What non automotive projects and repairs are you doing?

[abscate]

I’ve got huge picture windows in the new place and want to have plywood ready for hurricane season, which is now.

OSB looks to be quite a bit cheaper that conventional ply , can I use that?

5/8 is generally recommended but I’m happy with 1/2 inch. I’m sheltered and more worried about small debris than big stuff

[RobsS40]

Not hurricane prep expert, but have done lots of everything construction-related. OSB should be good. Notice that one side is shinier than the other which will look more like raw wood. The shinier side is a somewhat water resistant coating, so you'll want that facing outward. OSB can be weaker around the edges, so you'll want to run screws through somewhat more in from the edges, maybe 1.5" or 2". It will absorb water more than plywood (which is crazy expensive) and will soften, weaken, puff up a bit, etc. You might consider painting or sealing it too. Hopefully others will have more knowledge / experience and add / correct me if I'm wrong.

[BlackBart]

Exactly - OSB gets wet and swells up. Yet they still use it for house floors and roofs and it rains on it until closed up.

Lord Plye Woode

[volvolugnut]

A couple coats of latex paint, including the edges, will help OSB be more water resistant. Or, you can spend more and get Smart Panel, a Louisiana Pacific OSB product with weatherproof coating.
You have good plan to prepare the sheets ahead of time and have them ready.
volvolugnut

[xHeart]

Throwing good money after bad is a new normal. Americans learning to board up and run is for TV rating. Why not install working shutters; shutters with hinges and hardware were normal for coastal homes. Hurricans are not new, hype on TV is.

[Sveedy]

Plywood all the way !
Take a piece of 1/2" OSB, and hit it as hard as you can with a hammer. You will ( should ) be able to bust a near perfect hole right through the panel. Now try that with 1/2" plywood. Not happening. Plywood is more expensive, as it has to be made from continuous veneers, as opposed to little chips swept off the floor ( though they are "oriented" ). The shear value of plywood is also much better.
All that said, I have in recent years encountered plywood with major voids between veneers where not enough glue was used, effectively ruining that sheet. Good along the edges, but once you cut it in half, it separates. That just doesn't happen with OSB.

[BlackBart]

volvo garden.JPG (827.96 KiB) Viewed 322 times

Just FYI - that's Bart the Cart ready to go to work.

[volvolugnut]

I have been sloooowly replacing broken bricks in the exterior walls of my house. First I use a hammer drill with various sized masonry bits to drill out the old mortar until I can remove the old brick. Then I chisel out any remaining mortar and sweep out the dust. I wet the surrounding bricks and the new brick several times to get their moisture level up. When I have about 2 hours of uninterrupted time, I mix about a half gallon of mortar, slather on a bed for the new brick, and carefully place the new brick in the hole.
Then I scrape mortar off the trowel with two sizes of tuck pointing trowels into the gaps around the new brick. This is the slow part. If the gap is small, you can only get a small amount into the gap at one time. Then the mortar must be pressed firmly together all the way to the back edge of the brick. Some mortar falls on the ground and some falls inside the wall.
While adding mortar, you need to keep the brick flush with the face of the wall. After all edges are filled, a round jointing tool is used to smooth the outside face of the mortar.
I keep the mortar from drying too quickly, I try to mist the new mortar every few hours for the first day.
A professional would do this faster and likely with other methods.
volvolugnut

[abscate]

Well, the Euro model has Hurricane Lee on the East coast in 10 days, so I’ll be buying that plywood tomorrow

[BlackBart]

Marine-grade mahogany if underwater....