Board Foot Calculator
Calculate board feet for hardwood, softwood, and logs — then see cost and shipping weight. This board feet calculator is built around how lumber yards actually charge, so there are no surprises at the counter.
What does a board foot actually measure?
A board foot is a unit of volume equal to 144 cubic inches — a piece 12 inches wide, 12 inches long, and 1 inch thick. Because it includes thickness, it is not the same as square feet (area) or linear feet (length). The formula every yard uses:
Board feet = Thickness(in) × Width(in) × Length(ft) ÷ 12
If you want the full walkthrough with worked examples, read how to calculate board feet, or learn what a board foot is from the ground up. Prefer to browse? Every calculator and guide is grouped by job in the full guide directory.
Calculators for every job
Which board foot calculator should you use?
Hardwood Calculator
Actual dimensions, 4/4–12/4 quarter sizing, and NHLA thickness rounding for dealer-bought stock.
Open hardwood mode →Log Calculator
Estimate lumber yield from logs with the Doyle, Scribner and International ¼-inch rules.
Scale a log →Lumber Cost Calculator
Turn board feet into a budget using price per board foot for any species.
Estimate cost →Cut List Calculator
Add up a whole project — up to 30 boards, multiple species, CSV export.
Build a cut list →Spray Foam Calculator
Different math entirely — area × thickness for insulation board feet of coverage.
Estimate foam →Board Foot Weight Calculator
What your board feet actually weigh, by species and moisture content, for hauling and freight.
Weigh the order →Excel & Sheets Calculator
The board foot formula to paste into your own workbook, plus a template with live totals.
Get the formula →BF ↔ SF Converter
Convert between board feet and square feet without guessing the thickness.
Convert →BF ↔ Cubic Feet Converter
True volume maths for freight, kilns and containers — plus the wood actually delivered.
Convert volume →Every tool above runs the same core arithmetic and adds one thing on top of it, so start with the calculator at the top of this page and move on only when your question stops being "how many board feet" and becomes cost, weight or yield. The cut-list page doubles as a lumber calculator for a whole project. And if you came looking for a calculator for wood rather than lumber by name, it is the same tool — solid wood is bought and sold in board feet, so you can calculate wood volume here exactly the way a mill bills it.
What are the most common board foot sizes?
How many board feet of lumber are in each standard softwood size, by length. Bookmark the full board foot cheat sheet for printing.
| Size | 6 ft | 8 ft | 10 ft | 12 ft | 16 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2×4 | 4.00 | 5.33 | 6.67 | 8.00 | 10.67 |
| 2×6 | 6.00 | 8.00 | 10.00 | 12.00 | 16.00 |
| 2×8 | 8.00 | 10.67 | 13.33 | 16.00 | 21.33 |
| 2×10 | 10.00 | 13.33 | 16.67 | 20.00 | 26.67 |
| 2×12 | 12.00 | 16.00 | 20.00 | 24.00 | 32.00 |
| 4×4 | 8.00 | 10.67 | 13.33 | 16.00 | 21.33 |
Want a single board answer? See how many board feet in a 2×4, a 2×6, or a 2×8.
BD ft, BF, FBM and MBF — the notations behind this board feet calculator
What a bd feet calculator actually means on the ticket
Lumber is written down five different ways depending on who is writing it. A bd ft calculator, a bd feet calculator, a bd foot calculator and a boardfoot calculator are all the same tool — the notation changes, the unit does not. Decode what is on your tally slip before you argue about it:
| Written as | Stands for | Where it appears | What it means numerically |
|---|---|---|---|
| BF, bd ft, bd/ft | Board foot | Hardwood price cards, dealer invoices | 1 BF = 144 cubic inches |
| bdft, bdt | Board feet (no spaces) | Sawmill tallies, green lumber lists | Same unit, typed without spaces |
| FBM, ft. bm. | Foot board measure | Mill run tags, wholesale pricing sheets | 1 FBM = 1 BF |
| MBF, or a plain "M" | Thousand board feet | Contract and truckload quotes | 1 MBF = 1,000 BF; divide the quote by 1,000 to get your unit price |
| BD FT. with a decimal | Board feet to one place | Tally slips after rounding | A 1×6×8 board reads 4.0 BD FT., not 4 pieces |
The MBF line, where most quotes go wrong
MBF is the notation to watch: a quote of $1,850 per MBF is $1.85 per board foot, and a $0.42 per-foot hardwood price is $420 per MBF. The cost calculator takes either form. If the log itself is what you are pricing rather than the boards sawn from it, scale it first with the log board foot calculator, then bring the recovered board feet back here.
Buy lumber without getting burned
What rules does the lumber yard play by?
Nominal vs Actual
Why a 2×4 is really 1.5″ × 3.5″ — and when each size is used for pricing.
Gross vs Net Tally
How an 8–10% tally difference can quietly inflate your invoice.
Waste Factor Guide
Exactly how much extra to buy by project type, so you never run short.
4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4 Guide
Decode quarter thickness and how dealers round it when billing.
Why You Got Charged More
The common reasons your bill beats your own measurement.
How to Buy by Board Foot
A buyer's checklist for verifying a hardwood tally before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
What is a board foot?
A board foot is a unit of lumber volume equal to 144 cubic inches — for example a piece 12″ wide, 12″ long and 1″ thick. It measures volume, not surface area, which is why it differs from square feet and linear feet.
How do you calculate board feet?
Multiply thickness (inches) × width (inches) × length (feet), then divide by 12. A 1″ × 6″ × 8 ft board is (1 × 6 × 8) ÷ 12 = 4 board feet. Full method: how to calculate board feet.
How many board feet are in a 2×4?
A nominal 2×4 holds about 0.667 BF per linear foot, so an 8-ft 2×4 = 5.33 BF and a 10-ft 2×4 = 6.67 BF. See the breakdown at how many board feet in a 2×4.
Why do board foot calculators give different results?
Because of nominal versus actual dimensions, thickness rounding rules, and waste assumptions. We explain every difference in why calculators disagree.
Is lumber sold by nominal or actual size?
Softwood is priced by nominal size; hardwood is priced by actual measured size, usually with thickness rounded up to the nearest quarter inch. More: nominal vs actual dimensions.
How much waste should I add?
15–20% for FAS hardwood with simple cuts, 25–35% for rough sawn, and 10–15% for flooring. See the waste factor guide.
How do I figure cost per board foot?
Multiply total board feet × price per board foot. For 20 BF of walnut at $13/BF, cost = $260. The lumber cost calculator does it instantly.
Does the calculator work offline?
Yes — this online board foot calculator is a progressive web app that saves your cut list locally and keeps working with no signal, so you can use it at the yard.
What is a bd ft calculator?
“bd ft” is simply how a lumber yard writes board foot on a tally slip, so a bd ft calculator, a bd feet calculator, a bd foot calculator and a boardfoot calculator all do the same math: thickness (in) × width (in) × length (ft) ÷ 12. This page is that calculator — the notation is the only thing that changes between sellers.
Can I use it as a lumber calculator for a whole project?
Yes. Add every board you need — up to 30 lines, several species, waste factor included — and export the list as a CSV to take to the yard. The dedicated cut list calculator keeps your list saved between visits.
How do I turn board feet into cubic feet or into weight?
One board foot is 144 cubic inches, so twelve board feet make one cubic foot — divide your total by 12 for cubic feet, or run the pile through the board feet to cubic feet calculator for the metric, MBF and delivered-volume lines at once. Weight depends on the species and its moisture, so it cannot come from volume alone; use the board foot weight calculator for that.