What’s a Board Foot?

Board footage is how rough lumber is measured and priced. It is a cubic measurement, or, how much wood is in the board , rather than the length of the board.

Lumber that has already been surfaced is sold by the linear(running) foot.

You will notice that rough boards come in different thicknesses, measured in quarters of an inch.

4/4 = 1”

5/4 = 1 1/4”

6/4 = 1 1/2”

8/4 = 2”

10/4 = 2 1/2”

12/4 = 3”

16/4 = 4”

A board foot is 1” thick x 12” wide x 12” long.

Of course, boards come in all different sizes, so here is how you can make the calculation for any board.

Multiply thickness” x width” x length’ and then divide by 12

or

Multiply thickness” x width” x length” and then divide by 144