Board feet calculator
The board foot is the US lumber trade unit: a piece 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide and 1 foot long.
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How to use it
- Enter thickness, width, length, quantity and price per board foot (optional).
- The result appears straight away and updates as you edit.
- Copy the result, or copy a link that keeps the same values to share it.
How it is calculated
Board feet = thickness (in) × width (in) × length (ft) ÷ 12 × quantity. 1 board foot = 144 in³ = 0.002359737216 m³ exactly.
Example
Inputs: Thickness = 2 in, Width = 4 in, Length = 8 ft, Quantity = 10. Result: Board feet: 53.33 BF; Per piece: 5.333 BF; In cubic meters: 0.1259 m³.
Limits and caveats
- Sawn softwood is usually tallied on nominal sizes (2×4), not the smaller dressed size.
- Does not include cutting waste or defects.
Questions about this tool
How many board feet in an 8 ft 2×4?
2 × 4 × 8 ÷ 12 = 5.33 board feet.
Why nominal sizes?
The trade prices on nominal size, even though a real 2×4 is about 1.5 × 3.5 inches after drying and planing.
How many board feet in a cubic meter?
One cubic meter is about 423.78 board feet.