Deck Board Calculator
Deck boards needed for a frame, with the drainage gap in the pitch.
What is Deck Boards?
A deck surface is rows of boards laid on a pitch of board-plus-gap: the ¼-inch gap is not decoration, it is drainage and the space wood movement needs, and it is part of the layout maths. Boards run the longer direction to minimise butt joints; rows = depth ÷ (board + gap), and each row is filled with whole boards of the chosen stock length. The gap between the ideal count and the buy count is the offcut waste, which longer stock shrinks.
How it works
The board-plus-gap pitch converts to feet, the shorter side divides by it (rounded up) for rows, and the longer side divides by the stock length (rounded up) for boards per row. Linear feet of board — what decking is priced in — is the buy count times the stock length.
- Enter your input. Type or paste your input into the field above — the tool responds instantly.
- Review the result. Output updates live as you type. Everything runs entirely in your browser.
- Copy or download. Use the Copy button to grab the result, or Download to save it as a file.
Examples
Realistic sample
Type or paste any realistic input — the tool computes the result locally and instantly.
Common mistakes
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