Is Red Oak A Hardwood Or Softwood

Traditional light and lovely oak is a classic hardwood flooring choice.

Is red oak a hardwood or softwood.

Fir and redwood wears well outdoors but white oak will outlast any softwood maybe save old growth redwood heartwood but thats debatable. Some examples of hardwoods include maple oak alder birch cherry hickory mahogany and walnut. Red oak is lighter and more neutral. Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods.

Let s discuss the difference between them it s easy to assume the red oak flooring is red and white oak flooring is white and for good reason. At times red oak costs more. From angiosperm or flowering plants such as oak maple or walnut that are not monocots the hardwood is formed by these while from gymnosperm trees usually evergreen conifers like pine or spruce the softwood is formed. That reasoning doesn t apply in every instance but in this case it does.

The two most popular hardwood flooring used is white oak and red oak. Price in general there is not a major price difference between red oak and white flooring. Because unfinished hardwood is a commodity item the price tends to fluctuate weekly. Oak is such a commonly used wood in the united states that it could almost be described as ubiquitous.

Most of the industry divides oak into two main categories white oak and red oak. The terminology of softwood and hardwood is somewhat misleading as hardwoods are not necessarily always hard and. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a. Red oak is great for indoor woodwork i agree.

However there is quite a difference between the two more than having to do with color. Red oak wood is almost exactly twice as hard as douglas fir wood and white oak wood is even harder. It adds old fashioned charm and warmth and is available in red and white. White oak is more of a pale brown with either a pink or gray undertone washed throughout the sturdy planks.

And softwood comes from conifer trees that are generally evergreen. Hardwood vs softwood comparison. Depending on the type of oak tree red oak or white oak or just oak. Oak is a hardwood and douglas fir is a softwood which means that oak is harder right.