How to Identify Coast Redwood
Color, tight concentric rings, feather-light weight, and scent cues that separate redwood from cedar and its other softwood look-alikes.
Read the full Coast Redwood encyclopedia entry →
Start with color and weight together. Redwood heartwood is a warm reddish-brown to cinnamon-red, and for that color it is astonishingly light in the hand — pick a board up and it feels far lighter than its size suggests. That combination of red color plus very low weight is the fastest first-pass tell, since most other reddish woods (mahogany, cherry, jatoba) are much heavier and harder.
Read the growth rings. Redwood is a softwood, so the end grain shows clear concentric rings with soft, wide earlywood and a narrow, darker, denser latewood band at each ring boundary — exactly the pronounced ring pattern seen on the sample. There are no pores (it is non-porous, like all conifers) and no broad rays. On the face, quartersawn boards show straight, parallel "vertical grain" lines, while flatsawn boards show wide flame or cathedral figure. Old-growth wood has very tight, closely spaced rings; second-growth has fewer, wider rings.
Look at the sapwood and surface. The sapwood is a narrow, pale near-white band that contrasts sharply with the colored heart. The heartwood surface is fairly coarse-textured and only softly lustrous, not glassy. Press a thumbnail into it — it dents easily, confirming a soft, low-density wood. Freshly cut redwood has a faint, mild aromatic smell, but importantly it lacks the strong, sharp, spicy aroma of the true cedars.
The most common confusions are with Western Red Cedar and other aromatic softwoods. Western Red Cedar is also light, reddish, and rot-resistant, but it tends toward a browner or pinkish-brown, more variable and streaky color, and it has a distinct, strong cedar aroma; redwood's scent is far milder. Redwood's rings are usually crisper and more uniform. It can also be confused with reddish grades of Douglas-fir, but fir is heavier, harder, and stronger, often with a more orange cast and prominent contrasting latewood. Cheap red-stained pine gives itself away by bland grain, a heavier feel, and the resin/pitch smell and streaks of pine, none of which redwood shows.
Frequently asked questions
How do I tell redwood from Western Red Cedar?
Both are light, reddish, and rot-resistant, so smell is the quickest test: cedar has a strong, sharp, spicy aroma while redwood's scent is mild and faint. Cedar color tends browner and more streaky; redwood is a cleaner, more uniform cinnamon-red, usually with crisper, tighter growth rings.
How can I confirm a board is old-growth redwood?
Count the rings across an inch. Old-growth heart redwood shows very tight, closely and evenly spaced growth rings — often many per inch — with vertical (quartersawn) grain and rich uniform color. Second-growth has noticeably wider, fewer rings and often more sapwood. Reclaimed timbers with dense tight rings are usually salvaged old-growth.
Is the reddish color enough to identify redwood?
No — several woods are reddish. Pair color with weight and rings: redwood is exceptionally light and soft for a reddish wood, is non-porous with clear softwood growth rings, and lacks the strong scent of cedar. If a red board is heavy and hard, it is almost certainly a hardwood like mahogany, cherry, or jatoba, not redwood.
Does redwood have visible pores like oak?
No. As a softwood (conifer) it has no vessels or pores at all, so the end grain shows only concentric growth rings and never the rows of open pores you see in ring-porous hardwoods like oak or ash. Seeing distinct pores rules redwood out immediately.
Coast Redwood identified by the community
Recent Coast Redwood samples identified with Wood Identifier.
