The possibility of pit deasPiration and its effect on the permeability of refractory Picea jezoensis var. komarovii air-dried heartwood was explored by pretreatment-resoaking in water. The axial gas permeability of wood samples was measured with rising-water volume-displacement method. The result showed that the average gas permeability of 5-year air-dried heartwood samples which were solvent exchange drying after resoaking period Of 11 weeks was increased by 110 percent over their controls of paired, comparative test, whereas the permeability difference of resoaking samples versus their controls was not significant at the 5% level by "t" test of paired comparative test. It suggests that aspirated pit of air-dried heartwood did not spring back to its normal position by resoaking in water so that the permeability was really improved.