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Board Feet Cost Calculator

Price your lumber project in seconds.

How it is calculated

A board foot is 144 cubic inches: a piece 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in. The tool takes the length in feet and the width and thickness in inches, and computes board feet = thickness × width × length ÷ 12 × quantity. The ÷ 12 turns the usual all-inches formula (÷ 144) into one that accepts a length in feet. Cost is board feet × price per board foot, shown in dollars. Length, width and thickness must be above zero and the price must be filled in (0 is allowed, a negative price gives no result). If the quantity is empty, zero or negative, one board is assumed. The tool uses exactly the sizes you type, so for lumber sold by nominal size, such as a 2×4, enter whichever size your yard uses to price it.

Worked example

You need 12 boards, each 8 ft long, 5.5 in wide and 1.5 in thick, priced at 4.20 per board foot. One board: 1.5 × 5.5 × 8 ÷ 12 = 5.5 board feet. Twelve boards: 5.5 × 12 = 66.00 board feet. Cost: 66 × 4.20 = $277.20. A single board costs 5.5 × 4.20 = $23.10, which is what you get if you leave the quantity blank.

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Common mistakes

  • Typing the length in inches. The length box is in feet, so an 8-foot board is 8, not 96. Entering 96 makes the board feet twelve times too large.
  • Entering width or thickness in feet or millimetres. Both are in inches, so a 38 mm board is about 1.5.
  • Using the nominal size when the yard prices by actual size, or the other way round. A board sold as 2×4 measures about 1.5 × 3.5 inches, and your entry should match how the yard counts board feet.
  • Leaving the price empty when you only want the volume. Without a price there is no result at all, so enter 0 to see just the board feet.
  • Ignoring waste. Cutting losses and rejected boards mean you normally buy more board feet than the exact total shown.

About this calculator

A board foot is the standard unit of lumber volume in North American woodworking, defined as a piece of wood 12 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 1 inch thick — equivalent to 144 cubic inches. Because lumber is sold by volume rather than by the piece, the formula board feet = (thickness in inches × width in inches × length in inches) / 144 lets you convert any board's dimensions into the unit lumber yards actually price by, regardless of whether the board is a thin trim strip or a thick structural beam.

Woodworkers, contractors and lumber yards rely on board-foot pricing because it accounts fairly for both the volume and grade of wood — a thick hardwood slab costs more per board foot than construction-grade pine, but pricing by volume rather than by linear length means a 2×4 and a 1×8 of the same length aren't priced the same. Calculating total board feet and multiplying by the price per board foot lets anyone building furniture, framing a structure, or bidding a job estimate material costs accurately before buying.

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