Board Foot Calculator — Lumber List & Cost
Add stock boards, compare supplier quote units and estimate your lumber order. See board feet, whole spare boards and a clear cost breakdown.
Board 1 · 4 BF each · schematic, not to scale
Enter the dimensions your supplier bills. A surfaced board may be thinner than its rough thickness: 4/4 means a 1-inch rough thickness, not a guaranteed finished thickness. No automatic nominal-size conversion is applied. Enter decimal dimensions (1.25 or 1,25); do not group thousands.
Add a price for this size
Add a price for this size
Compare another supplier quote
Applies one rate to every board in this same order, including spares. Compare the same grade, sizes, milling and currency. Tax and delivery are separate.
Enter a quote to compare.
2. Purchase summary
Board 1
6 boards × 4 BF = 24 BF
No price entered.
Board 2
2 boards × 8 BF = 16 BF
No price entered.
The tally uses your entered dimensions without supplier-specific invoice rounding. A volume total does not prove that finished parts fit these boards. Check lengths, widths, defects, grain, trim and saw cuts before buying.
How to calculate board feet
Multiply thickness in inches by width in inches by length in feet, then divide by 12. Multiply by the number of boards and add the rows. One board foot is 144 cubic inches.
A 1 × 6-inch board that is 8 feet long contains 1 × 6 × 8 ÷ 12 = 4 BF. Six such boards give 24 BF. Two 2 × 8-inch boards that are 6 feet long add 16 BF: the mixed example totals 40 BF.
Compare prices on the same basis
For that 4 BF board, $5 per BF, $5,000 per MBF, $2.50 per linear foot and $20 per piece all describe the same $20 board. These are illustrative prices, not current supplier quotes.
MBF means 1,000 board feet here. Linear feet measure length; board feet measure volume. You need the board dimensions to convert between their prices. Use the same currency throughout; this calculator does not convert currencies.
Rough dimensions or finished dimensions?
Use the sizes that match your supplier’s quote. In rough hardwood pricing, a board sold as 4/4 may be billed using a 1-inch thickness after it has been surfaced thinner. Entering only its finished thickness can understate that quoted tally.
If you enter measured finished dimensions, the result describes that geometric volume instead. It is not automatically the supplier’s invoiced board footage. Confirm the supplier’s thickness and rounding conventions.
Sources and related calculators
Woodworkers Source’s board-foot guide explains the unit, its formula and rough-thickness pricing. Confirm your own supplier’s billing convention.
For installed layouts use the deck-board calculator or board-and-batten calculator. This stock tally does not replace a cutting or installation plan.
