When having lumber sawn, or visiting the lumberyard, it's important to have an understanding of what the term "boardfoot" means. Lumber prices are generally set based on wood species and quality, and are given a price "per-boardfoot".
A "boardfoot" is a simple, specific way to measure a quantity of wood, and it's based on its volume- the same way you purchase gasoline at the pump by volume.
Since it's a volumetric measurement, (like one quart of water) it will involve cubic inches. So-
1 boardfoot = 144 cubic inches of wood.
An easy way to envision one boardfoot is to think of a large bathroom tile. 12 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and 1 inch thick.
Formula using inches:
(Length x Width x Height)/144= number of boardfeet
Here's an example, using the formula to determine boardfeet.
A board of oak is 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 96 inches long.
1 x 12 x 96= 1152 square inches.
Divide by 144= 8 boardfeet
And another example
A board of pine is 2 inches thick, 4 inches wide, and 96 inches long.
2 x 4 x 96 = 768
768/144= 5.3 boardfeet
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