Convert deck footprint and board thickness into cubic volume to support material planning.
Overview
Deck material lists usually count boards by length and spacing, but volume helps when comparing lumber sets or estimating waste mass.
Enter deck length and width in feet and board thickness in inches to get cubic feet and yards.
For board counts, also divide deck area by the face width of each board and add waste for cuts and pattern.
Steps
Overall length in feet.
Overall width in feet.
Nominal or actual thickness in inches.
Review cubic feet and yards.
Convert area to board counts with waste.
Math
cuFt = L × W × (thicknessIn / 12); cuYd = cuFt / 27
Footprint area times thickness yields lumber volume for the decking layer.
Worked cases
16×12×(1/12)=16 cu ft
About 16 cubic feet of decking volume.
8×8×(1.25/12)≈6.67 cu ft
About 6.7 cubic feet.
24×4×(1/12)=8 cu ft
About 8 cubic feet.
Why use this
Questions