Western redcedar and baldcypress are both naturally durable softwoods used for siding, porches, docks and outdoor furniture. Cedar dominates in the West and North; cypress grows in the southeastern swamps and is the traditional durable wood of the South. This page compares them on Wood Handbook data.
Cedar vs Cypress: the numbers
| Property | Western redcedar | Baldcypress |
|---|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% MC | 350 lbf | 510 lbf |
| Density at 12% MC | 22.4 lb/ft³ | 32.2 lb/ft³ |
| Weight per board foot | 1.86 lb | 2.68 lb |
| Bending strength (MOR), 12% MC | 7,500 psi | 10,600 psi |
| Stiffness (MOE), 12% MC | 1.11 million psi | 1.44 million psi |
| Crushing strength parallel to grain | 4,560 psi | 6,360 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry, tangential | 5.0% | not in Table 4-3 |
| Shrinkage, radial | 2.4% | not in Table 4-3 |
| Shrinkage, volumetric | 6.8% | not in Table 4-3 |
| Tangential / radial ratio (cupping tendency) | 2.08 | — |
| Width change per 1% MC, flatsawn (Table 13-5) | 0.234% | 0.216% |
| Heartwood decay resistance (Table 14-1) | resistant | resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth) |
What the numbers mean
- Hardness: Baldcypress is 46% harder than Western redcedar (510 against 350 lbf), so it resists dents from furniture feet, dropped tools and wear correspondingly better.
- Weight: Baldcypress is 44% heavier. A 1 x 6 board 8 feet long (4 board feet nominal) weighs about 10.7 lb in baldcypress and 7.4 lb in western redcedar at 12% moisture content.
- Strength and stiffness: Baldcypress is 41% stronger in bending and 30% stiffer. Stiffness is what decides how much a shelf of the same size sags under the same load.
- Movement: a flatsawn board 10 in wide that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content (a dry winter to a humid summer indoors) swells about 0.140 in (1/8 in) in western redcedar and 0.130 in (1/8 in) in baldcypress, from Handbook Eq. 13-2 and the Table 13-5 coefficients. Allow for this in table tops, panels and floors.
- Decay resistance of the heartwood: Western redcedar: resistant; Baldcypress: resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth). Sapwood of every species has low decay resistance.
Appearance, working and what to watch for
Baldcypress is heavier, harder and stronger than western redcedar, with a light yellowish to reddish brown heartwood and a slightly greasy feel. Old-growth cypress earned the name “wood eternal”; the Handbook rates old-growth heartwood resistant but young-growth heartwood only moderately resistant, and most cypress sold now is young-growth. Some cypress shows “pecky” pockets caused by a fungus in the living tree; the decay stops when the wood is cut and dried, and pecky cypress is sold as a feature for paneling.
Western redcedar is lighter and softer, very stable and splits cleanly, which is why it is used for shingles and shakes. It is also more widely available nationally. Both woods stain black with plain steel fasteners and both have low-durability sapwood, so specify heartwood and stainless or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners. The Handbook’s shrinkage table has no row for baldcypress, so the shrinkage comparison below uses its dimensional change coefficient (Table 13-5) instead.
Where to buy and what to ask for
Cypress is mostly sold in the Southeast, where it is milled locally; elsewhere it is a special order and shipping raises the price. Western redcedar is stocked nationwide. With both, ask for heartwood and check the boards: pale sapwood rots far faster. Cypress is heavier and is often sold wet, so let it dry and acclimatise before installing trim or siding. Both woods weather to grey if left bare and both take penetrating exterior stains well.
Which to choose: verdict by use
| Use | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Porch ceilings, siding and trim in the South | Cypress | Local, harder than cedar and durable in heartwood grades. |
| Shingles and shakes | Western redcedar | Light, stable and splits cleanly. |
| Docks and wet-area framing | Cypress (heartwood) or treated lumber | Harder and stronger than cedar. |
| Fences | Either | Choose by local price; cedar is more widely stocked. |
| Decorative paneling | Pecky cypress | A distinctive figure no other domestic wood has. |
Frequently asked questions
Is cypress more rot resistant than cedar?
Not today’s young-growth cypress. The Wood Handbook rates western redcedar heartwood resistant and baldcypress resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth).
Is cypress harder than cedar?
Yes: baldcypress has 510 lbf of Janka hardness against 350 lbf for western redcedar.
Is cypress good for outdoor furniture?
Yes, in heartwood grades. It is heavier and harder than cedar, so it resists dents better, and it is moderately to highly decay resistant.
Sources and method
All property values are read from our parsed copy of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190, 2010), a US Government publication in the public domain, the same data as the wood species database. The percentages and the board examples above are our arithmetic on those values. The values describe small, clear, straight-grained specimens: real boards with knots or sloping grain differ, and structural lumber is sized from graded design values in your local building code, not from this table.
- 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: 24 October 2026. How we build and check our data: methodology and corrections. Spotted an error? Please let us know.