1x2 actual size full#

You can see dimensional lumber at the Home Depot. When precision is necessary, always refer to the specification sheet for the actual, specific product you intend to use, or contact the technical department of the producer. The values given in the table are meant to provide a general idea of typical lumber weights, and should not be used if precise values are needed for critical engineering calculations. The table provides the air-dried weight of lumber produced from three commonly used tree species: Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, and Southern Yellow Pine. The following table provides the approximate weight ( dead load, self-weight) per linear foot of the various sizes of dimensional lumber (also called “structural lumber” or “finished lumber”) used in building construction in the US. If your 2×2 is 12 feet long, multiply 12 by 0.44 to get 5.28 pounds.Īnd there you go, a 12-foot Sitka spruce 2×2 weighs 5.28 pounds.Īnd that’s how you can calculate lumber weight. Step 6: Multiply the weight of the one foot section by the length of the board. (We’d round this to 0.44 to be practical.)Ġ.44 pounds is the weight of a one foot section of 2×2 lumber made from Sitka spruce. You look up the density of Sitka spruce and see that it’s 28 pounds per cubic foot. Let’s say you’re trying to figure out the weight of a 2×2 made out of Sitka spruce. Multiply the density in pounds per cubic foot of your wood species by the percentage from the previous step. To continue our example, we know that a one foot long 2×2 is 27 cubic inches. A cubic foot is equal to 12 inches x 12 inches x 12 inches, or 1,728 cubic inches. Step 4: Determine what percentage of a cubic foot the volume of a one-foot-long section of your board is. Since a 2×2 is actually 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches, a one-foot-long 2×2 will have a volume in cubic inches of 1.5 x 1.5 x 12, or 27 cubic inches. Don’t use the nominal size of the board for this, be sure to look up the actual dimensions for the lumber in question.Īs an example, let’s say you’re trying to figure out the weight of a piece of 2×2 lumber. This value will let you figure out what percentage of a cubic foot a one-foot-long piece of your lumber is by volume, and therefore what percentage of the weight of a cubic foot of that wood species a one foot piece of your lumber is. Step 3: Calculate the volume in cubic inches of a one-foot-long section of the board. There are plenty of other resources on the internet with the same information. Weights of Various Woods Grown in the United States contains an extensive list of wood species you can refer to. Wood density, at least in the United States, is expressed as pounds per cubic foot.

Once you know the species of the wood that you’re dealing with, look up the density of that wood. To determine lumber weight, you need to know what kind of wood the lumber is made from. Determining the weight of an actual board is a little more involved. The formula for the weight of lumber is simply density x volume.

1x2 actual size full#

Read on to learn more about lumber weights, or scroll to the end for the full weight chart. is made from spruce, pine, and fir, so our chart has weights for lumber made from all three. A board with the same dimensions made out of Sitka Spruce only weighs around 8 pounds.Īlmost all lumber used for construction in the U.S. Since almost all lumber will eventually reach the air-dried lumber weight, our chart just gives the weights for air-dried lumber.Ĭommon construction lumber boards with the exact same dimensions but produced from different tree species may vary as much as 50% in weight, even with the same moisture content percentage.Īn air-dried 2×4 x 8-foot-long lumber board made out of Douglas Fir weighs about 10 pounds. Green lumber has a higher moisture content than air-dried lumber, and air-dried lumber has a higher moisture content than oven-dried lumber. Lumber weight depends on the length and cross-sectional dimensions of the board, the moisture content of the wood, and which tree species the lumber was made from.