- A linear foot is a measure of length. It is simply 12 inches long, the standard length of a ruler.
- A square foot measures the area of a flat surface. It is the amount of area covered by a square, in which each side measures a linear foot.
- In the construction and home decorating industries, both linear feet and square feet are used for ordering and pricing certain materials, such as flooring, carpeting and wall paper. The square foot is usually the unit price. In other words, it is the base price for which a vendor sells the material. Linear feet usually refers to the number of feet in a standard roll. For instance, a roll of carpeting might be 10 feet wide, and if you unroll a linear foot of this carpet you have a 1-foot-by-10-foot section of carpet. In other words, 10 square feet of carpeting. If a carpet vendor offers this particular product at $2 per square foot, then a linear foot of 10-foot-wide carpeting would sell for $20.
- To make sure that square foot prices match with linear foot prices, measure the width of the roll or board of material. Then divide the linear foot price by the width. The result equals the square foot price.
- Board footage is another way that builders and material sellers use to measure and price products. While linear feet measure distance and square feet measure area, board footage measures volume. It represents the multiplication of width by length by depth. This is used commonly for wooden boards, which might vary in thickness. A floor board that is 1 inch thick would be cheaper than a floor board that is 2 inches thick.
Linear Foot
Square Foot
Use in Ordering and Pricing
Checking Linear and Square Foot Prices
Board Footage
Source...