Converting MSF to Linear Feet Note: No need for numbers

MSF stands for “thousand square feet.” This unit of measure is often used when buying large quantities of paneling, paper, plastics and other processed or manufactured materials, and can be confusing to buyers or other people who are not familiar with the term.

Luckily, it is possible to convert MSF to linear feet using a very basic mathematical formula.

Step 1

Determine the width of the material or area in question. You can then use the following basic formula:

Linear feet x width = square footage/1,000 = MSF

Step 2

Apply the formula to determine linear feet, which will be termed “Y.” For example, say you have 250 MSF, and you know that the width of the material is 2 feet:

Y x 2 = 250,000/1,000 = 250 MSF

Step 3

Solve for “Y” by taking the square footage (250,000) and dividing by the width (2 feet), and you come up with the following.

125,000 x 2 = 250,000/1000 = 250 MSF

So 250 MSF of the material in this example converts to 125,000 linear feet when the width of the material is 2 feet.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)

It is essential that you know the width of the material in question, otherwise there will not be enough information to solve the equation.