In this Excel lesson, you will teach yourself how to prepare Board Footage Calculator.
What is board footage?
Board footage is a volume of hardwood lumber (to buy).
One board foot equals one square foot of wood which is one inch thick. Here is the relationship:
1 board foot = 144 cubic inches = 1/12 cubic foot
To prepare such lumber calculations you need to prepare the data first. You will need:
- board length [feet]
- width [ft or inches]
- thickness [in]
If you prefer metric units you may need cm to inches converter.
How to calculate board footage?
To calculate wood board footage you just need to multiply length * width * thickness.
Board foot formula = length * width * thickness
To adjust units you need to use these formulas:
board foot = length(ft) * width(in) * thickness(in) / 144
board foot = length(ft) * width(ft) * thickness(in) / 12
To format the board footage as a number with 2 decimal places, select the cell, right-click, and select “Format Cells”. In the Format Cells dialog box, select the “Number” category, choose the number format with 2 decimal places, and click OK.
Now you know how to calculate board feet.
Here’s the place where you can download the Lumber Calculator I described above.
