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Lumber Cost Calculator

Price your lumber order by the board foot.

How it is calculated

Board feet for one piece are bd ft = thickness (in) × width (in) × length (ft) ÷ 12. The tool multiplies that by the number of pieces to get total board feet, then by the price: cost = total bd ft × price per bd ft. Thickness and width are in inches, length is in feet, and the price is per board foot.

All dimensions and the piece count must be greater than zero; a price of zero is allowed, a negative price is not. The tool uses exactly the dimensions you type and does not convert nominal sizes to actual sizes, so a 2×4 entered as 2 and 4 is priced as 2 by 4 inches. It also adds no waste allowance, sales tax or delivery charge. The cost is shown in dollars with a decimal point style that follows the page language.

Worked example

Twelve boards, each 1 inch thick, 6 inches wide and 8 feet long, priced at 6.50 per board foot.

One board: 1 × 6 × 8 ÷ 12 = 4 bd ft. Twelve boards: 4 × 12 = 48.00 bd ft. Cost: 48 × 6.50 = $312.00. If the supplier quotes by the piece, the same order works out to $26.00 a board.

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Common mistakes

  • Entering the length in inches. The length is in feet, so an 8-foot board is 8, not 96, otherwise board feet come out twelve times too big.
  • Entering the price per piece or per linear foot. The price here is per board foot.
  • Using nominal sizes. A board sold as 1×6 is thinner and narrower than that, so the real board feet are lower and a yard billing by actual size will charge less.
  • Entering the total number of boards as pieces but giving the dimensions of the full stack. The dimensions are for one piece.
  • Leaving out waste. Cuts, knots and defects usually mean buying more than the exact total, and this tool does not add any.

About this calculator

This calculator computes board feet — the standard unit for pricing rough lumber — as (thickness in inches × width in inches × length in feet) ÷ 12, then multiplies the total by your price per board foot. One board foot is a 1-inch-thick, 12-inch-square piece of wood, so a 2×6 that's 8 feet long comes to (2 × 6 × 8) ÷ 12 = 8 board feet.

Lumber yards price hardwood and construction lumber by the board foot rather than by the piece because it accounts for both thickness and width, and contractors and DIY builders use this calculator to convert a cut list into an accurate materials budget before placing an order.

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  • Editorial team

    Hardwood is often sold in quarters of an inch: 4/4 means 1 inch thick, 5/4 is 1.25 and 8/4 is 2 inches, so convert before typing the thickness. The tool adds no allowance for waste, so decide your own margin for cuts and defects and multiply the board feet by it before comparing prices. Which species and price per board foot are you working with?

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