How Is Lumber Measured?
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Factors To Consider When Buying Lumber
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When planning a project for the home, whether it be building a deck, putting up a porch railing or fence, constructing wood cabinets, installing wood flooring, adding wood trim and moldings or studding out new walls, one of the first questions that people tend to ask is how to calculate how much lumber they will need. Even though most of us begin by measuring how much area we want to cover, one key factor that many of us forget is the waste that can be involved before a project is complete. While it is important to choose boards that are fairly straight, not cracked or have attractive wood grain, purchasing enough wood to complete the project satisfactorily is an important priority. Nevertheless, how wood looks is usually the main thing that shoppers consider when choosing lumber. It doesn't matter if you purchase a high grade of lumber or settle for a more economical grade, determining how much wood you need to purchase depends on buying the right size boards. Keep in mind that lumber is typically labeled first as thickness in inches, then width in inches and finally, length in feet.
How Softwood Lumber Is Measured
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There are several things to keep in mind when buying lumber. Boards are measured according to width in inches by length in feet. Most boards usually measure about 1 inch in thickness. Even though lumber is typically sold in different widths of varying lengths, softwood lumber that is used for construction (more commonly referred to as 2-by-4 lumber) can be sold by the linear foot, by the board foot or by the individual board. A linear foot measures one foot along the length. The board can be any thickness or width. Board footage takes into account the length, width and thickness of a board. A board foot measures one foot long and one foot wide but only one inch thick. In most cases, these standard measurements will be the approximate rather than actual size of the boards. Standards for lumber published by the U.S. Department of Commerce allow for board sizes to be labeled and sold as much as 1/2-inch smaller in thickness and width.
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How Hardwood Lumber Is Measured
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Hardwood lumber is measured and sold by the board foot, the volume of which is represented by thickness in inches times width in inches times length in feet divided by 12. If the thickness of a board is less than 1 inch, it is considered to be 1 inch. The length of hardwood boards is always measured in whole feet, but whether the hardwood is domestic or imported determines the length. For example, a piece of domestic lumber measuring either 8 feet 1 inch or 8 feet 11 inches is still considered to be 8 feet in length. On the other hand, the measurement for a piece of imported hardwood is rounded to the nearest foot. If a board measures 8 feet 5 inches, it would be sold as an 8-foot board. If it measures 8 feet 7 inches, it would be sold as a 9-foot board. The manner in which lumber is measured and sold, in addition to the nature of the project, needs to be considered so that enough lumber is purchased for the type of task at hand.
Additional Measuring Tips
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Measure twice and cut once really is valuable advice. Actually, you should take the same measurement several times. If you cut a board wrong, you could be wasting an expensive piece of lumber. Know how to read a measuring tape correctly, as different measuring tapes can give you different measurements. Look straight down when measuring. If you try reading the tape from an angle, you won't get an accurate measurement. Take the closest measurements you can get, measuring the width first and then the length. Always round up to the nearest 1/8 inch. To be on the safe side, start at the 1 inch mark on the tape and measure. Subtracting one inch from your final total should give you a more accurate measurement.
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