Rebar cost per foot is just the price of a bar divided by its length, and it only makes sense next to the bar's weight. Retail stores sell rebar by the stick, usually in lengths sold as 10 ft or 20 ft, while suppliers and fabricators price by the tonne or kilogram. A foot of 15M weighs twice as much as a foot of 10M, so the per-foot price of each size follows its weight, plus the handling cost built into small orders.
This post shows how to turn a stick price into a per-foot or per-metre number, how to compare it with a per-tonne quote, and how to work out how many linear feet (and sticks) a small job actually needs. For prices by bar size in metres and tonnes, see our guide to rebar price by size.
Rebar weight per foot for common sizes
Everything about per-foot pricing starts with weight. These are the nominal values for Canadian metric bar (CSA G30.18), converted to feet:
| Bar size | kg per metre | kg per foot | lb per foot | True 20 ft bar (6.096 m) | 6 m bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10M | 0.785 | 0.239 | 0.527 | 4.8 kg (10.5 lb) | 4.7 kg |
| 15M | 1.570 | 0.479 | 1.055 | 9.6 kg (21.1 lb) | 9.4 kg |
| 20M | 2.355 | 0.718 | 1.582 | 14.4 kg (31.6 lb) | 14.1 kg |
| 25M | 3.925 | 1.196 | 2.637 | 23.9 kg (52.7 lb) | 23.6 kg |
Two things to take from the table:
- 15M costs about twice as much per foot as 10M on a material basis, because it carries twice the steel. 20M is three times 10M, and 25M is five times.
- "20 ft" is not always 20 ft. Canadian bar is rolled and stocked in metric lengths. A stick listed as 20 ft may be a 6 m bar, which is about 19 ft 8 in. On a per-foot comparison that gap is small, but on a lap layout it can mean an extra stick.
The rebar products page has the full size chart, with diameters and areas for every size from 10M to 55M.
Converting between per-foot, per-stick and per-tonne prices
You can line up any two quotes with three simple conversions:
- Per stick to per foot: divide the stick price by the stick length in feet. Use the real length, not the label.
- Per foot to per metre: multiply the per-foot price by 3.281.
- Per foot to per tonne: divide the per-foot price by the kg per foot from the table, then multiply by 1,000.
Going the other way, a per-tonne rate times the kg per foot, divided by 1,000, gives you the material cost of one foot of bar.
It also helps to know how far a tonne goes in linear feet:
| Bar size | Feet per tonne (approx.) | True 20 ft bars per tonne (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 10M | 4,180 ft | 209 |
| 15M | 2,090 ft | 104 |
| 20M | 1,390 ft | 69 |
| 25M | 840 ft | 41 |
When people run these conversions on a retail stick price, the resulting rate per tonne usually comes out well above a contractor or fabricator rate. That's not a trick: a single stick carries the cost of stocking, handling and selling one bar at a time. Per-tonne pricing assumes bundles, delivery and a bar list. Neither is wrong; they fit different jobs.
What changes the per-foot cost of rebar
The steel market sets the base, and our guide to rebar prices in Canada covers what moves it. At the per-foot level, these are the things that make two prices for the "same" bar differ:
- Retail stick vs supplier order. Sticks are convenient for a few bars. Past a certain quantity, a delivered order priced by weight is usually the better buy, especially once you count the trips to the store.
- Cut to length vs stock length. A bar cut to the exact length you need costs more per foot in the shop, but you stop paying for offcuts and site cutting time.
- Bent vs straight. Bent bars are priced on their full developed length (including hooks and legs) plus the bending work. A per-foot number for straight bar doesn't cover an L-bar or a stirrup.
- Grade and coating. Most work uses 400W black bar. Epoxy-coated, galvanized or 500W bar costs more per foot.
- Quantity and delivery. A small order carries more handling and delivery cost per foot than a full bundle.
- Waste. The cheapest per-foot price can still be the most expensive job if half of every stick ends up as offcuts.
The last point is the one most per-foot comparisons miss, so it's worth working through.
Estimating linear feet for a small job
A per-foot price is only useful if you know how many feet the job takes, including laps. Here's the method for a simple slab grid, using metric first.
Example: a 7.3 m by 7.3 m (about 24 ft by 24 ft) slab with 10M at 400 mm each way. We'll assume bars stop 50 mm from each edge and, for illustration only, a lap of 450 mm wherever bars are spliced. Your drawings set the real edge cover and lap length; our lap splice length chart explains how laps are determined.
- Bar count each way: (7,300 minus 100) divided by 400 is 18, so 18 spaces and 19 bars. Round up whenever the division isn't a whole number. Both directions give 19 bars, so 38 bars in total.
- Bar length: 7,300 minus 100 is 7.2 m, or about 23 ft 7 in.
- Length in place: 38 bars times 7.2 m is about 274 m, roughly 897 ft. At 0.239 kg per foot that is about 214 kg of 10M.
Now compare two ways of buying it.
Option A: 20 ft sticks. Each 7.2 m bar is longer than a stick, so every bar needs one full stick plus a tail of about 1.1 m, plus a 0.45 m lap, so roughly 1.55 m. A true 20 ft stick (6.1 m) yields three of those tails with a short offcut left over. That's 38 full sticks plus 13 more for the tails: about 51 sticks, roughly 1,020 linear feet of bar to place about 897 ft in the slab, plus 38 laps to tie.
Option B: bars cut to 7.2 m. Cut from longer stock in a shop, each bar goes in as a single piece. You buy close to the 897 ft the slab needs, with no laps in the field of the slab and no cutting on site.
The per-foot price of Option B might be higher or lower than the retail stick, but the comparison that matters is the total: feet bought, laps tied and time spent cutting. Our rebar estimating guide walks through the same method for footings and beams.
Retail sticks or a supplier order?
A rough way to decide:
| Situation | Usually the better fit |
|---|---|
| A few bars for a repair, post base or small pad | Retail sticks |
| Bars needed today, and the quantity is small | Retail sticks |
| A full slab, footing or wall with a drawing | Supplier or fabricator, priced by weight |
| Bent bars: corners, L-dowels, stirrups, ties | Fabricator |
| Bars longer than a stick, where laps add up | Cut to length from longer stock |
| Inspected work with a bar list | Fabricator, with tagged bundles |
Whichever way you buy, the bar size and spacing come from the design. Going down a size to save per foot needs your designer's or engineer's approval, and our 10M vs 15M slab guide shows how sizes and spacings compare by steel per metre.
Watch the imperial sizes
Searches for rebar cost per foot often mix Canadian and US sizes. Canadian bar is designated by metric size (10M, 15M, 20M), while US bar uses numbers (#3, #4, #5) based on eighths of an inch. They're not interchangeable:
- 10M has a nominal diameter of 11.3 mm, between US #3 (9.5 mm) and #4 (12.7 mm).
- 15M is 16.0 mm, close to US #5 (15.9 mm).
- 20M is 19.5 mm, close to US #6 (19.1 mm).
If a per-foot price is quoted for "1/2 inch rebar", ask what it actually is. A #4 bar costs less per foot than 15M because it carries less steel, and it isn't a substitute for 15M on a Canadian drawing without approval.
Get a per-job price instead of a per-foot guess
We don't publish rebar prices, because the number that matters is the total for your job: sizes, lengths, bends, laps and delivery. Send us a drawing or a simple sketch with dimensions, bar size and spacing, and we'll work out the bar list and price it.
Request a rebar quote with your drawings or bar list, or see the rebar products we supply, from straight bar cut to length in 10M to 55M to fabricated dowels, stirrups and GFRP.
Frequently asked questions
How is rebar priced per foot?
Retail stores usually sell rebar by the stick (a single bar of a set length), which works out to a price per foot. Suppliers and fabricators normally price by weight, per tonne or per kg. To compare them, convert both to the same unit using the bar's weight per foot.
How much does a 20 ft stick of 15M rebar weigh?
15M weighs 1.570 kg per metre, or about 0.479 kg per foot. A true 20 ft (6.096 m) bar weighs about 9.6 kg (21.1 lb). A 6 m bar, often sold as 20 ft, weighs about 9.4 kg.
Is a 20 ft rebar stick really 20 feet?
Not always. Canadian bar is produced in metric lengths, and a stick sold as 20 ft may be a 6 m bar, which is about 19 ft 8 in. Check the listing or measure, because it changes the per-foot cost and your lap layout.
Is 15M rebar the same as 5/8 inch rebar?
Close, but not the same. 15M has a nominal diameter of 16.0 mm (0.630 in) and an area of 200 mm², while US #5 (5/8 in) is 15.9 mm with an area of 0.31 in² (about 200 mm²). They are nearly the same size, but they are made to different standards and grades, so substitutions on a designed job need approval.
