Board foot

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Board-Foot Measure
Unit of Volume
Symbol FBM 
Unit conversions
1 FBM in ... ... is equal to ...
   SI base units    ≈0.002359737 m3
   US Customary    112 ft3


Board-foot can be abbreviated FBM (for "foot, board measure"), BDFT, or BF. Thousand board-feet can be abbreviated as MFBM, MBFT, or MBF. Similarly, million board-feet can be abbreviated as MMFBM, MMBFT, or MMBF.

FBM multiples
fbm= board-foot
mfbm=thousand board-feet
mmfbm=million board-feet

In Australia and New Zealand the term super foot or superficial foot was used to mean the same.[1][2][3]

One board-foot equals:

Board foot is the unit of measure for rough lumber (before drying and planing with no adjustments) or planed/surfaced lumber. An example of planed lumber is softwood 2 × 4 lumber one would buy at a large lumber retailer. The 2 × 4 is actually only 1 12 in × 3 12 in (38 mm × 89 mm) but the dimensions for the lumber when purchased wholesale could still be represented as full 2 × 4 lumber, although the "standard" can vary between vendors. This means that nominal lumber includes air space around the physical board when calculating board feet in some situations, while the true measurement of "board feet" should be limited to the actual dimensions of the board.

For planed lumber, board-feet refer to the nominal thickness and width of lumber, calculated in principle on its size before drying and planing. Actual length is used.

See dimensional lumber for a full discussion of the relationship of actual and nominal dimensions. Briefly, for softwoods, to convert nominal to actual, subtract 14 inch for dimensions under 2 inches (51 mm); subtract 12 inch for dimensions under 8 inches (203 mm); and subtract 34 inch for larger measurements. The system is more complicated for hardwoods.

An Essex table is a tabulation of the number of board feet in lumber of varying dimensions.[4]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". Retrieved 2007-01-30. 
  2. ^ Burger, Les. "Cutting Timber on Springbrook in 1935". Archived from the original on September 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  3. ^ Holgate, Alan. "The Bendigo Monier Arch Bridges.". Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  4. ^ "Essex table | Define Essex table at". Retrieved 2010-09-26.