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Board Foot Calculator

Estimate total board feet and lumber cost for any project.

This board foot calculator helps you estimate the total board feet and lumber cost for any project, helping to ensure greater accuracy in your bids and estimates.Houzz Pro software can help save time with these calculations by pulling pre-priced material costs from our built-in Cost Catalog or by using the Clipper tool to save products from your preferred vendor websites.

What is a board foot?

A board foot of lumber represents a piece of lumber one foot wide, one foot long, and one inch thick. It’s how lumber suppliers quantify and price their lumber, so it’s critical when pricing materials for a job.

How to calculate board feet of lumber

To calculate the board feet for a project, perform a material take-off to determine how many pieces and what lengths you’ll need for each lumber size. Then, follow the process below to calculate the board feet and total cost for each size:
  • Enter the following information into the calculator (in inches unless otherwise stated):
  • Thickness (ex. 1.5 inches)
  • Width (ex. 3.5 inches)
  • Length, in feet (ex. 8 feet)
  • Quantity of boards needed (ex. 20)
  • There’s an option on the board foot calculator to enter the price per board foot from your supplier if you want to calculate the total cost as well.
  • Click the Calculate button, and you’ll get the board feet per piece, total number of board feet, and the cost.
Keep the following in mind:
  • Use actual board dimensions (ex. a 2x4 is actually 1.5x3.5).
  • For boards less than 1” thick, use 1 inch.
  • Add 10-15% to the total for waste, cuts, and wood defects.
The board feet formulaTo calculate the number of board feet for a project, multiply the board thickness (in inches), width (in inches), length (in feet), and quantity, then divide by 12 to convert inches to feet.
Board feet = (Thickness x width x length x quantity) / 12
Here’s an example of a board foot calculation using this formula:
  • Thickness: 1.5 inches
  • Width: 3.5 inches
  • Length: 8 feet
  • Quantity: 20
  • Formula: 1.5 x 3.5 x 8 x 20 = 840, divided by 12 equals 70 board feet
An alternative way to calculate board feet is to use all inches. The length of each piece is multiplied by 12 to convert feet to inches, and the total is divided by 144 instead of 12.
Board feet using all inches = (Thickness x width x length x quantity) / 144
Here’s an example using inches for the length:
  • Thickness: 1.5 inches
  • Width: 3.5 inches
  • Length: 96 inches (8 feet)
  • Quantity: 20
  • Formula: 1.5 x 3.5 x 96 x 20 = 10,080, divided by 144 equals 70 board feet
Houzz Pro’s built-in Cost Catalog and Clipper tools can help you save time when creating estimates and help ensure pricing accuracy.

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