STRUCTURAL BOARDS HAVING INTEGRATED WATER DRAINAGE CHANNELS

A water resistant structural board suitable for use in a wall system is disclosed. The structural board has water drainage channels on at least one of its surfaces to drain any water trapped behind the sealed wall system. The water drainage channels may be imparted into the structural board during or applied subsequent to a board production process, and the produced board is shipped to the construction site for a wall installation. When desired, the channeled surface of the structural board may be laminated, coated, or sprayed with a water resistant layer to further enhance the water resistant property of the board. A wall system including the disclosed structural board does not require a layer-by-layer installation of a component having water resistant property and a component having water drainage channel structure at a work site; therefore, labor cost and installation time may be reduced significantly. Examples of structural boards are oriented strand board, plywood, particle board, oriented strand lumber, dimensional lumber, fiberboard, wafer board, chipboard, laminated veneer lumber, and any substantially equivalent wood composite board known in art.