Posted on 07/01/2005 9:23:42 PM PDT by Timeout
I have an opportunity to get a good price on some hardwood flooring. My cabinet man is going to add it to his order at a lumber mill.
But I need to give him the order in board feet. I don't know how to convert square feet to board feet. I've searched around and found some formulas, but I'm doing something wrong because I'm getting different answers.
If there's a "wood" Freeper out there I sure would appreciate your help!
Total area to be covered = 215 square feet. With 10% waste allowance, let's say 240 sq ft.
The planks are 3/4" thick, 4" wide, 8 ft. long.
One flooring website says to multiply sq ft by 1.25 for 4" wide planks (at 3/4"). For 240 sq ft, that would equal 300 board feet.
Another site gives the formula for calculating the bd feet in a given plank:
Thickness in inches X width in inches X length in feet divided by 12...or T x W x L / 12.
My planks would be .75 x 4 x 8 /12 = 2 bd ft per board. I've laid it out and it will take 84 boards...93 allowing for waste. At 2 bd ft per board, that's only 186 bd feet as opposed to the 300 above.
See why I'm confused? Can someone help me?
And, yes, I'm wearing my fire resistant tinfoil hat.
Assuming your 240 sq. ft. is correct, the answer has to be less than 240 board-ft, since the boards are only 3/4" thick.
So...
240 X 0.75 = 180 board ft.
The width of the boards is irrelevant if you know the total square footage.
Or is that the formula for determining the area of a trapezoid?
Publius6961 has it right.
The thing to remember is that board feet is volume. Multiply your square footage time the thickness and you have the volume.
Well, that seems right, doesn't it?!
But I think there may be a catch...and I think it's the source of my problem. Some of the lumber websites indicate that board feet is based on the original plank before it's milled....not on the eventual 3/4 in. thick plank.
That seems crazy to me, since one has no way of knowing that. But that's what they said.
Here I am, but I don't think we're talking about the same thing.
A square foot is a 12"x12". That's 144 Inches.
it will take 3 feet of a 4" to be equal. 36 x 4" So approximately 2.33 boards for board foot needed.
do the math, far as I can see....
Not so crazy...
If it's the rough plank, then the most likely "original" thickness is 1" (before planing), so that makes the problem even easier.
Your number of board-feet is your original area, 240 b-f.
Of course, this is a guess. The mill is the only source of the accurate plank dimension before planing and after planing.
So they need to provide that.
Alternatively, you can give them the "finished" area in square feet and let them figure out what the rough board-feet area is.
you're correct about before vs after
2 by 4s aren't really 2 inches by 4 inches either ,, just like a country mile isn't really a country mile,, :)
1 board foot = 144 cubic inches of wood
1) Convert your square footage into square inches:
240 sq. ft. = 34560 sq. in.
2) Convert your floor boarding into cubic inches (volume):
34560 sq. in. X .75 in. = 25920 cu. in.
3) Convert board volume to board feet:
25920 cu in. / 144 cu in. = 180 board feet.
Trying to ply us for information, huh?
ping
Pie not square. Cornbread square. Pie round.
Forget the hardwood. Buy laminate.
That's the formula for determining how bored your feet are, in inches.
You wood say that.
What is a country mile? Does it differ from a city mile? Then how about a suburban mile.
I'll tell you in a New York minute.
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