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The timber volume in cubic feet.
Twelve board feet make a cubic foot. Timber yards price in board feet, so this is the unit an order has to be placed in.
Board footage
120 bd ft
1 ft³ = 12 board feet exactly. A pure volume conversion — add dressing, defect and cutting allowances on top.
- Conversion factor applied
- 12 bd ft per ft³
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Cubic Feet to Board Feet Calculator: 120 bd ft — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- 1 cubic foot = 12 board feet, since a board foot is 1/12 ft³
Inputs used
- Timber volume (ft³)
- 10
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 12 bd ft per ft³
Confidence note: 1 ft³ = 12 board feet exactly. A pure volume conversion — add dressing, defect and cutting allowances on top.
What this calculation does not cover
- Board feet are NOMINAL. Converting an actual cubic volume into board feet gives the nominal quantity a merchant prices, which is roughly a third more than the wood you physically have in dressed softwood.
- The convention differs by trade and by species. Hardwood is commonly measured rough and softwood nominal, so the same cubic volume is a different board-foot figure depending on which you are buying.
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.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-08-26 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- 1 cubic foot = 12 board feet, since a board foot is 1/12 ft³
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A timber requirement worked out as a volume has to be expressed in board feet before it can be priced, since that is the unit yards quote in. Twelve board feet to the cubic foot does the conversion. Two allowances belong on top of the result rather than inside it. Rough-sawn timber loses material to dressing before it reaches its finished size, and any timber loses more to defect and cutting. Hardwood makes this explicit through grading: a lower grade costs less per board foot precisely because a smaller proportion of each board is usable, so the cheaper rate does not necessarily produce cheaper usable timber.