Tally a whole lumber run: thickness in quarters, width and length per board, price per board foot — total footage and cost as you type.
| Board / species | Thickness | Width ″ | Length ′ | Qty | BF |
|---|
Hardwood dealers price by the board foot because hardwood boards are sold as the tree grew them — random widths, random lengths. The quarters system (4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4) describes rough-sawn thickness before surfacing; the calculator’s thickness menu uses those names so the tally matches the invoice. Enter each board as it’s marked, add your waste allowance, and the total is what to ask the yard to pull.
A volume: 144 cubic inches of rough lumber — picture a piece 12″ × 12″ × 1″ thick. The formula is thickness (in) × width (in) × length (in) ÷ 144, or thickness × width × length-in-feet ÷ 12. Hardwood is priced by the board foot because boards come in random widths and lengths.
Quarters of an inch of rough thickness: 4/4 (“four-quarter”) is 1″, 5/4 is 1¼″, 8/4 is 2″. Board footage — and the price — is figured on that rough thickness even though surfaced 4/4 stock actually measures about 13/16″. Say “four-quarter” at the lumberyard, never “one inch.”
Rough. A surfaced 4/4 board that now measures 13/16″ still sells as 1″ (4/4) footage — the planing loss is built into the system. Width and length are measured as they are, though yards often round width to the nearest half inch and length down to the foot.
A common shop allowance is 15–30% over your net footage — covering defects, grain matching, tearout, and the ends you crosscut away. Buy the low end for paint-grade work and the high end when color and grain matching matter, like a tabletop.
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Parts list in, cutting layout out — sheet goods or boards, with kerf, grain locks, waste %, and a printable diagram.
Species + board width + humidity swing → how much that panel will expand or shrink, flatsawn vs quartersawn.
Total rise → riser count and height, tread run, stringer length, and layout dimensions within IRC limits.