How Many Board Feet in a 2x4x16?
Total board feet
10.67 bf
One nominal 2x4, sixteen feet long.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Thickness, nominal2 in
- Width, nominal4 in
- Length16 ft
- How many pieces1
- Price per board foot, 0 to skip0 $
Total board feet10.67 bf
| Board feet per piece | 10.667 |
|---|---|
| Pieces | 1 |
| Total board feet | 10.67 |
| Total linear feet | 16 lf |
Length compared
The same stick in every length the yard normally stocks.
| Length | Total board feet |
|---|---|
| 8 ft | 5.33 bf |
| 10 ft | 6.67 bf |
| 12 ft | 8 bf |
| 14 ft | 9.33 bf |
| 16 ft | 10.67 bf |
What else matters here
A 2x4x16 is 10.67 board feet. Sixteen footers are the usual plate length, since sixteen feet lands on both 16 and 24 inch layouts without a cut and keeps the number of joints in a wall down.
Watch the crown and the grade when you buy long 2x4 stock. A sixteen foot stud grade piece has four more feet in which to bow than a twelve, and a bowed plate telegraphs into every stud sitting on it.
What this calculator assumes
- A board foot is nominal thickness times nominal width times length in feet, divided by 12. Use the nominal size, the 2 and the 6 in a 2x6, not the real 1.5 by 5.5.
- Hardwood is sold by the board foot. Softwood framing is usually sold by the piece, so this is for pricing and for comparing two quotes written differently.
Questions people ask
How many board feet in a 2x4x16?
10.67 board feet.
Should I use nominal or actual size?
Nominal. Lumber has been sold and priced on its nominal size for a century, so a 2x4 counts as two by four even though it measures 1.5 by 3.5 inches. Use actual dimensions only for rough sawn stock that was never planed.
What is a board foot?
The volume of a piece one inch thick, twelve inches wide and twelve inches long, which is 144 cubic inches. Board feet are a volume measure, so a 1x12 and a 2x6 of the same length hold the same number of them.
The board foot calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.