OSB boards as flooring… . That's tantamount to blasphemy in our flooring world! So many clever, aesthetically pleasing flooring products out there that perform and wear as a floor needs to. Why would you consider OSB'ing your floor?

it's not designed for flooring and therefore wear & tear will be pretty bad. It will stain quickly as it's not varnished and because of the rough surface it will be difficult to varnish it properly. The resins used to create OSB have raised questions regarding the potential for OSB to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde. Urea-formaldehyde is more toxic and should be avoided in home use. Phenol-formaldehyde products are considered to be relatively hazard-free. Some newer types of OSB, so-called "New-generation" OSB panels, use isocyanate resins that do not contain formaldehyde and are considered non-volatile when cured. Having said that OSB does look ok in certain industrial and retail spaces but it's really a bad choice for flooring

Thanks for the reply, looking for the benefits of a penetrating oil like Osmo against a lacquer. I would imagine that a lacquer that is painted onto the surface will degrade over time in much the same way that a paint would, especially in high traffic areas. When you say it depends on how we look after it, what do you mean? Is one easier to maintain than the other? Thanks in advance

Tiles and skirting like the existing would be best, if you could find similar tiles. You could use scotia instead of skirting, but it would look better if you removed the existing skirting too, which would mean repairing the walls.