Linear Feet Calculator: Pieces, Square Feet and Cost
Add up pieces in feet and inches, or convert square feet to linear feet by material width and back, with waste, stock lengths and the cost per linear foot. Use it for trim, baseboard, fencing, countertops, cabinets and lumber.
Your numbers
Up to 10 lengths, added together. Leave Pieces empty for one piece; 8 ft 6 in can be typed as 8 and 6, or as 8.5 ft.
Optional. Extra for cuts, joints and offcuts; 10% is a common allowance for trim.
Linear feet
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- In feet and inches
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- In yards
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- In meters
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- Cost at the price per linear foot
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An estimate for ordering and quoting; measure on site before you cut.
The calculation runs in your browser and ParrotNotes does not store your numbers. They sit in the page address so you can bookmark or share the result.
How to calculate linear feet
A linear foot is a foot of length along the piece, whatever its width. To total a job, measure each run or piece in feet and inches, turn the inches into feet (6 in is 0.5 ft), multiply by how many of that length you need and add the rows up.
Worked example, baseboard for a 12 × 14 ft room: 2 × 12 + 2 × 14 = 52 ft of wall, less a 3 ft door opening, is 49 linear feet. With 10% for cuts that is 53.9 ft to buy, which is 4 lengths of 16 ft. At $1.50 a linear foot the material comes to $80.85.
Square feet to linear feet
When the job is an area, divide it by the width each piece covers: linear feet = square feet × 12 ÷ width in inches. A 200 square foot deck in boards that cover 5.5 in is 200 × 12 ÷ 5.5 = 436.4 linear feet; with 10% waste, 480 ft, or 30 boards of 16 ft.
Use the actual width, not the nominal one. Under the American Softwood Lumber Standard, as the USDA Wood Handbook lists, a nominal 1×6 is 3/4 × 5-1/2 in once dried and planed. Add the gap you leave between boards, and for siding or flooring that overlaps or interlocks, use the exposed face width the maker gives.
Linear feet to square feet
Turn it round to find the area a run covers: square feet = linear feet × width in inches ÷ 12. A countertop run of 25 linear feet, 25.5 in deep, is 25 × 25.5 ÷ 12 = 53.1 square feet. That is the number to compare when one supplier prices a top by the square foot and another by the linear foot.
Where linear feet are used
Trim, baseboard, crown and casing are sold in stock lengths and priced by the linear foot; total the walls or openings and count the lengths. Fencing is measured along the fence line, and the Fence Calculator turns that into posts, panels and concrete. Cabinets are measured along the wall: a 10 ft and a 12 ft run of base cabinets is 22 linear feet.
For lumber, a linear foot ignores thickness and width, so it is only comparable between pieces of the same size. To compare boards of different sizes, or to price hardwood, use board feet: the Board Foot Calculator does that. For areas, the Square Footage Calculator adds up rooms and shapes.
Waste and stock lengths
Every cut leaves an offcut, and mitred corners and joints use more. Add a waste allowance to the total, then pick the length the material is sold in to see how many pieces to buy; the count is rounded up.
The piece count assumes runs can be joined end to end, which is how trim is usually installed on long walls. When a run must be a single piece, such as a short wall that should have no joint, count that run on its own row and check the longest length you can get delivered.
Measuring on the walk-through
Measure each wall or run on its own and note the openings as you go: doors, windows, cabinets that interrupt a baseboard. Round each measurement up to the next inch rather than down.
The customer adds things as you walk: the closet that needs trim too, the profile they saw at a neighbour's, the gate they want in the fence. Those details change the takeoff, and they are easy to lose between the visit and the quote.
Source, checked October 2026. All figures are estimates:
More for home-improvement and building-materials sales: Home improvement sales, Building materials sales, Flooring sales.
The lengths get said on the walk-through
Wall by wall, run by run, the measurements and the trim the customer picked are spoken out loud while you walk the job. Record the walk-through in ParrotNotes and get a transcript and a summary with the action items, so the takeoff matches what you measured and what was agreed.
Get Started FreeRelated tools
- Board Foot CalculatorWork out board feet for one board or a whole lumber list from thickness, width and length, with the total and the cost.Open the tool
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- Fence CalculatorEstimate the posts, rails, pickets or panels, concrete and cost for a fence from its length, height and style.Open the tool
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