From this site

One project, every trade

Each calculator adds its lines to a single estimate — consolidated BOM, schedule and cash-flow included.

Open My Project →

Board Foot Calculator

Work out the board feet in a piece of lumber — the unit hardwood is priced in, and the one nominal sizes hide.

Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Figures are presented for United States against IRC 2024, and every formula is cited under regulatory standards below.

Last verified 2026-08-26 · v1.0.0

Market
Imperial · sales tax

Board feet

4 board feet

High confidence

Measured on nominal thickness, as the trade does. Actual surfaced dimensions are smaller and are not used for pricing.

Per board
4 bf
Cubic feet
0.33 ft³
Cubic metres
0.01 yd³

Running these inputs gives 4 as the board feet. Note that number of boards sits at the low end of the range this calculator was checked against, so treat the output as indicative rather than settled. Currently reading for United States under IRC 2024 — pick a different market above and the figures re-cast accordingly.

Estimated cost — your price

This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.

Preliminary estimate, not certified engineering. This tool produces an indicative quantity calculation for planning purposes only — it is not a certified structural analysis, a guaranteed material takeoff, or a substitute for building department approval. Always verify measurements on-site and have a licensed contractor or structural engineer review any load-bearing, code-sensitive, or safety-critical work before purchasing materials or starting construction. Spotted an arithmetic or standards error? Report it to contact@craftquantities.com with your inputs — confirmed fixes become pinned regression tests.

[Schema Verified] Computed in alignment with American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19) formulas and International Residential Code (IRC 2024) spatial boundaries.

Regulatory standards & verification citations

  • 1 board foot = 144 in³ — nominally 1 in thick by 12 in wide by 1 ft long
  • NHLA Rules for the Measurement and Inspection of Hardwood — board footage is measured on nominal thickness before surfacing

Your workspace

Most jobs need more than one number. Add the calculators you need next and they open right here, underneath this one — your figures stay on screen and nothing is lost to a page change.

Frequently asked questions

What is a board foot?
A volume: 144 cubic inches, or a piece one inch thick, twelve inches wide and one foot long. It is a volume measure despite the name, which is why a 2 × 6 × 8 ft contains twice the board footage of a 1 × 6 × 8 ft.
Why use nominal thickness rather than actual?
Because that is how the trade prices it. A 4/4 board leaves the mill at a full inch and arrives surfaced at 13/16, but you are buying the wood that was removed as well as the wood that remains. Measuring the surfaced thickness would under-count what you are paying for by about 20%.
How does this differ from a linear foot?
A linear foot is length alone and ignores the section. Two boards of the same length but different widths are the same linear footage and very different board footage. Softwood dimensional lumber is usually sold by the linear foot or the piece; hardwood almost always by the board foot.
What do 4/4 and 8/4 mean?
Quarters of an inch of nominal thickness. 4/4 is one inch, 5/4 is 1.25, 6/4 is 1.5, 8/4 is two inches, 12/4 is three. Say them as 'four quarter' and 'eight quarter' — a merchant will know exactly what you want.