Timber Conversion Calculator: Lineal Metres ↔ m³

Step-by-step: pricing a cut list

1. Pick your mode — sawn timber/cut list for framing, decking and sleepers, or logs if you are scaling round logs with the Huber (mid-diameter) rule.
2. For each line, choose a preset (MGP10 90×45, 140×45, 190×45, 240×45, merbau decking, treated pine sleeper, etc.) or enter a custom thickness and width in millimetres — Australian sections are true-to-size, so a 90 × 45 really is 90 × 45 mm with no nominal-to-actual adjustment needed.
3. Enter the length in metres (or pick a standard stock length — 1.8, 2.4, 3.0, 3.6, 4.8 or 6.0 m) and the number of pieces you need for that line.
4. Add a price if you have one — per lineal metre (the default and the way most yards quote framing), per m³ (common for wholesale and imported packs) or per piece (common for pre-cut studs and sleepers).
5. Set your waste/offcut allowance — 10% is a sensible default for straightforward stud framing, more if you are cutting a lot of angles, trims or noggings.
6. Read the results: total m³ (with and without waste), total lineal metres, total pieces, board feet/super feet if you need to cross-check an old quote, and the estimated total cost in AUD.

Worked example: 10 lengths of 90 × 45 mm MGP10 at 2.4 m

Say you need 10 studs of 90 × 45 mm MGP10 framing pine, each 2.4 m long, and your local yard quotes A$4.50 per lineal metre.

Lineal metres: 10 pieces × 2.4 m = 24 lineal metres.

Cost: 24 LM × A$4.50/LM = A$108.00 (add 10% GST if the quote was ex-GST, giving A$118.80 — see the GST note below).

Volume per piece: 0.090 m × 0.045 m × 2.4 m = 0.00972 m³. For 10 pieces: 0.0972 m³ total, or about 0.107 m³ once a 10% waste allowance is added for offcuts and mis-cuts.

Cross-check in board feet: 0.00972 m³ ÷ 0.00236 m³ per board foot ≈ 4.12 board feet per piece, so 10 pieces ≈ 41.2 board feet (super feet) — a figure you would only normally need if you are matching an old hardwood-mill docket, not for buying new pine framing.

Implied $/m³: A$108.00 ÷ 0.0972 m³ ≈ A$1,111/m³, which matches the direct cross-section calculation above and is a useful sanity check that the yard's per-metre price is in the right ballpark for MGP10 pine.

Lineal metre ↔ m³ ↔ m² conversion table

• 90 × 45 mm (standard stud): 1 LM = 0.00405 m³. At A$4.50/LM that is ≈ A$1,111/m³. For decking of the same width laid edge to edge, 1 m² of coverage needs roughly 11.1 lineal metres (1 ÷ 0.090 m width).
• 140 × 45 mm (common bearer/joist): 1 LM = 0.0063 m³. At a typical A$7.20/LM that is ≈ A$1,143/m³. 1 m² of 140 mm-wide coverage needs about 7.1 lineal metres.
• 190 × 45 mm (larger joist/beam): 1 LM = 0.00855 m³. At around A$10.20/LM that is ≈ A$1,193/m³. 1 m² of 190 mm-wide coverage needs about 5.3 lineal metres.
• 240 × 45 mm (heavy beam): 1 LM = 0.0108 m³. At roughly A$13.80/LM that is ≈ A$1,278/m³. 1 m² of 240 mm-wide coverage needs about 4.2 lineal metres.
• Merbau decking 90 × 22 mm: 1 LM = 0.00198 m³. Because deck boards sit side by side with a small gap, budget on roughly 11–12 lineal metres of board per m² of finished deck once a typical 5 mm gap is allowed for.
• Merbau decking 140 × 22 mm: 1 LM = 0.00308 m³, and roughly 7.2–7.4 lineal metres of board per m² of deck allowing for the fixing gap.

The super foot: a legacy unit, not a live pricing unit

Before Australia metricated timber measurement in the 1970s, yards priced sawn timber by the "super foot" — short for superficial foot, and functionally identical to the American board foot: a notional board 1 foot long, 1 foot wide and 1 inch thick, equal to about 0.00236 m³. A big hardwood order might have been quoted as "500 super feet of merbau" rather than in cubic metres, and mill dockets, older trade references and vintage furniture-timber price lists still use the term.

You will not see a modern Bunnings or trade-yard price tag in super feet, and there is no practical reason to convert to it for a new framing or decking job — every current AUD price in this guide and in the calculator is per lineal metre, per m³ or per piece. The super foot only matters today if you are cross-checking an old invoice, valuing reclaimed or vintage hardwood stock quoted the old way, or reading historical volume tables. The conversion is straightforward: 1 super foot ≈ 1 board foot ≈ 0.00236 m³, or equivalently about 424 super feet per m³.

How Australian timber is actually priced in 2026

Structural pine framing (MGP10/MGP12) is priced per lineal metre and varies mainly with section size and length. As a rough 2026 guide: 70 × 45 mm runs about A$3.20–A$4.00/LM, 90 × 45 mm about A$4.00–A$5.20/LM, 140 × 45 mm about A$6.50–A$8.00/LM, 190 × 45 mm about A$9.00–A$11.50/LM and 240 × 45 mm about A$12.00–A$15.50/LM. Longer lengths (4.8 m and 6.0 m) often carry a small per-metre premium over 2.4–3.6 m stock because of handling and reduced yield from the log.

Decking is priced two ways: individual boards per lineal metre for planning material takeoff, but quoted to customers per square metre of finished coverage, which is the number worth budgeting against. Treated pine decking typically runs about A$25–A$45/m² of coverage, spotted gum about A$60–A$95/m², and merbau about A$55–A$85/m², all before fixings, joists and labour.

Sleepers (commonly 200 × 75 mm treated pine or hardwood) are usually sold per piece rather than per lineal metre, typically A$25–A$45 for a 2.4 m treated pine sleeper and considerably more for hardwood or concrete-look composite equivalents.

Watch whether a price is GST-inclusive or exclusive. Big-box retail shelf prices (Bunnings, Mitre 10) are always quoted GST-inclusive, but trade accounts, wholesale mill quotes and many timber-yard trade counters quote ex-GST — add 10% to compare like with like. This ten-percentage-point gap is often larger than the difference between two competing yards, so it is the first thing to check before you decide who is cheaper.

MGP10 vs MGP12, decking species, and regional price variation

MGP10 and MGP12 are Machine Graded Pine stress grades set out in AS/NZS 1748 and used throughout the structural design rules in AS 1720 (timber structures) and AS 1684 (residential timber-framed construction). MGP10 is the standard grade specified for most wall framing and short-to-medium spans; MGP12 is stiffer for the same section size and is specified where a span table calls for extra strength or deflection control — for example longer floor joists or beams carrying more load. The two grades are usually similar in price per lineal metre, but MGP12 can carry a modest premium (roughly 5–15%) because less of the sawn log grades out at the higher stiffness class.

For decking, treated pine is the budget choice and is what most big-box yards stock as standard boards; spotted gum and merbau are the common hardwood upgrades, prized for their colour, hardness and weather resistance, with merbau in particular popular for its oil content and resistance to rot in exposed coastal settings. Spotted gum tends to sit at the top of the price range because it is a premium Australian native hardwood in more limited supply than imported merbau.

Prices vary noticeably by region. East-coast capitals (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) generally have the most competitive framing pine pricing thanks to proximity to plantation sawmills in NSW, Victoria and southeast Queensland. Western Australia and the Northern Territory typically carry a freight premium of 10–25% on the same MGP10 sections because more stock is trucked or shipped in from the eastern states, and remote and regional yards anywhere in the country can carry a further premium over metro pricing.

When buying, get quotes from at least one big-box retailer (Bunnings, Mitre 10) and one independent trade timber yard — trade yards often beat big-box on larger orders and can supply longer or heavier sections that are not shelf stock, while big-box is convenient for small top-up buys. Always confirm whether a quoted price is per lineal metre or per piece, whether it is GST-inclusive, and whether delivery is included, since these three variables account for most of the apparent price difference between competing quotes.