Calculator & tools
Lumber unit converter
Board feet, linear feet, surface measure, cubic metres, square metres and cubic feet, for any size.
Convert
Linear feet
1,500LF
Board feet
1,000BF
as entered
Surface measure
437.5SF
Cubic metres
1.5486m³
Square metres
40.6451m²
Cubic feet
54.688ft³
Why the numbers differ
- Board feet use nominal size
- A 2x4 bills as 2" × 4", which is how lumber has always been sold, even though it measures 1.5" × 3.5" after surfacing.
- Surface measure and volume use net size
- Square feet, square metres, cubic feet and cubic metres describe the wood that is actually there, so they are worked out on the net 1.5" × 3.5". That is why a thousand board feet is not the same as its metric equivalent at nominal size — the difference is the sawdust.