You’re planning on purchasing an oak slab table—great choice! Now the dilemma: red oak versus white oak. The two really are quite different and understanding how they differ will help you make a decision as to what you want your new wood slab table to be. We’ve had a number of customers ask us about how red oak and white oak are different. When it comes to something as important as your brand new oak slab table, you want to be sure you’re making the right choice for your style and décor.

Red Oak versus White Oak: Which For My Slab Table?

First off, the primary difference will be one of color. When unfinished you can distinguish between the two given their hue. In white oak, you’ll find that the wood is lighter and tends more toward brown shades. Whereas, true to its name, red oak wood will have a reddish tint to it.

The grains will also be different. And this is important to keep in mind when thinking of a new oak slab table. With red oak you tend to see more movement, more diversity within the grain. While white oak has a tighter and more uniform look to the grain. Certainly, not as tight as some woods, but more so than red oak.

Also, you can see that red oak has a more “porous” quality to it. This is why many say that white oak is the more durable of the two and thus best used in exterior applications.