Beam & girder takeoff calculator.
Give it the beam length, pick your lumber size and how many plies, and set the post spacing. It counts the plies to buy, the length to order, the lineal and board feet, and a rough weight so you can plan the lift. It also spaces out the intermediate posts. You get a short takeoff you can carry straight to the yard.
Plan the lift. That weight is the whole built-up beam in place, so figure your crew, your walk boards, and whether it wants a wall jack or a machine before you pick it up.
A straight-on look at the beam: the plies stacked into the built-up member, an end bearing at each end, and the intermediate posts spaced along the run. Screenshot it and take it to the layout.
How the count comes together: one board per ply, each ordered at the smallest even foot length that covers the beam. Total lineal feet is the plies times that order length, and board feet runs off the nominal size. The weight is the true cross section at about 25 pounds a cubic foot, using the real beam length. Two end bearings always, with the intermediate posts falling in between at your max spacing. The size, the plies, and the spacing come off the stamped plans. This adds up the order. It does not size the beam.
The same count you’d do on the tailgate.
A built-up beam is a stack of plies nailed together, so you buy one board per ply. Each one gets ordered at the smallest even foot length that covers the beam. A 24 ft beam in three plies is three 24 ft boards.
Total lineal feet is the plies times the order length. Board feet runs off the nominal size: a 2x12 is 2 board feet per lineal foot, a 2x10 is 1.67, and a 2x8 is 1.33. That is the number the yard prices off.
We figure the weight off the true cross section at about 25 pounds a cubic foot for framing lumber. Use it to plan the lift. A long, deep, multi-ply beam gets heavy fast, so know the number before you pick it up.
You always land on two end bearings. Intermediate posts fall in between at your max spacing. Set 8 ft spacing under a 24 ft beam and two posts drop in, splitting the run into three bays.
This is a takeoff and cut-list helper, not an engineering tool. It counts material. It does not tell you what size to use or whether the beam holds. The size, the ply count, and the post spacing come off the stamped plans, the building department, or the engineer. Punch in the numbers they give you and let this add up the order. When in doubt, size up and ask.
This is the free warm-up. PlumbCut reads your whole plan set and prices the entire frame: every wall, the headers, the beams, the sheathing, and the trusses. Taking off one beam is the easy part. Let the AI do the takeoff on your next real job and hand you a customer-ready bid.