Board Feet Calculator
Use this professional board feet calculator to estimate lumber volume for woodworking, construction, sawmill orders, furniture projects, and material planning. Enter thickness, width, length, quantity, waste percentage, and optional price to get a clear lumber estimate.
Plan Lumber Before You Buy
Board feet helps you understand how much wood you are buying, comparing, or pricing. This tool is useful for hardwood, softwood, rough lumber, slabs, planks, and custom cuts.
Calculate Board Feet
Result
Enter your lumber dimensions and click calculate to see board feet, waste, and cost.
What Is a Board Foot?
A board foot is a lumber measurement used to describe wood volume. One board foot equals a piece of wood that is 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long. It is commonly used when buying hardwood, rough lumber, slabs, and custom-cut boards.
In this formula, thickness and width are entered in inches, and length is entered in feet. If your length is in inches, the calculator automatically uses the inches-based formula.
How This Board Feet Calculator Works
1. Add Dimensions
Enter the lumber thickness, width, and length. Thickness and width should be in inches.
2. Add Quantity
Enter how many boards you need. The tool multiplies the board feet by total pieces.
3. Get Total Estimate
The result shows board feet per piece, total board feet, waste allowance, and cost.
Why Use This Tool?
Estimating lumber manually can be confusing, especially when working with multiple pieces, different lengths, and project waste. This board feet calculator helps woodworkers, contractors, carpenters, furniture makers, and DIY builders make faster buying decisions and avoid ordering too little or too much lumber.
Board Feet Calculator FAQs
How do you calculate board feet?
Multiply thickness in inches by width in inches by length in feet, then divide by 12. Example: 2 × 8 × 10 ÷ 12 = 13.33 board feet.
What is the difference between board feet and square feet?
Board feet measures lumber volume, while square feet measures surface area. Board feet includes thickness, but square feet does not.
Should I add waste when buying lumber?
Yes, adding waste is recommended. For most projects, 5% to 15% extra lumber can help cover cutting loss, defects, cracks, knots, and mistakes.
Can I calculate lumber cost with this tool?
Yes. Enter the price per board foot, and the calculator will estimate the total project cost based on your final board feet.
Does this calculator work for hardwood and softwood?
Yes. The board foot formula works for hardwood, softwood, rough lumber, surfaced boards, slabs, and most standard lumber buying calculations.