What is a PMP and how does it relate to a board foot?

PMP (pied mesure de planche) is the Quebec French term for the board foot — the two units are identical, so 1 PMP = 1 board foot = 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in of lumber. Quebec price lists and scaling reports quote PMP where English Canada would print "board feet" or "FBM."

How do I do a calcul PMP (PMP calculation) by hand?

A calcul PMP uses exactly the board-foot formula: longueur (pi) × largeur (po) × épaisseur (po) ÷ 12, where the answer is in PMP. For example, a board 10 pi (feet) long, 6 po (inches) wide and 1 po thick is 10 × 6 × 1 ÷ 12 = 5 PMP — identical to 5 board feet. This calculator produces the same figure automatically; the unit name changes with the language, not the arithmetic.

What is the difference between the Doyle, Scribner and International log rules?

All three estimate board feet in a log from its small-end diameter and length, but they use different formulas and give different results for the same log — Doyle tends to under-scale small logs, Scribner sits in the middle, and International ¼″ is generally considered the most accurate for sawmill yield. For a 16-inch, 12-foot log, Doyle gives about 108 board feet versus roughly 152 board feet under International ¼″ — a large gap on the same piece of wood. Quebec's Roy rule is a related table that produces results close to International ¼″. This calculator lets you pick any of Doyle, Scribner or International ¼″ in log mode.

Why do Canadian 2x4s not actually measure 2 inches by 4 inches?

A "2x4" is a nominal size — the name given to the rough-sawn board before drying and surfacing (S4S). After milling it actually measures 1½″ × 3½″, printed as 38 × 89 mm on Canadian yard tags. Board foot calculations can use either the nominal or actual dimensions; this calculator defaults to actual dimensions so the total reflects what you really receive.

Is there a reliable board foot calculator for Canada that handles metric sizes too?

Yes — this tool is built specifically for the Canadian market: every dimensional lumber preset shows both the imperial nominal name and the metric size stamped on Canadian yard tags (for example, 2x4 = 38 × 89 mm actual), prices in Canadian dollars, and includes a waste allowance so the total board footage reflects real-world cutting loss, not just a theoretical volume.

What is an FBM calculator and how is FBM different from a board foot?

FBM stands for "foot board measure" and is simply another name for board feet — invoices and mill paperwork use "FBM" and "board feet" interchangeably to mean the same 144-cubic-inch unit. An FBM calculator, like this one, totals a cut list of boards into that unit and applies a price per unit to produce a cost.

Does this tool work as a log board feet calculator, not just for milled lumber?

Yes — switch to "Logs" mode to cube round logs rather than sawn boards. Enter the small-end diameter (inside bark), length and number of logs, choose Doyle, Scribner or International ¼″, and the calculator returns the estimated board-foot yield under that rule, plus the metric (m³) equivalent.

How is MBF price different from a per-board-foot price?

MBF means "thousand board feet" and is the standard wholesale trading unit for Canadian softwood dimensional lumber — the unit behind the softwood lumber price benchmarks that move with housing demand and mill output. A retail hardwood price per board foot (for example, C$5.50/bf) is simply an MBF price divided by 1,000; this calculator works in per-board-foot, per-piece or per-linear-foot pricing, whichever matches your supplier's quote, and you can always multiply a board-foot total by 1,000 to cross-check it against an MBF wholesale quote.

Why does a cut list need a waste allowance on top of the raw board-foot total?

The raw board-foot total only measures the finished sizes on your cut list — it does not account for saw kerf loss, crosscutting waste, or boards rejected for defects once you get them home. A 10% waste allowance (the default in this calculator) is a common rule of thumb for straightforward cut lists; more complex joinery, figured hardwood, or a low-grade batch of boards may justify allowing 15–20% instead.

Board Foot Calculator (Canada) – Lumber Cut List, Log Scales & Cost

Board Foot Calculator: Cut Lists, Log Rules and PMP for Canadian Lumber

Board feet (FBM, or "foot board measure") is still the unit Canadian lumber yards price by, from a single stud to a full custom cut list, even though the same board is stamped with a metric size on the tag. That is not a contradiction — it is just how the trade evolved. A hardwood dealer in Ontario, a specialty mill in the BC Interior, and a big-box store in Quebec all still write invoices in board feet, because the unit is baked into how North American sawmills grade, cube and price wood. A single board foot is the volume of a board 1 foot long, 1 foot wide and 1 inch thick — 144 cubic inches — and it lets a buyer compare a short, wide plank against a long, narrow one on equal footing, regardless of species or shape.

Where Canada differs slightly from the US is the label on the shelf. Walk into a yard in Moncton, Winnipeg or Kelowna and the framing lumber is tagged with both systems at once: a "2x4" is sold as 38 × 89 mm right next to the familiar imperial name. Metric is the legal system of record in Canada, so the millimetre figure is what actually appears on the mill certificate and the tag, while "2x4" and "board foot" survive as trade language because that is what the whole North American supply chain, price index and invoice format still runs on. This calculator works in both directions: price a cut list in board feet with a waste allowance and CAD cost, and see the metric equivalent (m³ or cubic feet) sitting right alongside it, so nothing gets lost in translation between provinces or between an imperial-speaking customer and a metric-labelled delivery.

For logs rather than sawn lumber, the calculator adds a second mode entirely: cubing a log by its small-end diameter and length using the Doyle, Scribner or International ¼-inch rule, the three log scales that between them cover almost every Canadian sawmill scaling report, timber cruise and hardwood log sale. And because a large share of Canada's hardwood and specialty lumber trade runs through Quebec, the guide below also covers PMP (pied mesure de planche) and the Roy rule — the French-Canadian board-foot equivalents you will see on a Quebec scaling slip or price list.

Step-by-step: pricing a cut list in board feet (worked example)

The arithmetic behind a board foot is simple, but it is easy to make an error over a multi-board order, which is exactly why a calculator earns its keep. The formula is: board feet = length (ft) × width (in) × thickness (in) ÷ 12. Work through each line of a cut list, add the results together, then apply a waste allowance and a price per board foot to land on a total cost.

Say a furniture maker in Hamilton is pricing out a hardwood order — a mix of red oak boards for a table and shelving project. The cut list looks like this: (1) 2 pieces of 8/4 rough oak, 8 in wide, 8 ft long; (2) 3 pieces of 4/4 rough oak, 6 in wide, 10 ft long; (3) 1 piece of 4/4 rough oak, 10 in wide, 12 ft long; (4) 4 pieces of 4/4 rough oak, 4 in wide, 6 ft long; (5) 1 piece of 8/4 rough oak, 12 in wide, 8 ft long.

Choose "Lumber / cut list" mode and, for hardwood, enter thickness in quarters (4/4 = 1 in rough, 8/4 = 2 in rough) rather than a dressed nominal preset, since hardwood is usually sold rough-sawn.
Line 1 — 8/4 (2 in) × 8 in × 8 ft, 2 pieces: 8 ft × 8 in × 2 in ÷ 12 = 10.67 bf per piece × 2 = 21.3 bf.
Line 2 — 4/4 (1 in) × 6 in × 10 ft, 3 pieces: 10 ft × 6 in × 1 in ÷ 12 = 5.0 bf per piece × 3 = 15.0 bf.
Line 3 — 4/4 (1 in) × 10 in × 12 ft, 1 piece: 12 ft × 10 in × 1 in ÷ 12 = 10.0 bf.
Line 4 — 4/4 (1 in) × 4 in × 6 ft, 4 pieces: 6 ft × 4 in × 1 in ÷ 12 = 2.0 bf per piece × 4 = 8.0 bf.
Line 5 — 8/4 (2 in) × 12 in × 8 ft, 1 piece: 8 ft × 12 in × 2 in ÷ 12 = 16.0 bf.
Total: 21.3 + 15.0 + 10.0 + 8.0 + 16.0 = 70.3 bf. Add a 10% waste allowance for milling, defect and crosscutting loss (the calculator's default): 70.3 × 1.10 ≈ 77.4 bf. At a representative red-oak dealer price of C$5.50 per board foot, the estimated cost is 77.4 × C$5.50 ≈ C$425.70 before tax.

Nominal vs actual dimensions: why a "2x4" is not 2 inches by 4 inches

The single most common question a Canadian first-time buyer asks a yard clerk is why a "2x4" measures noticeably smaller than 2 inches by 4 inches. The answer is that "2x4" is a nominal size — the name given to the board when it is rough-sawn at the mill, before it is kiln-dried and surfaced on all four sides (S4S). Drying shrinks the wood and surfacing removes a skim of material from each face to make it smooth and dimensionally consistent, so the finished board comes out smaller than its rough-cut name. A nominal 2x4 is actually 1½ in × 3½ in, printed on Canadian tags as 38 × 89 mm; a nominal 2x6 is actually 1½ in × 5½ in (38 × 140 mm), and so on. Hardwood sold in "quarters" (4/4, 8/4) works the opposite way — those figures usually describe the actual rough thickness before final surfacing removes roughly ⅛ in to ¼ in, so a 4/4 board finishes at closer to ¾–⅞ in once it is planed smooth.

For dimensional softwood framing lumber, the nominal-to-actual gap is standardized across every Canadian mill and lines up exactly with what is stamped on the grade tag. This calculator defaults to actual dimensions for its preset sizes, so the board-foot total reflects the wood you actually receive; toggle "Use actual dimensions" off if you specifically need to price rough or nominal stock instead (for example, comparing mill-run quotes before dressing).

2x4 nominal → 1½″ × 3½″ actual (38 × 89 mm)
2x6 nominal → 1½″ × 5½″ actual (38 × 140 mm)
2x8 nominal → 1½″ × 7¼″ actual (38 × 184 mm)
2x10 nominal → 1½″ × 9¼″ actual (38 × 235 mm)
2x12 nominal → 1½″ × 11¼″ actual (38 × 286 mm)
1x4 nominal → ¾″ × 3½″ actual (19 × 89 mm), for boards and trim rather than framing
4x4 nominal → 3½″ × 3½″ actual (89 × 89 mm), typically posts

Log scaling: Doyle, Scribner and International ¼-inch rules

Before a log becomes lumber, mills, timber cruisers and hardwood log buyers need to estimate how many board feet of sawn lumber it will actually yield. That is a log rule's job: a formula that takes a log's small-end diameter (inside the bark) and its length and predicts the usable board footage, accounting for saw kerf, slabbing loss and taper. Canada uses three rules side by side, and which one applies depends on the region, the species and, often, simply local convention passed down through the sawmill.

The Doyle rule is the oldest and most widespread for eastern Canadian hardwood — it is popular because it is simple to calculate by hand, but it is also the least generous: BF = ((D − 4) ÷ 4)² × L, where D is small-end diameter in inches and L is length in feet. Doyle systematically under-scales smaller-diameter logs (it effectively assumes a thick slabbing allowance that a modern thin-kerf mill does not actually lose), which historically favoured the buyer, so many hardwood log yards in Ontario, the Maritimes and parts of Quebec still quote Doyle-scaled prices out of habit and continuity with historical price records.

The Scribner rule (specifically "Scribner Decimal C") is derived from actual diagrams of how boards can be sawn from a round log cross-section and sits between Doyle and International in its yield estimate — it is more common in western Canadian and BC coastal softwood scaling, alongside the metric-based systems BC also uses for Crown timber.

The International ¼-inch rule is generally regarded as the most accurate of the three at predicting real sawmill yield, because its formula explicitly accounts for saw kerf and taper loss segment by segment along the log rather than using one blanket assumption. It is the rule most often used in research, timber cruising and increasingly in hardwood log sales where the seller wants a scale that is not systematically conservative.

Worked example: take a hardwood saw log with a 16-inch small-end diameter (inside bark) and a 12-foot length. Under Doyle: BF = ((16 − 4) ÷ 4)² × 12 = (3)² × 12 = 9 × 12 = 108 board feet. Under Scribner Decimal C, the same log (read from standard Scribner tables) yields roughly 145 board feet, and under International ¼-inch it yields roughly 152 board feet — a difference of over 40% between the most conservative and most generous scale for the identical log. This is exactly why it matters which rule a buyer and seller agree on before a log sale: pricing per board foot without specifying the scale leaves real money on the table either way. This calculator lets you switch between all three log rules directly so you can compare the same log under each.

The Quebec angle: PMP and the Roy table

Quebec's forestry and hardwood industry has always operated in French, and the board foot has a direct French-Canadian name to match: the PMP, short for pied mesure de planche ("board measure foot"). A PMP and a board foot are exactly the same unit — 1 PMP = 1 board foot = 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in of lumber — so a Quebec sawmill invoice quoting "250 PMP" is describing precisely the same volume an Ontario invoice would call "250 board feet" or "250 FBM." The distinct name exists because Quebec's forestry sector, scaling reports and provincial timber regulations have historically operated in French, and PMP is the term that survives on price lists, scaling slips (fiches de mesurage) and hardwood dealer invoices across the province today.

On the log-scaling side, Quebec has its own historical rule: the Roy table (table de Roy), developed for Quebec's forestry industry and still referenced in some provincial scaling contexts and older mill records. The Roy rule produces results that sit close to the International ¼-inch rule rather than the more conservative Doyle scale, reflecting a scaling tradition built around Quebec's own softwood and hardwood log profiles. If you are calculating from a Quebec log-sale scaling report and need to cross-check the numbers, International ¼-inch in this calculator is the closest available approximation to a Roy-scaled result — a useful bridge if you are quoting or comparing a PMP-denominated Quebec price against an English-Canadian board-foot quote from another province.

How lumber is actually priced in Canada

Canadian lumber pricing splits fairly cleanly along a line: hardwood and specialty/character lumber is priced retail per board foot in Canadian dollars, while commodity softwood dimensional lumber — the SPF framing studs, plywood-adjacent structural lumber and the material behind the widely watched softwood lumber price benchmarks — trades wholesale in MBF (thousand board feet), even though the yard tag you see at a retail counter still shows a per-piece or per-linear-foot price.

As a working guide for 2026, expect retail hardwood dealer pricing in Canada to run roughly C$4.50–C$7.50 per board foot for domestic species like red oak, hard maple and ash in standard 4/4 rough stock, climbing to C$9–C$16+ per board foot for premium, wide, figured or kiln-dried-to-spec material, and considerably more for imported exotics or highly figured (curly, birdseye) maple. Softwood dimensional lumber (SPF 2x4, 2x6 studs and similar) is usually quoted per piece or per linear foot at the yard, but the underlying wholesale reference is MBF pricing that moves with the broader North American softwood lumber market — a benchmark that has swung widely from under C$300/MBF to well over C$1,000/MBF in the last several years depending on housing demand, trade tariffs and mill capacity. This calculator lets you price any cut list in CAD per board foot, per piece or per linear foot, whichever matches how your supplier actually quotes.

Canadian species and buying tips

The backbone of Canadian softwood construction lumber is SPF — spruce, pine and fir, grouped together at the mill because their strength properties are similar enough to grade and stamp as one category. SPF dominates framing lumber from coast to coast and is what you will find stacked at every big-box store and lumber yard under "2x4," "2x6" and so on; BC and the Interior also produce significant Douglas fir and hemlock for structural and appearance-grade uses. On the hardwood side, the most common Canadian species are hard maple and red oak (both widely available across Ontario and Quebec), along with yellow birch, white ash and black cherry — species tied closely to the hardwood forests of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence region.

Buying at a dedicated hardwood or specialty lumber yard versus a big-box store is a meaningfully different experience. A specialty yard typically sells hardwood rough-sawn and priced strictly per board foot, lets you handpick individual boards for grain and defects, and will often surface (S2S or S4S) to your spec for an extra per-board-foot charge. A big-box store, by contrast, mostly stocks dressed softwood dimensional lumber at a fixed per-piece price with the metric size on the tag, and carries only a very limited hardwood selection, usually pre-surfaced and sold at a higher markup per board foot than a specialty yard would charge. For any project of real size — a dining table, a run of built-ins, a batch of cabinet doors — pricing the full cut list through a specialty hardwood dealer, board foot by board foot, is very likely to beat assembling the same order from big-box hardwood shelving.

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Board Foot Calculator (Canada)