Professional reference for the building trades · tradeconvert.pro · Hardwood Grade Standards

Lumber Calculator — Board Feet & Dimension Guide

Calculate board footage for hardwood ordering and framing estimates. Reference nominal versus actual dimensions for softwood lumber.

A Board Foot (BF) is a unit of volume equal to a board 12" wide, 12" long, and 1" thick (144 cubic inches). Formula: (Thickness" × Width" × Length') / 12. Note that hardwood is often sold by "quarters" (e.g., 4/4 is 1" thick).

Board Feet Calculator

Thickness" × Width" × Length'

Thickness (in)

Width (in)

Length (ft)

8.00 Board Feet

Calculation

(1 × 12 × 8) ÷ 12 = 8.00 BF

Nominal vs. Actual Lumber Dimensions

Standard dimensional lumber sizes per ALSC standards.
Nominal Size	Actual Size (Dry)	Actual Size (Green)
1 × 4	3/4 × 3 1/2	25/32 × 3 9/16
2 × 4	1 1/2 × 3 1/2	1 9/16 × 3 9/16
2 × 6	1 1/2 × 5 1/2	1 9/16 × 5 5/8
2 × 10	1 1/2 × 9 1/4	1 9/16 × 9 1/2
4 × 4	3 1/2 × 3 1/2	3 9/16 × 3 9/16