OUTDOOR PROJECT CALCULATOR
Fence Calculator
Turn your fence line into a shopping list: posts, panels or pickets and rails, gate posts, and optional post concrete.
Build your estimate
HOW IT WORKS
A fence list you can check.
Each side is divided into post sections, corners share posts, and every gate opening gets its own post. Counts are never rounded down.
How the calculation works
Each side is divided by the post spacing and rounded up, so a partial section at the end of a side still gets a post. Gate openings are removed from the length to fill, and one additional post is added per gate so both sides of the opening are supported.
Sections per side = side length ÷ post spacing, rounded up
Pickets = length to fill ÷ (picket width + gap), plus allowance
Panels and rails are counted per post section. Pickets are counted from the length to fill plus the extra-picket allowance you select.
Before you order
Confirm your property line and have buried utilities marked before digging. In the U.S., call 811 before you dig.
Check local fence height limits, setback rules, and any HOA requirements, and use the actual panel width, post size, and rail length of the products you buy.
Gate posts often need to be heavier than line posts. Confirm gate post and hardware requirements with the gate manufacturer.
Sources and assumptions
Lumber uses actual dressed sizes: a nominal 4×4 post is 3.5 in square, a nominal 6×6 post is 5.5 in square, and a nominal 1×6 picket is 5.5 in wide.
Post concrete is the hole volume minus the embedded post volume, using the hole size you enter. Bag count uses the yield printed on your concrete bag.
Panel mode spaces posts one panel width apart and ignores post thickness, which can overstate posts and panels slightly but never understates them.