Lumber Dimensions
Total Volume
4.00 BF
Estimated Wood Cost
$18.00
Easily compute wood volume and project material costs before hitting the lumberyard.
A board foot is a specialized unit of volumetric measurement representing a piece of lumber exactly 12 inches wide, 12 inches long, and 1 inch thick. The industry calculation is expressed as follows:
Unlike standard dimensional softwood construction lumber sold by individual linear piece counts, commercial hardwoods use volume-based board-foot metrics. A board foot measures a specific three-dimensional volume of wood, allowing lumberyards to price raw timber fairly regardless of varying face widths or surface irregularities.
One board foot represents a volume equal to a 12" × 12" square board that is 1" thick. Calculate total volume using the formula: [Thickness (in) × Width (in) × Length (ft)] / 12. For rough-sawn lumber, thickness is usually noted in quarters (e.g., 4/4 stock represents a full 1-inch rough thickness).
Keep in millwork planning that surfacing processes (like planing both faces smooth, or S2S) reduces final dimensions by roughly 3/16 to 1/4 inch compared to raw nominal rough-cut sizes.
| Lumber Quarter Name | Rough Nominal Thickness | Surfaced Planed Thickness (S2S) |
|---|---|---|
| 4/4 Quarter Stock | 1.00 Inch Rough Cut | 3/4 Inch Surfaced |
| 8/4 Quarter Stock | 2.00 Inches Rough Cut | 1-3/4 Inches Surfaced |