Board Foot Calculator
Calculate board feet — the standard volume unit lumber is priced and sold by.
Calculate board feet — the standard volume unit lumber is priced and sold by.
How Board Foot Calculator Works
A board foot is the volume of a board 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long — the calculator multiplies your board's thickness, width, and length (in inches and feet respectively) and divides by 12 to convert into that standard unit.
See It In Action
Who Uses Board Foot Calculator and Why
- Pricing out a lumber purchase quoted per board foot at a hardwood supplier.
- Working out the total board feet in a stack of same-size boards before buying.
- Comparing cost between two boards of different thickness that are priced by board foot rather than by piece.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Entering length in inches instead of feet — thickness and width are in inches, but length is in feet, and mixing that up produces a board foot total off by a factor of 12.
- Forgetting to set quantity above 1 when buying multiple identical boards, then manually multiplying the single-board result — the quantity field does this directly and reduces the chance of an arithmetic slip.
- Assuming board feet and square feet are interchangeable — they're not, since board feet factor in thickness, so a thick board and a thin board of the same face size have different board-foot volumes.
Tips for Best Results
- Keep a running note of board foot totals across multiple different board sizes on the same project, since this calculator handles one specification at a time.
- If you're ordering rough-sawn lumber, remember actual thickness may run slightly over nominal (a "1-inch" rough board can measure closer to 1.125 inches) — use actual measured thickness for a precise total.
Fixing Common Problems
My board foot total seems too low for a long board. — Double-check that length was entered in feet, not inches — an 8-foot board entered as "8" is correct, but if you meant 8 inches, that's a very different volume.
Terms Explained
Board foot: The standard volume unit for lumber pricing, equal to a board 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long (144 cubic inches).
Nominal size: A lumber size's commonly used name (like "2x4"), which is typically larger than the board's actual finished dimensions after milling.