Decking Material Calculator

boards required

How to Calculate Decking Materials

The Decking Material Calculator uses a simple formula:

\text{Number of Boards Required} = \frac{\text{Total Deck Area}}{\text{Area Per Board}} \times \frac{\text{Adjusted Width of Board (including gap)}}{\text{Board Width}}
  • Deck Dimensions: Length and width of the deck area.
  • Board Size: Width and length of each decking board.
  • Gap Spacing: Space between boards for expansion and drainage.

Example Calculation:

You want to build a deck measuring 12 feet by 10 feet using decking boards that are 6 inches wide and 12 feet long, with a 0.25-inch gap between boards.

  1. Total Deck Area: 12 \, \text{ft} \times 10 \, \text{ft} = 120 \, \text{sq ft}.
  2. Board Area: 6 \, \text{inches} = 0.5 \, \text{ft}; \, 0.5 \, \text{ft} \times 12 \, \text{ft} = 6 \, \text{sq ft/board}.
  3. Adjusted Width: 0.5 \, \text{ft} + 0.25 \, \text{inches} = 0.52 \, \text{ft}.
  4. Boards Required:\frac{120 \, \text{sq ft}}{6 \, \text{sq ft/board}} \times \frac{0.52 \, \text{ft}}{0.5 \, \text{ft}} = \approx 21 \, \text{boards}.