Board Foot Calculator
Board feet for a lumber order, and the cost at a price per board foot.
What a board foot is
board feet = thickness (in) × width (in) × length (ft) / 12
One board foot is a 1-inch-thick, 12-by-12-inch piece of wood: 144 cubic inches. Hardwood is priced by the board foot because boards come in irregular widths and lengths.
Nominal vs. actual size
Board feet use the NOMINAL dimensions. A '2x4' actually measures 1.5 by 3.5 inches after drying and planing, but it still counts as 2 by 4 for board footage. Ten 8-foot 2x4s are 2 × 4 × 8 / 12 × 10 = 53.3 board feet.