Calculate how much material you need for your fence — posts, rails, pickets, concrete & hardware.
| Material | Qty Needed | Unit | Unit Cost | Subtotal |
|---|
| Section | Start Post | End Post | Spacing |
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Enter your total fence length, select the height and fence type, then adjust post spacing with the slider. Add the number and width of any gates, set a waste buffer, and optionally input unit costs to get a full cost estimate. Click Calculate Materials to instantly see every item you need to buy.
Buying too little material means a frustrating mid-project trip to the hardware store — often to find the exact lumber lot is gone. Buying too much wastes money that adds up fast. For a typical 200-foot, 6-foot-tall wood privacy fence, you might need 26 posts, 52 rails, and over 300 pickets. Underestimating by even 10% means you're short ~30 pickets and $75 in rail material.
Whether you're a homeowner DIY-ing a backyard fence for the first time or a contractor quoting a job, precise material counts prevent budget overruns. Gates are a common oversight — each gate opening removes a section of pickets and rails but still needs posts and hardware. This tool accounts for all of that automatically.
The 10% waste buffer is industry-standard for wood fences: boards warp, measurements aren't perfect, and cuts create offcuts. For chain link, 5% is usually sufficient. For vinyl panels, panels often come in fixed widths (6 or 8 ft) — the calculator rounds up accordingly.
Posts: (Fence Length ÷ Post Spacing) + 1, then add one post per gate (gates get a post on each side, but one side shares with the line). Corner posts are assumed included in the linear count.
Rails: Number of rail rows depends on height (2 rails for ≤5 ft, 3 rails for 6–8 ft) × number of spans between posts.
Pickets (wood): (Net Fence Length × 12) ÷ (Picket Width + Gap) — standard 3.5-inch picket with 0-inch gap or 6-inch wide board with 0 gap. The calculator uses 3.5" picket width with ½" spacing.
Concrete: 2 bags per post (80 lb bags) for standard 4×4 posts up to 6 ft tall; 3 bags for 8 ft posts.
Chain link: Rolls of 50 ft fabric; tension bands, rails, and tie wires calculated from post count and height.
The standard recommendation is 2 bags of 80 lb fast-setting concrete per post for posts in average soil. For taller fences (8 ft) or soft/sandy soil, use 3 bags. Each bag expands to about 0.6 cubic feet when mixed — enough for a 10-inch diameter, 30-inch deep hole.
8 feet is the most common spacing because standard lumber comes in 8-foot lengths, making rails fit without cutting. For privacy fences in windy areas or with heavy gates, 6-foot spacing provides more rigidity. Never exceed 10 feet for a wood fence — the rails will sag.
Measure each straight run separately and add them together for total fence length. Corners simply add one post each (which this calculator includes by rounding up posts). If you have a complex shape, break it into straight sections, sum the lengths, and use that total here.
Not exactly — vinyl fence comes in pre-made panels (usually 6 or 8 feet wide) that snap into posts. You calculate the number of panels by dividing fence length by panel width and rounding up. Posts go between each panel. This calculator uses panel width matching your post spacing selection when vinyl is chosen.