Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) in numbers: hardness, weight, strength, shrinkage, movement and decay resistance, taken from the tables of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook, followed by what the wood is like to work and what it is used for. The values are averages from small, clear, straight-grained test specimens; real boards with knots, sloping grain or a different moisture content will differ.
| Property | Northern red oak |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 1,290 lbf (5,738 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 1,000 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 110 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 44.1 lb/ft³ (706 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 3.67 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.56 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.63 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 14,300 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.82 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 6,760 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 4.0% / 8.6% / 13.7% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 2.15 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.00158 / 0.00369 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 43 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
The species in this group
Lumber is often sold under a group name. These are the species the Wood Handbook reports for this group, with the same properties side by side.
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Crushing (psi) | Shrink T/R (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern red oak Quercus rubra | 1,290 | 44.1 | 14,300 | 1.82 | 6,760 | 8.6 / 4.0 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Cherrybark oak Quercus falcata var. pagodaefolia | 1,480 | 47.5 | 18,100 | 2.28 | 8,740 | — | slightly or nonresistant |
| Scarlet oak Quercus coccinea | 1,400 | 46.8 | 17,400 | 1.91 | 8,330 | 10.8 / 4.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Pin oak Quercus palustris | 1,510 | 44.1 | 14,000 | 1.73 | 6,820 | 9.5 / 4.3 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Black oak Quercus velutina | 1,210 | 42.7 | 13,900 | 1.64 | 6,520 | 11.1 / 4.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Southern red oak Quercus falcata | 1,060 | 41.3 | 10,900 | 1.49 | 6,090 | 11.3 / 4.7 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Water oak Quercus nigra | 1,190 | 44.1 | 15,400 | 2.02 | 6,770 | 9.8 / 4.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Willow oak Quercus phellos | 1,460 | 48.2 | 14,500 | 1.9 | 7,040 | 9.6 / 5.0 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Laurel oak Quercus laurifolia | 1,210 | 44.1 | 12,600 | 1.69 | 6,980 | 9.9 / 4.0 | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
Red oak lumber comes mostly from the Eastern States and mixes several species that cannot be told apart once sawn: northern red oak (Quercus rubra), scarlet, Shumard, pin, Nuttall, black, southern red, cherrybark, water, laurel and willow oak. The sapwood is nearly white and 1 to 2 in. wide; the heartwood is brown with a tinge of red.
Red oak can be separated from white oak by the size and arrangement of the latewood pores and because its pores generally lack tyloses. They are open, which is why red oak is unsuitable for tight barrels unless they are lined, and why its heartwood is not decay resistant.
Working properties
Red oak is heavy and has fairly high shrinkage on drying. The Handbook notes that fast-grown second-growth red oak is generally harder and tougher than finer-textured old-growth wood. The open pores take stain deeply and show through a film finish unless they are filled.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content northern red oak weighs about 44.1 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 3.67 lb. An 8 ft board of actual size 3/4 × 5-1/2 in. (a 1×6) holds 0.229 cubic feet and weighs about 10.1 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 12.9 lb. Green wood is much heavier because of the water it holds.
Density here is ovendry weight plus 12% water, divided by volume at 12% moisture content (Wood Handbook Eq. 4-12: density = specific gravity at 12% × 62.43 lb/ft³ × 1.12).
Wood movement
The Wood Handbook gives dimensional change coefficients for each species: the fraction of its width a board gains or loses for every 1% change in moisture content, between about 6% and 14%. For northern red oak they are 0.00369 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.00158 across a quartersawn face (radial).
Worked example: a flatsawn board 7-1/4 in. wide (a nominal 1×8) that goes from 6% moisture content in a heated winter house to 12% in a humid summer changes width by 7.25 × 0.00369 × 6 = 0.161 in. (about 5/32 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.069 in. (about 1/16 in.). Allow for this in panels, tabletops and floors; the wood movement calculator works it out for any size and moisture range.
How it compares
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Tangential shrink (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern red oak | 1,290 | 44.1 | 14,300 | 1.82 | 8.6 | slightly or nonresistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
| Sugar maple | 1,450 | 44.1 | 15,800 | 1.83 | 9.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Black cherry | 950 | 35.0 | 12,300 | 1.49 | 7.1 | moderately resistant |
| White ash | 1,320 | 42.0 | 15,000 | 1.74 | 7.8 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Yellow-poplar | 540 | 29.4 | 10,100 | 1.58 | 8.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
Uses
Flooring, furniture, general millwork, cabinets, caskets, handles and wooden ware; boxes, pallets and crates; railroad ties, mine timbers and fence posts, which need preservative treatment to last.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Janka hardness of red oak?
Northern red oak averages 1,290 lbf (5,738 N) at 12% moisture content. Across the nine red oaks in the Wood Handbook the range is 1,060 to 1,510 lbf.
Is red oak good for outdoor projects?
Not untreated. Red oak heartwood is in the slightly or nonresistant group for decay, and its open pores let water in. Use white oak, a durable species or treated lumber outside.
How much does red oak move?
Its tangential shrinkage from green to ovendry is 8.6%. In service, a flatsawn board changes width by about 0.369% for every 1% change in moisture content, and a quartersawn board by about 0.158%.
Sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 22 October 2026. Numbers are generated from our parsed copy of the Handbook tables, so every page uses the same data. Values marked * are estimates computed with the Handbook’s own equations. Spotted an error? Please let us know.