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Lumber Price Calculator

One price in; the same price per board foot, linear foot, board and MBF out.

Board feet by PS 20's nominal sizes; prices are what you type.

1 1/4" · 5/4 · 1.25 in · 0.1042 ft · 0.0318 m

10" · 10 in · 0.8333 ft · 0.254 m

8' · 96 in · 8 ft · 2.4384 m

8.33 board feet

Knots, checks and saw cuts: 10–15% is usual for surfaced stock; rough hardwood for furniture runs 25–30% (McIlvain). Added once, to what you buy.

Your yard's price; the answer says it in the other three units.

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

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Price per board, 8' long

$34.58

8 linear ft · 0.008 MBF · 9.17 board feet at nominal size with 10% waste

Board feet at nominal size, as lumber is billed 8.33 board feet
At the dressed size you take home (PS 20) 6.17 board feet
In a linear foot, at nominal size 1.042 BF per linear foot
Linear feet 8 linear ft
Thousand board feet, at nominal size 0.008 MBF
With 10% waste, at nominal size, before the list rounds up 9.17 board feet
Cost of the board feet, before waste $34.58
Cost of the list $69.17
Price per board foot $4.15
Price per linear foot $4.32
Price per thousand board feet $4,150.00
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Board 1: 10" × 1 1/4".10"1 1/4"Board 1

Breakdown

Boards Measurements Qty Board feet Share
Board 1 1 1/4" × 10" × 8' Add ×1 8.33 board feet

What to buy

Shopping list

2 boards $69.17
Ticked items $69.17

Softwood is sold by the board, at the shortest length on the list that holds yours; hardwood by the board foot. Untick what you have.

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How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Board 1: board feet 1 1/4" × 10" × 96" ÷ 144 × 1 8.333 BF
Board 1: dressed size (PS 20) 1 1/4" − 1/4" = 1" · 10" − 3/4" = 9 1/4" 1" × 9 1/4"

Change:Dressed, boards 1 to 1½ inDressed, 8 in and wider

Board 1: board feet at that size 1" × 9 1/4" × 96" ÷ 144 × 1 6.167 BF
Board 1: a linear foot 1 1/4" × 10" ÷ 12 1.042 BF/ft
Thousand board feet 8.333 ÷ 1,000 0.0083 MBF
Waste 8.333 BF × (1 + 10%) 9.167 BF
Cost 2 × 8.33 BF × $4.15 $69.17

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Dressed, boards under 1 inNIST PS 20-20, Table 3 (p. 16): a board ¾ in nominal is dressed dry to ⅝ in. This is the ¾ in board's figure, used for every board under 1 in; PS 20 dresses the ⅜, ½ and ⅝ in boards 1/16 in under, which this does not model. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Dressed, boards 1 to 1½ inNIST PS 20-20, Table 3 (p. 16): a board from 1 in and under 2 in nominal is dressed dry ¼ in under it - 1 to ¾, 1¼ to 1, 1½ to 1¼. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Dressed, 2 in up to 8 inNIST PS 20-20, Table 3: from 2 in nominal and under 8 in wide, lumber is dressed dry ½ in under it - 2 to 1½, 4 to 3½, 6 to 5½. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Dressed, 8 in and widerNIST PS 20-20, Table 3: 8 in nominal and wider is dressed dry ¾ in under it - 8 to 7¼, 10 to 9¼, 12 to 11¼. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Dressed green, timbersNIST PS 20-20, Table 3: timbers, 5 in nominal and thicker, are dressed green ½ in under nominal on both faces - 6×6 to 5½ × 5½, 8×8 to 7½ × 7½. Timbers are sold green; dried, 7 in and up loses more. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Boards' ¼ in fromNIST PS 20-20, Table 3: from 1 in nominal a board is dressed ¼ in under; thinner boards less. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Dimension lumber fromNIST PS 20-20: dimension lumber starts at 2 in nominal thickness; boards are thinner. in From a data sheet or an agency document
The wide allowance fromNIST PS 20-20, Table 3: the dressed allowance goes from ½ in to ¾ in at 8 in nominal width. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Timbers fromNIST PS 20-20: timbers are lumber 5 in nominal and thicker in the least dimension. in From a data sheet or an agency document

Price per board foot, per linear foot and per board

One price, said three ways. A board's price is the price per board foot times the board feet in it; a linear foot's, the price per board foot times the board feet in a foot. A 5/4×10 board 8 ft long holds 1¼ × 10 × 8 ÷ 12 = 8.333 board feet and 1.042 in each foot, so at $4.15 a board foot it is $34.58 a board and $4.32 a linear foot. A thousand board feet — MBF, the unit a yard quotes a truckload in — is $4,150.

Turn it round with "The price is": type $34.58 per board and the page says $4.15 a board foot. That is how to compare a price per piece with a price per board foot, or two widths with each other: a 2×4×8 at $4.00 is 75¢ a board foot over its 5.33 board feet.

Which board feet you are paying for

The board feet in these prices are nominal: a yard's price per board foot is per board foot of the size on the tag (PS 20, the softwood standard). The 5/4×10 above is dressed to 1 in by 9¼ in: the $34.58 buys 6.17 board feet of wood, and the answer prints both figures. For hardwood, choose a hardwood measure: its price is per board foot of the yard's tally.

With more than one size on the page, a price per linear foot or per board is read from the first board, the one the price lines name, and the board feet price it comes to is applied to the rest. A list of mixed sizes at one price per piece is not one rate; price each size on its own page.

What the list costs

Add boards and a waste percentage and the page prices the list: the boards a yard sells, at the price you typed, before and after waste. Prices change by species, grade and week: the $4.15 this page opens with is the worked example above, not a price to buy at. Type your yard's.