Board Feet Calculator

The board feet calculator finds the volume of one or more pieces of lumber in board feet, the standard unit for buying and selling hardwood in the United States and Canada. One board foot equals a piece of wood 12 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 1 inch thick, or 144 cubic inches. Each board's footage is computed from its length, width and thickness, and multiple boards total into a single order figure.

• Length. Measured in feet. Fractions such as 10 1/2 and decimals such as 10.5 are both accepted.
• Width. Measured in inches, as a mixed number (5 3/4) or a decimal.
• Thickness. Measured in inches. Common lumber thicknesses include 1, 1.25 (called 5/4 by sawmills), 1.5, and 2 inches.
• Number of pieces. Multiplies a single row's board footage across identical boards, so an order of several boards at the same dimensions does not need a separate row for each.

Board feet equals length in feet multiplied by width in inches multiplied by thickness in inches, divided by 12. That figure is multiplied by the number of pieces on a row, and every row's total is summed for the full order. Settings holds a price per board foot for cost estimation, a decimal-place setting, and a step-by-step view of the formula and substituted values for each row. CSV import and export moves lumber lists, with columns for pieces, length, width and thickness, in and out of a spreadsheet.

Ten boards measuring 8 feet long, 6 inches wide, and 2 inches thick each work out to 8 multiplied by 6 multiplied by 2, divided by 12, or 8 board feet per piece. Across ten pieces, that is 80 board feet total.

Board foot totals drive lumber purchasing, estimating, and project planning wherever wood is bought by volume rather than by the piece. Accurate footage keeps a material order matched to the job, so a run of boards is neither short nor overbought.

• Woodworking: Walnut or cherry for a dining table, six pieces at 6 feet by 8 inches by 1 inch, totals 24 board feet; the price per board foot then budgets the raw material cost.
• Construction: Framing lumber for a deck or pergola, with each board size (2x6, 2x8, 4x4 posts) entered separately, combines into a single board footage total for the lumber yard order.
• Lumber Sales: Bulk orders across multiple species and sizes price out at once; the results export as a CSV to share with customers or attach to invoices.
• Education: Step-by-step mode shows the symbolic formula, substituted values, and final result for each row, so students can follow the math behind board footage.
• Sawmill Operations: Freshly sawn lumber, entered as one row per board with its actual measured dimensions, tallies into an accurate yield report.
• Furniture Restoration: Existing pieces measured and entered with fractional dimensions, such as 3/4 inch thickness, determine replacement lumber quantities that match the original stock.
• Cost Comparison: The same dimensions priced at different suppliers' rates show how total cost varies across vendors.
• Inventory Tracking: Each board size and quantity recorded as a separate row exports as a CSV file for a running inventory log or import into a spreadsheet.