Difference Between Black Oak and Red Oak

Black Oak vs Red Oak

Black oak and Red oak are two out of the hundreds kinds of species of oak tree. These two oaks are commonly used as a timber or wood in a lumber store for used in commercial purposes because of its sturdiness and cohesiveness.

Black Oak

Black oak (Quercus velutina) or Eastern Black oak is a rather a small oak tree compared to other oaks with a height only up to 25 meters and 0.9 meters in its diameter. In younger black oak trees, the barks is uniform and the color is gray, but when it matures the color would turn to black and getting thicker and has some wrinkles on it.

Red Oak

Red oak (Quercus rubra) is a little bit taller having a height that reaches 43 meters and the diameter of the trunk is about 0.5-1 meter. The red oaks grow rapidly that it can reach around 5-6 meters already on its 10th year. You would distinguish the red oak from others by its shiny barks that has some stripes down to the trunk.

Difference between Black Oak and Red Oak

Black oaks when compared to the red oaks are relatively small. While black oaks can reach its maximum height at about 82 feet, the red oaks on the other hand reaches up to 141 feet. In terms of barks, the color of the black oak tree is from red-orange to brown whereas the color of the bark of red oaks is light gray. The wood of a red oak tree is very valuable since it is used mainly for building constructions, cabinets, and other furniture. Compared to the red oak, black oak is used generally in floors.

These two kinds of oaks are very good materials for constructing a house. They are both durable, strong, and would last for many years. In addition, the black and red oaks are somewhat immune to wood-eating insects like termites because of tannin content in these trees.