White fir (Abies concolor) 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 | White fir |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 480 lbf (2,135 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 340 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 25 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 27.3 lb/ft³ (437 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 2.27 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.37 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.39 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 9,800 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.5 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 5,800 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 3.3% / 7.0% / 9.8% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 2.12 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.00112 / 0.00245 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White fir Abies concolor | 480 | 27.3 | 9,800 | 1.5 | 5,800 | 7.0 / 3.3 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Balsam fir Abies balsamea | 380 | 24.5 | 9,200 | 1.45 | 5,280 | 6.9 / 2.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Grand fir Abies grandis | 490 | 25.9 | 8,900 | 1.57 | 5,290 | 7.5 / 3.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Noble fir Abies procera | 410 | 27.3 | 10,700 | 1.72 | 6,100 | 8.3 / 4.3 | slightly or nonresistant |
| California red fir Abies magnifica | 500 | 26.6 | 10,500 | 1.5 | 5,460 | 7.9 / 4.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Pacific silver fir Abies amabilis | 430 | 30.1 | 11,000 | 1.76 | 6,410 | 9.2 / 4.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa | 350 | 22.4 | 8,600 | 1.29 | 4,860 | 7.4 / 2.6 | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
The true firs are the genus Abies. Six western species are cut for lumber: subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), California red fir (A. magnifica), grand fir (A. grandis), noble fir (A. procera), Pacific silver fir (A. amabilis) and white fir (A. concolor). They are cut mainly in Washington, Oregon, California, western Montana and northern Idaho and are marketed as white fir throughout the United States. The eastern species are balsam fir (A. balsamea), which grows mainly in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and the Great Lake States, and Fraser fir (A. fraseri) of the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Douglas-fir belongs to a different genus (Pseudotsuga).
The wood of the eastern true firs is creamy white to pale brown, with heartwood and sapwood generally indistinguishable, and the wood of the western firs is similar. The wood structure of the true firs is so alike that the species cannot be told apart by examining the wood alone.
Working properties
The western true firs are light in weight, and their shrinkage ranges from low to moderately high; white fir shrinks 7.0% tangentially from green to ovendry. Balsam and Fraser fir are lightweight, low in bending and compressive strength, moderately low in stiffness, soft and low in shock resistance. In the group table, subalpine fir is the lightest and softest of the seven.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content white fir weighs about 27.3 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 2.27 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 6.3 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 8.0 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 white fir they are 0.00245 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.00112 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 × 0.00245 × 6 = 0.107 in. (about 3/32 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.049 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White fir | 480 | 27.3 | 9,800 | 1.5 | 7.0 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Douglas-fir (Coast) | 710 | 33.6 | 12,400 | 1.95 | 7.6 | moderately resistant |
| Western hemlock | 540 | 31.5 | 11,300 | 1.63 | 7.8 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Sitka spruce | 510 | 28.0 | 10,200 | 1.57 | 7.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Eastern white pine | 380 | 24.5 | 8,600 | 1.24 | 6.1 | moderately resistant (old growth only); otherwise slightly or nonresistant |
| Ponderosa pine | 460 | 28.0 | 9,400 | 1.29 | 6.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
Uses
Western true fir lumber is used mainly for building construction, boxes and crates, planing-mill products, sashes, doors and general millwork. High-grade noble fir goes into interior woodwork, moulding, siding, sash and door stock, venetian blinds and ladder rails, and some of the highest quality material has been used in aircraft construction. The eastern firs are used mainly for pulpwood, with some lumber for structural products, especially in New England and the Great Lake States.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is white fir?
White fir averages 480 lbf (2,135 N) on the Janka test at 12% moisture content. The seven true firs in the Wood Handbook range from 350 lbf (subalpine fir) to 500 lbf (California red fir).
Is white fir the same as Douglas-fir?
No. Douglas-fir is a different genus and is harder and stronger: coast Douglas-fir averages 710 lbf and 12,400 psi in bending, against 480 lbf and 9,800 psi for white fir.
Can you tell the true firs apart?
Not from the wood. The Handbook says the wood structure of the true firs is so similar that the species cannot be distinguished by examining the wood alone, and the western species are marketed together as white fir.
Is fir good for outdoor use?
Not untreated. True fir heartwood is in the slightly or nonresistant decay class, which usually needs some form of preservative treatment where there is a decay hazard.
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: 24 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.