Wood Species - Moisture Content and Weight

Weight of green and air-dried fire wood.

The amount of bounded water in wood is determined by the relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding atmosphere. The water content changes slowly as the relative humidity of the surrounding air changes.

Calculate moisture content

Typical density values for fresh green wood versus air-dried seasoned wood:

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Fresh and Dried Wood Species - Moisture Content and Weight
Wood Species	Fresh Green Wood			Air-dried Seasoned Wood (20% moisture content per weight unit)
Wood Species	Specific Gravity	Density (lb/ft³)	Weight per Cord (lb/cord)	Specific Gravity	Density (lb/ft³)	Weight per Cord (lb/cord)
Afromosia				0.71	44
Alder	0.72	45	3604	0.45	28	2218
Applewood or wild apple				0.66 - 0.83	41 - 52
Ash, black		52			34
Ash, Oregon		46			38
Ash, white		48			41
Ash, green	0.85	53	4237	0.64	40	3178
Aspen		43		0.42	26
Baldcypress
Balsa				0.18	6.9 - 12.5
Basswood		42			26
Bamboo				0.30 - 0.40	19 - 25
Beech, American		54			45
Birch, British		57		0.67	44
Birch, Paper		50			38
Black Ash				0.54	34
Black locust	0.93	58	4614	0.79	49	3952
Black walnut	0.91	57	4579	0.61	38	3053
Boxwood / Buis					59 - 69
Buckeye, yellow					23.9
Bur oak	0.99	62	4923	0.69	43	3475
Butternut					25.2
Cottonwood	0.93	58	4620	0.45	28	2218
Cedar, Alaska		36			31
Cedar, Eastern Red		37		0.37	33
Cedar, Northern White		28			22
Cedar, Southern White		26			23
Cedar, Western Red		27			23
Cherry, black		45			35
Cherry, wild red					26.5
Chestnut		55			30
Cocobolo					68.6
Coralwood					68.6
Corkwood					12.9
Cottonwood, Eastern		49			28
Cottonwood, Northern Black		46			24
Cypress, Southern		51		0.51	32
Dogwood (flowering)					49.7
Douglas Fir, Coast Region		38		0.53	33
Douglas Fir, Rocky Mountain Region		35			30
Ebony				0.96 - 1.12	60 - 70
Elm, American		54			35
Elm, Rock		53		0.82	44
Elm, Slippery		56			37
Eucalyptus, Karri West Autralia					51.8
Eucalyptus, Mahogany New South Wales					66
Fir, Balsam		45			25
Fir, Commercial White		46			27
Greenheart, British Guiana					66 - 77
Grenadilla, Mpingo					75 - 78
Gum, black		45			35
Gum, red		50			34
Hackberry	0.82	51	4039	0.59	37	2938
Hemlock, Eastern		50			28
Hemlock, Western		41			29
Hickory	1.03	64	5107	0.77	48	3830
Hickory, pecan		62			45
Honeylocust	0.93	58	4638	0.72	45	3590
Hornbeam					47.6
Iroko				0.66	41
Ironwood, black					67 - 81
Jacarandá, Brazilian rosewood					53
Larch		48		0.59	37
Lignum Vitae				1.28 - 1.38	80 - 86
Locust, black		58			48
Magnolia, cucumber					32.2
Mahogany, Honduras				0.54	34
Mahogany, African				0.50 - 0.85	31 - 53
Maple, bigleaf		47			34
Maple, black		54		0.75	40
Maple, red		50			38
Maple, silver		45			33
Maple, sugar		56			44
Maple, Soft	0.80	50	3960	0.53	33	2640
Mpingo					75 - 78
Mulberry	0.95	59	4710	0.71	44	3533
Oak, Red	0.98	61	4886	0.67	42	3350
Oak, white		63			47
Osage orange	1.03	64	5120	0.91	57	4552
Persimmon					48.5
Pine, Lodgepole		39			29
Pine, Northern White		36			25
Pine, Norway		42			34
Pine, Ponderosa		45			28
Pine, Southern Yellow		52 - 53			36 - 41
Pine, Sugar		52			25
Pine, Oregon				0.53	33
Pine, Parana				0.56	35
Pine, Canadian				0.35 - 0.56	22 - 35
Pine, Red				0.37 - 0.66	23 - 41
Poplar, Yellow		38			28
Post oak	1.03	64	5086	0.72	45	3590
Pecan	0.99	62	4937	0.72	45	3590
Redwood, American		50		0.45	28
Redwood, European				0.51	32
Rosewood, Bolivian					44.3
Rosewood, East Indian					48.7
Satinwood, Ceylon					64.4
Sourwood					37
Spruce, Engelman		39			23
Spruce, Canadian		34		0.45	28
Spruce, Sitka		33		0.45	28
Sugar maple	0.95	59	4746	0.67	42	3350
Sycamore	1.01	63	5051	0.54	34	2755
Red elm	0.79	49	3947	0.58	36	2870
Sweetgum
Sycamore
Tamarack		47			37
Teak				0.63 - 0.72	39 - 45
Tupelo
Walnut, black		58			38
White cedar		24			23
White elm	0.88	55	4362	0.54	34	2755
Willow	0.87	54	4320	0.43	27	2160

density of water 62.4 lb/ft³ (1000 kg/m³)
1 lb/ft³ = 16.018 kg/m³ = 0.016 g/cm³ = 0.00926 oz/in³ = 2.57 oz/gal (Imperial) = 2.139 oz/gal (U.S.) = 0.0005787 lb/in³ = 27 lb/yd³ = 0.161 lb/gal (Imperial) = 0.134 lb/gal (U.S) = 0.0121 ton/yd³
water content in wood

Softwood - woods that come from gymnosperms (mostly conifers plants)
Hardwood - woods that come from angiosperms (flowering plants)

In green softwoods the moisture content of sapwood is usually greater than that of heartwood. In green hardwoods the difference in moisture content between heartwood and sapwood depends on the species. Variability of green moisture content exists even within individual boards cut from the same tree.

When wood is alive and fresh it consists primarily of water, i.e. most of the weight is actually water. Green wood is freshly sawn wood in which the cell walls are completely saturated with water. Additional water may reside in the lumina. The moisture content of green wood can range from less than 30% to more than 200% of dry wood weight.

Sapwood - the actively conducting portion of the stem in which parenchyma cells are still alive and metabolically active
Heartwood - the darker colored wood found to the interior of the sapwood

Moisture Content of Wood in Equilibrium with Relative Humidity and Temperature

- in Fahrenheit

Moisture content of wood in equilibrium with relative humidity and temperature - Fahrenheit

- in Celsius

Moisture content of wood in equilibrium with relative humidity and temperature - Celsius

Example - Moisture Content in Wood - Summer vs. Winter

At a given location the typical summer condition inside a house is 25 ^oC temperature with 65% relative humidity. The typical winter condition in the same house is 18 ^oC temperature with 15% relative humidity.

From the chart above we can estimate the moisture content in the wood in the house at summer time to be 12%. The moisture content at winter time can be estimated to be 3-4%.

Wood changes dimensions with moisture - it swells when it gains moisture - and it shrinks when it loses moisture.

Typical wood shrinkage from green to ovendry moisture content is typical 3-8% in radial grain direction and 6-12% in tangential grain direction. Volumetric shrinkage is typical 11-18%. Longitudinal shrinkage parallel to the grain is generally quite small. Typical values from green to ovendry wood are 0.1-0.2%.