How to Use This Calculator
Enter your total fence length from corner to corner in feet. For a front yard, measure both sides of the lot line you want to fence. Set post spacing to 8 feet for a standard picket fence. Set rails per section to 2 for fences under 5 feet tall.
Enter your picket width in inches. A 1x3 picket is 2.5 inches wide. A 1x4 picket is 3.5 inches wide. Set the gap between boards. A 1.5-inch gap on a 2.5-inch picket is the classic picket fence pattern. Click the presets to fill in a typical configuration. Hit Calculate to get your full material list.
How to Calculate Picket Fence Materials
The picket count formula is: Pickets = Fence Length (in inches) / (Picket Width + Gap), rounded up to the nearest whole number.
Example: 100-foot fence with 2.5-inch pickets and 1.5-inch gaps.
- 100 ft x 12 = 1,200 inches total
- Each picket + gap = 2.5 + 1.5 = 4 inches
- Pickets = ceil(1,200 / 4) = 300 pickets
Posts use the 1/3 rule: Posts = ceil(Fence Length / Post Spacing) + 1. For 100 ft at 8-ft spacing: ceil(100 / 8) + 1 = 14 posts. Rails: Fence Length x Number of Rails = 100 x 2 = 200 linear feet of 2x4. Concrete: 2 bags per post = 28 bags of 60-lb fast-setting concrete.
Add 10 percent to your picket count for waste and angled cuts at corners and gates.
Picket Fence Tips
Buy pickets in bulk for better pricing. Most lumber yards cut the price per piece when you buy full bundles of 50 or 100. Ask for the bundle price before ordering individual pieces, especially if your count is near a round number.
Paint or stain pickets before installing them. Coat all four sides and both ends. End grain soaks up moisture and rots faster than face grain. It is far easier to spray all sides before the boards go up than to brush around installed fence pickets.
Leave a 2-inch gap at the bottom of the fence. Pickets that rest on or near the ground hold moisture and rot faster. This gap also lets lawn equipment pass under the fence without catching on the boards. Use a small spacer block to maintain a uniform gap as you nail each picket.
Snap a chalk line across the top of the rails to keep picket tops even. Tack a straight board to the rails at the correct height as a guide. Butt each picket against the guide as you nail it. This saves hours of measuring each board individually.
What to Buy
Pickets: cedar dog-ear or flat-top pickets in 4-foot or 6-foot lengths from your local lumber yard. Buy cedar if you plan to leave the fence natural or stain it. Buy pressure-treated pine if you want a lower-cost fence you will paint.
Posts: 4x4 pressure-treated posts rated UC4B (ground contact) in 8-foot lengths for a 4-foot fence. This leaves 4 feet above ground after setting 4 feet in concrete.
Rails: 2x4 pressure-treated or cedar boards in 8-foot or 10-foot lengths. For 8-foot post spacing, 8-foot boards work perfectly.
Concrete: Quikrete Fast-Setting 50-lb bags. Pour dry into the wet hole and add water. Sets in 20 to 40 minutes. Two bags per post for a 4x4 post in a 10-inch hole at 30-inch depth.