing moisture for long periods. Using the same basic manufacturing process as Top Notch, Top Notch HP incorporates even larger quantities of resins and waxes while orienting the wafers in a different manner to increase strength.
"The result," says LP's marketing communications manager George Strakes, "is that we can offer the builder a 90-day no-sand guarantee and a limited lifetime warranty to the homeowner."
Top Notch HP incorporates all the other features found in its predecessor, including the patented vertical-notch water-draining system and the smooth, flat surface that is free of defects commonly associated with plywood.
BarrierFloor HP takes the Top Notch HP formulation one step further. In addition to the moisture protection and the 90-day no-sand guarantee, LP's newest OSB flooring product incorporates SmartGuard™. This patented zinc borate additive renders the wood free of termites, wood rot and fungal decay. SmartGuard interferes with the metabolic processes of termites, stopping them from feeding on the wood.
"BarrierFloor HP is the most advanced subflooring panel available in the world today," says Julie Cole, LP's marketing manager for specialty OSB products. "It self-drains, resists moisture and its harmful effects, fights termites and wood fungus. Once the builder puts the floor down, he can forget about it."
Like Top Notch, both new products meet APA requirements for its Sturd-I-Floor Rating, require no special handling or special tools for installation, and are backed by LP's limited 20-year warranty.
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Click Here for the company's Web site or call 800/648-6893.
