How to Measure Linear Feet: Calculate The Easy Way

Calculating linear feet can be a bit complicated if you don’t do it very often. How does it compare to a cubic foot for example, or a square foot or square footage for that matter? Get your measuring tape in hand and lets get started!

Every home renovation, no matter how big or small, involves a lot of dimensional measurements. You may need to calculate linear feet for shipping something, or you may need to calculate your home’s linear footage, a rug may need to be measured for the floor, a television can be mounted on the wall or a kitchen island can be arranged.

Usually, when determining the size of something and the space it needs, you measure its length, height, and width.

There is a record-high number of people searching online for a new home to buy or a place to rent. The most commonly used measurement when looking for a place to rent or buy online is square footage. Linear footage might also come up at some point.

You may be wondering, what exactly is linear footage? Measurement by linear footage refers to the amount of space in one direction, an object will occupy within a room, a truck, or any other area with a level floor. If you want to do your measurement in linear meters, check out our blog about it here.

Linear foot: What is it?

Linear feet are easy to identify by their name. It is a measurement amount that makes up 12 inches (one foot) and it is measured in a straight line, in a single direction. There you have it – a linear foot.

Comparison Of Square Feet And Linear Feet

Homes and apartments usually measure space by square footage. Linear footage and square footage differ exactly as their names suggest. The area is a measurement of a square area. It is a two-dimensional measurement and indicates square footage. It is most commonly used in reference to floor space. Linear feet is a measurement in one direction and would be used to answer a question such as ‘How long is this room?’. It is a measurement along one line.

Linear Feet: When To Use Them

The linear foot measurement is useful when you are calculating how much floor space an object will take up. Consider renting a storage unit, for example. Consider how much linear footage you may need if you want to store items such as couches, mattresses, or motorcycles.

Moving house time is another situation where measuring in linear feet may be useful. U-Haul or another self-service truck rental company may be the best option if you are moving not too far away, and you can pretty much muddle through that process by doing an extra trip if you run out of space on the truck. But if you’re moving to a distant location, and you need to use a freight company to relocate you things there, getting a more accurate estimate of how much space you will take up in a truck you have to pay for becomes important to the bank balance. 

Rather than charging by weight or per mile, freight moving companies usually charge by the amount of linear footage that your furniture occupies in the truck. Therefore, you won’t need to pay for an entire truck or extra for heavy items, just how much length of the truck your precious belongings will occupy. You estimate linear footage by determining the length of your items and how many feet they occupy in the truck.

How To Measure Linear Feet For The DIY Inspired

You may have noticed that a square foot is not the same as a linear foot (also known as lineal feet) when browsing DIY material online.

Essentially, these measurements (linear feet and square feet) provide two different ways to calculate the amount of material needed for an area, and their calculations are influenced by the shape of the area, be it a floor, wall, or ceiling.

Here are some tips for determining the linear feet of building materials and how to determine the precise area of a floor or deck, especially where things are not nicely rectangular or square.

So for example, if you want to know how much decking you need for your decking project. You could do the math yourself or use a linear foot calculator online. Which approach you choose depends on how complex your project is! Some find it much easier than doing math by hand, especially with more complex scenarios. If you want a more comprehensive analysis of the total likely cost, then this is the way to go.

The 3 Question Approach Of How To Calculate Linear Feet

Here is a quick and dirty DIY approach that will work for most situations where you want to know the Linear Feet amount for a material to cover a certain area square or rectangle area. If you have a project with more than one square or rectangle area, just break it up into a set of sub-areas, and use the method for each sub-area and add everything together at the end. So for a given square or rectangle sub-area, it comes down to 3 very simple questions:

Caveats To The 3 Question Approach

So usually, the three-question approach is all you need to determine how many linear feet of material you need to cover a given area. But as with anything in life, there are a couple of quick caveats to consider:

Caveat 1 – Aesthetics:

You may not have your answer quite yet if you don’t want to patch the material. It is less of an issue with hardwood floors and decks but is more of a concern with wide materials like carpet or vinyl.

When planning the aesthetics of a material such as a carpet lay for example, if you have a 16 by 20 foot room, and your carpet is 12 feet wide, you might prefer to have two pieces of carpet joined right down the middle to keep everything nicely symmetrical. To do it this way, you would need two pieces at 20 feet length which would be more costly, instead of getting just 26.6 linear feet. The 26.6 linear feet approach is less costly but you will have a patchwork approach with multiple pieces and joins being necessary.

Caveat 2 – Gaps Between Decking Boards

In addition to accounting for width when calculating decking materials, you should also make sure you account for the space between each length of decking board. In order to determine the overall linear feet of the decking material you want to use for the job, you need to add the width of the gap between boards when coming up with the answer to Question 2.

Caveat 3 – Allow For Wastage

Finally, remember that there is also natural wastage of any material you use for a project. Typically you need to add an additional 5% to 10% to the final quantity to account for this.

FAQ

How to measure square footage: what is a linear foot and how does it relate?

A linear foot (lf) is a unit of length equal to 12 inches and is commonly used to measure length in feet. One linear foot measures 12 inches in a straight line, so when you measure the length of a board or a baseboard you usually record it in linear feet. To get square footage you must measure both length and width (for example, 10 feet long by 6 feet wide) and multiply them — that converts linear measurements into square feet (sq ft) when you have two dimensions.

Understanding measurement: how do I measure length in linear feet with a tape measure?

Use a reliable measuring tape or tape measure to measure length in feet and inches. Pull the tape along the surface in a straight line from one end to the other and read the measurement (for example, feet 3 inches). Convert inches to feet by dividing the inches by 12 (12 to convert to feet). Record the length in linear feet (for example, 10 ft or 10 feet long) for tasks that require linear footage.

Using a calculator: how do I convert linear feet to square feet?

To convert linear feet to square feet you need the width as well as the total linear length. Multiply the total linear feet by the width (in feet) to calculate the square footage. For example, if you have 10 linear feet of material covering an area 2 feet wide: 10 lf × 2 feet = 20 sq ft. If the width is given in inches, first convert inches to feet by dividing by 12 (for example, 6 inches = 0.5 feet) and then multiply.

Calculate square: how do I calculate the square footage of an area from linear measurements?

Measuring both length and width is essential. Measure the length and the width with a tape measure, convert any inches into feet if necessary (divide inches by 12), then multiply length × width to find square footage. For irregular shapes, divide the total area into rectangles or triangles, calculate each piece’s square footage, and then add them together to find the total square footage.

Linear footage: what’s the difference between linear feet and square feet?

The difference between linear feet and square feet is that linear feet measure length only (one linear foot is a unit of length equal to 12 inches), whereas square feet measure area (sq ft). Linear feet are used to measure items like trim or piping, while square footage and linear are used together when you need coverage area — for example, flooring requires you to convert linear feet into square feet by including width.

Convert linear feet into square feet: can I use an lf calculator to make the conversion?

Yes, an lf calculator (linear foot calculator) can speed up the calculation. Enter the total linear feet and the width (in feet or inches) into the calculator. If the width is in inches, the calculator will typically convert inches in a straight line to feet by dividing by 12. The result will be square footage. Always double-check by measuring twice and using a reliable measuring tape.

Linear feet and square feet: how do I calculate square footage for materials 6 feet wide or 2 feet wide?

First measure the total linear length in feet (for example, 10 linear feet). Then take the width in feet (6 feet wide or 2 feet) and multiply: 10 lf × 6 feet = 60 sq ft; 10 lf × 2 feet = 20 sq ft. If the width is given in inches, convert width to feet (divide by 12) before multiplying to find the square footage of an area.

Calculating square feet: tips for measuring irregular lengths like feet 3 inches or 10 ft pieces

Measure length in feet and inches (for example, 10 ft or feet 3 inches). Convert the inches portion to a decimal in feet (3 inches ÷ 12 = 0.25 feet) then add to the feet (10 + 0.25 = 10.25 ft). Use that length in feet when calculating square footage (length × width). When calculating linear footage for multiple pieces, add the total linear lengths together, then divide the total if you need an average or use the sum to find total square footage.

In Conclusion

So to reveiw, there are two ways to do the calculations:

• You can use an online linear foot calculator to figure out the linear feet of materials you need for your next project.
• For a simple rectangular area you want decking material for, you can use the simple 3 question approach.

The good thing about the standardized way to measure such building materials in linear feet is that you don’t need to worry about the width of the decking board materials once you’ve done the calculations – so regardless if you choose 4-inch decking boards or 6-inch boards, you’ll still be talking apples and apples when you discuss with the supplier how much you need for the project.