How To Convert Square Feet to Linear Feet

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The lumber industry has a lot of terms that are often very tough to navigate especially if it’s the first time anyone considered buying wood. Most wood products are sold per piece or per square foot. Often a lot of people won’t know how to convert from square feet to linear feet and if they order amounts per the square foot then there will be a very big shortage of material. Luckily we do provide a handy dandy square feet to linear feet calculator that’ll do the hard work and a page that explains what lumber sizing is! But, have you wondered how exactly the calculation happens?

This infograph will show you! It’s simple but you’ll know exactly what’s needed.

Caveat: Remember that the width needed is the real measurement of the face of the board.

This infographic shows how to convert square feet to linear feet the mathematical way.
This infographic shows how to convert square feet to linear feet the mathematical way.

4 thoughts on “How To Convert Square Feet to Linear Feet”

  1. That depends on the width of the board. Assuming a standard x6 board (actual width of 5.5″), just plug your numbers into the formula above:

    Linear Feet = Area x (12 / Board Width)

    Linear Feet = 1,682 x (12 / 5.5)

    Linear Feet = 3,669.82

  2. I’m afraid I don’t understand your question.

    Linear feet is just the length of a piece of material, regardless of width or thickness; by definition, linear feet cannot be square. Square feet is a measure of surface area, and by definition cannot be in a line. Even if you have a very long, skinny piece of material, say, only 1″ wide by 100′ long, it’s still a 2-dimensional area. You’d have 100 linear feet, but 8.3 square feet (1″ / 12 x 100).

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