Red Oak Lumber: Northern and Southern, Grades and Use

Red oak lumber is the sawn wood of the red oak group, the largest hardwood resource in the United States. It is heavy and hard, with open pores, pinkish to reddish brown heartwood and pronounced grain. It is sold as northern, southern or Appalachian red oak, graded under the standard NHLA rules and sawn in volume from 4/4 to 8/4. It is a cabinet, furniture and flooring wood, not an exterior one.

Item	Typical for red oak lumber
Species	Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and other red oaks sold together: black, scarlet, Shumard, pin, Nuttall, southern red, cherrybark, water, laurel, willow oak
Heartwood	Brown with a tinge of red, often pinkish to reddish brown
Sapwood	Nearly white to light brown, about 1 to 2 in wide
Pores	Open, generally without tyloses
Side hardness (Janka)	about 1,290 lbf northern red, about 1,060 lbf southern red, at 12% moisture
Specific gravity at 12%	0.63 northern red, 0.59 southern red
Shrinkage, green to oven dry	Northern red: radial 4.0%, tangential 8.6%, volume 13.7%
Common thicknesses	4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4. 10/4 to 16/4 in smaller volumes
Grades	FAS, F1F, Selects, No.1 Common, No.2A Common and lower
US tariff line	4407.91 (oak), statistical line for red oak

Figures are typical for the species from the USDA Wood Handbook and the NHLA species guide, not guarantees for a lot. The NHLA rulebook governs grades.

Northern, southern and Appalachian

The Wood Handbook says sawn lumber of the red oak group cannot be separated by species from the wood alone. The trade separates it by region instead, because growth rate changes the wood.

Property	Northern red oak	Southern red oak
Growth	Slower, shorter season	Faster
Grain and texture	Tighter	More open
Sapwood	Less, per the NHLA guide	More
Side hardness at 12%	about 1,290 lbf	about 1,060 lbf
Modulus of rupture at 12%	about 14,300 psi	about 10,900 psi
Tangential shrinkage	8.6%	11.3%
Volumetric shrinkage	13.7%	16.1%

Values from the Wood Handbook tables for the two named species. Lumber sold as “southern red oak” may include other southern species such as cherrybark oak, which is stronger than southern red oak itself. “Appalachian” is a regional label used by many mills for lumber from the Appalachian hardwood region. If tight grain or consistent color matters, name the region on the order and ask the mill where the logs come from.

The NHLA species guide gives US red oak growing stock as 2.62 billion cubic meters, about 18% of all US hardwood growing stock, the largest single share.

Open pores: where red oak does not fit

The Handbook notes that red oak generally lacks tyloses, the growths that plug the pores of white oak. Two results follow:

• No tight cooperage. Liquids pass through the open pores, so red oak is unsuitable for tight barrels unless they are lined.
• No exterior or wet use without treatment. Water enters the wood easily and the heartwood is not in the decay resistant groups. Railroad ties and fence posts of red oak are treated with preservative.

Open pores also matter for finishing. Red oak takes stain readily and shows a strong grain, and it may need a grain filler for a smooth, glossy finish. For the closed-pore alternative, read the white oak lumber page.

Grades and color sorts

Red oak follows the standard NHLA grades.

Grade	Minimum board	Clear face yield	Typical red oak use
FAS	6 in wide, 8 to 16 ft	83 1/3%	Furniture, millwork, stair parts
F1F and Selects	One FAS face, back No.1 Common	83 1/3% on the better face	Doors, face frames, mouldings
No.1 Common	3 in wide, 4 to 16 ft	66 2/3%	Cabinets, furniture parts
No.2A Common	3 in wide, 4 to 16 ft	50%	Flooring, short parts, pallets

See the FAS grade page and the lumber grades hub for how the cuttings are counted.

Color is a separate line. Red oak heartwood varies from light pinkish to darker reddish brown, and the NHLA guide notes that the heartwood is often, but not always, pinkish to reddish. Mills may offer color-sorted red oak, or sort for low sapwood. Define the sort in words you can check at the yard, for example “heart one face” or “no green or gray mineral on face”.

Cut and movement

Most red oak is plain sawn. Quartersawn red oak shows broad ray fleck, though less dramatic than white oak, and moves less across its width. Northern red oak’s radial shrinkage (4.0%) is less than half its tangential shrinkage (8.6%), so a quartersawn board is markedly more stable. Our guide to plain sawn vs quarter sawn vs rift sawn hardwood compares the cuts.

Uses

Use	Grade usually quoted	Note
Flooring	No.1 and No.2A Common	Large volume, takes stain
Kitchen cabinets	No.1 Common and F1F	Doors, frames, boxes
Furniture	FAS and No.1 Common	Strong grain figure
Millwork and mouldings	FAS, F1F	Stain grade
Stair treads and risers	FAS 5/4 to 8/4	Hardness, wide boards
Pallets and crating	Lower Common grades	Low cost per board foot

Drying and weight

Red oak shrinks a lot from green to dry and needs careful kiln drying to avoid checks and honeycomb in thick stock. For interior use in North America the usual target is 6 to 8%. Ask for the kiln record or moisture readings at loading. See kiln drying schedules.

Weight from the Wood Handbook figures: northern red oak at 12% moisture is near 44 lb per cubic foot, or a little under 4 lb per board foot. Use the supplier’s own weight for freight.

What to write on the RFQ

Name the species group and region if it matters, grade and rulebook, color rule, thickness, surfacing, drying, width and length limits, board feet and paperwork. Our hardwood lumber specifications guide explains every field.

RFQ line: Red oak (Quercus rubra group), northern, No.1 Common, NHLA rules (edition named), 4/4 rough, KD 6-8%, random widths 3 in and up, 6-16 ft, 10,000 BF, Lacey Act data.

Send it through our lumber RFQ form and we pass it to up to 3 mills or yards that carry red oak in that grade. More species are on the hardwood species hub.