How to Calculate Board Footage
We sell most of our lumber by the board foot. A board foot is actually a measure of volume. By definition, a board foot is one square foot, one inch thick.
To calculate board footage use the following formulas:
Board Footage = |
width in inches x length in feet x thickness in inches |
12 |
- or - |
width in inches x length in inches x thickness in inches |
144 |
The most common mistake made in calculating board footage is forgetting to multiply by the thickness.
4/4 multiply by 1, 5/4 multiply by 1.25, 6/4 multiply by 1.5
8/4 multiply by 2, 12/4 multiply by 3, 16/4 multiply by 4
Example 1: A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long has 5.33 bd.ft.
8in x 8ft x 1in | = 5.33 bd.ft. | - or - | 8in x 96in x 1in | = 5.33 bd.ft. |
12 | 144 |
Example 2: An 8/4 board 7 inches wide and 10 feet long has 11.67 bd.ft.
7 x 10 x 2 | = 11.67 bd.ft. | - or - | 7 x 120 x 2 | = 11.67 bd.ft. |
12 | 144 |