WBC Resource Center

Board Footage

Price Per Thousand

Industry References

*NEW* Boise Cascade Product Assembly Catalog

 

 

BOARD FOOT

A board foot is a piece of lumber 12" wide by 1' long by 1" thick for estimating purposes.

Some customers and most suppliers still use board feet as a unit of measure. It's important for you to know and understand how to calculate board feet and board feet pricing.

The basic calculation for board feet (BFT) is:
BOARD FOOT
Thickness X Width X Length / 12 = BFT
1" T X 12" W X 1'L / 12 = 1 BFT

A 2 X 4 - 10' has 6.667 board feet:

2 X 4 X 10 / 12 = 6.667

A 2 X 10 -16' has 26.67 board feet:

2 X 10 X 16 / 12 = 26.667

To calculate the board footage for a number of pieces at one time:

PCS X T X W X L / 12 = BFT

To calculate the board footage in a 84 piece unit of 2 X * - 12:

84 X 2 X 8 X 12 / 12 = 1,344 BFT

It's important to remember that 5/4 stack-like deck plank, is considered thicker than 1" stock. This means when calculating board footage for 5/4" stock you must use 1.25 as the thickness instead of 1. For example, to calculate the board footage of a 5/4 X 6-14' piece of material:

1.25 X 6 X 14 / 12 = 8.75 BFT

Compare this to the board foot calculation for a standard 14' board:

1 X 6 X 14 / 12 = 7 BFT

Another way to quickly calculate board feet is to memorize the board feet in each foot of standard dimensional material. For example, there is .667 board feet in 1 lineal foot of 2 X 4. To calculate the board footage by the length:

.667 X 10 = 6.67 BFT

The table below lists the board feet in a 1' piece of lumber for each dimension:


When calculating the board feet in a random width product, such as oak boards, you use the actual width in inches, not the nominal width. Since you use the actual width in inches in the calculation you also enter the length in inches as well, then divide by 144, instead of 12 (there are 144 square inches in a square/board foot).

1x4=.334 2x4=.667
1x6=.5 2x6=1
1x8=.667 2x8=1.334
1x10=.834 2x10=1.667
1x12=1.0 2x12=2.0
5/4x4=.416 5/4x6=.625

Let's say you have a piece of random width oak with an actual size of 7/8" thick by 7 3/4" wide by 63" long. The board foot calculation for this piece would be:

1 X 7.75 X 63 / 144 = 3.39 BFT

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PRICE PER THOUSAND

Lumber and building products are usually priced from our vendors in Price per Thousand (per/m). This means that suppliers quote prices at a price per thousand board feet. This makes it easier to quote and invoice buyers as opposed to pricing by the piece for various dimensions and lengths. It's often necessary to determine the cost per piece from the cost per thousand quoted by a vendor.

One way to calculate the piece price from a price per thousand is to multiply the board feet in a piece by the per thousand price decimal equivalent.

The decimal equivalent is the price per thousand taken to three decimal places. This means if the price per thousand is $355, the decimal equivalent is .355.

A 2x4x-12' has 8 board feet (.667 x 12 = 8, or 2x4x12/12=8). With a per thousand price of $355, the piece price is $2.84 (8x.355). Remember that the price per thousand quoted is usually your cost. You'll need to add a markup per the guidelines set by your manager to set the selling price.

All prices per thousand for lumber are calculated the same way. For a price per thousand over one thousand dollars be sure to move the decimal only three places. The decimal equivalent of a price per thousand $1,673 is 1.673. Cedar 1x8 siding priced at $1,673/m is $1.12 LFT (1x8/12X1.673). There is only .667 LFT in a board foot of 1x8.

If the siding were 1x12 siding, it would be 1.673 per lineal foot - the same as the decimal equivalent for the per thousand price.

This 1x8 siding can be priced at:
$1,673/Thousand Board Feet
$167.30/Hundred Board Feet
$1.673/Hundred Board Feet
$1.12/Linear Foot

Sheet goods are also priced by the thousand - the thousand square feet. The thickness of the product usually makes no difference - the per thousand price is adjusted to accommodate for different thicknesses.

To calculate the sheet price for a 4'x8' panel at a price of $456 per thousand, multiply the coverage per sheet times the per thousand price decimal equivalent (.456):

32 X .456 = $ 14.59/SHEET

When calculating prices always round up to the next highest whole cent.

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Industry References

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Boise Product Assembly Catalog

These documents are pdf's that will be downloadable.

*Installation Instruction*Product Codes*Stock information*

WOOD PRODUCTS

SIDING & DECKING

ROOFING

METALS

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