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Picket Fence Calculator

A front-yard picket fence and its gate — the pickets, and the even gap to space them at.

An estimate of material — check your town's rules for a fence near the street.

200' · 2400 in · 200 ft · 60.96 m

200 ft

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

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Posts

21 posts

200 ft of fence · 20 bays · 21 posts in holes 36" deep

Posts 21 posts
Rails 60 rails · 3 a bay
Fence, gates left out 200 ft
Concrete 46 × 50 lb fast-setting
Gravel under the posts 12 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³)
Ticked items cost $1,459.17
More numbers
Post holes 36" deep, 10" across
Widest post spacing 10' on center
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Run 1: 200' × 4'.200'4'Run 1

Buying noteCall 811 a few business days before you dig. It is the free national before-you-dig service: the utilities mark their lines, and every post hole needs it.
Buying noteYour frost depth is not set. Where the ground freezes, a post set above the frost line heaves: ask your building department for the depth (IRC Table R301.2(1)) and type it under Assumptions — every hole follows it.
Buying noteSplit rail makers say to tamp the posts in earth, not to set them in concrete (West Virginia Split Rail), so the concrete and gravel rows start unticked. Tick them if you set yours in concrete.

Breakdown

Run or gate Measurements Qty Length Share
Run 1 200' Add ×1 200 ft

What to buy

Buying noteCall 811 a few business days before you dig. It is the free national before-you-dig service: the utilities mark their lines, and every post hole needs it.
Buying noteYour frost depth is not set. Where the ground freezes, a post set above the frost line heaves: ask your building department for the depth (IRC Table R301.2(1)) and type it under Assumptions — every hole follows it.
Buying noteSplit rail makers say to tamp the posts in earth, not to set them in concrete (West Virginia Split Rail), so the concrete and gravel rows start unticked. Tick them if you set yours in concrete.

Ways to buy the concrete

The bags for every post hole together, by the shape of the holes. Every way is worked out; pick the one you will buy.

46 × 50 lb fast-setting Bags 46 Left over 0.01 ft³ Weight 2,300 lb Cost $367.08 Reference price $7.98. Type your store's.

Shopping list

19 19 × 7 ft $360.43 Reference price $2.71. Type your store's.
2 2 × 7 ft $37.94 Reference price $2.71. Type your store's.
60 rails $1,060.80 Reference price $17.68. Type your store's.
46 46 × 50 lb fast-setting $367.08
12 12 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³) $65.76 Reference price $5.48. Type your store's.
Ticked items $1,459.17

Untick what you already have. Lumber is priced by the foot, beside its row; the concrete's bags are priced in the table above.

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How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Run 1 200' 200 ft
Posts 20 bays in 1 runs: 19 line + 2 end + 0 corner + 0 gate 21 posts

Change:Post spacing, split rail

How deep a post goes 30" in the ground, or the frost depth 0" where deeper 30" + 6" = 36"

Change:Split rail post in the groundYour frost depthGravel in the bottom of a hole

Line posts, length 48" + 30" = 78" 19 × 7 ft
End posts, length 48" + 30" = 78" 2 × 7 ft
Concrete, each line post (π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" − 5" × 5") × 26 1/2" 0.821 ft³ × 19 = 15.6 ft³

Change:Split rail post, acrossHole across, split rail postConcrete stops under the ground

Concrete, each end post (π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" − 5" × 5") × 26 1/2" 0.821 ft³ × 2 = 1.642 ft³

Change:Split rail post, acrossHole across, split rail postConcrete stops under the ground

Bags of concrete 17.242 ft³ ÷ 0.375 ft³ 45.98 → 46 × 50 lb fast-setting

Change:Yield, 50 lb fast-setting bag

Gravel under the posts π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" × 6" × 19 + π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" × 6" × 2 5.727 ft³ → 12 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³)

Change:Gravel in the bottom of a hole

Split rails 20 × 3 60

Change:A split rail every

What it comes to 19 × 7 ft × $2.71/ft + 2 × 7 ft × $2.71/ft + 60 × $17.68 $1,459.17

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Post spacing, split railWest Virginia Split Rail installation instructions: 11 ft rails lapped 6 in into each post, so posts stand about 10 ft 3 in on center. in From a data sheet or an agency document
A split rail everySplit rail is sold two rails for a fence about 3 ft high and three for about 4 ft; one rail for every 18 in of height gives the same. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Split rail post in the groundWest Virginia Split Rail: post holes 24-30 in deep, backfilled with tamped earth. The deep end, which puts a 3-rail fence on a 7 ft post. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Your frost depthYour frost depth, from your building department (IRC Table R301.2(1) is filled in locally). 0 means not given: every hole is then as deep as the post's own rule. Typed in, no hole stops above it. ≈ in Trade convention
Gravel in the bottom of a holeQuikrete Setting Posts, step 2: 6 in of gravel or crushed stone in the bottom of the hole, for drainage. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Concrete stops under the groundQuikrete Setting Posts, steps 4 and 6: fill the hole to 3-4 in below the top, then finish with soil. The middle of the range. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Split rail post, acrossA split rail post is a split log about 5 in across; taken as square for the hole it fills. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Hole across, split rail postA split rail post's hole; the rail maker gives a depth and no width. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Yield, 50 lb fast-setting bagQuikrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix spec sheet. ft³/bag From a data sheet or an agency document

How many pickets a picket fence takes

Pickets with a gap between them are counted as pickets and gaps: n pickets and one gap fewer fill a run, so the count is (run + gap) ÷ (picket + gap), rounded up. A front-yard fence of two 30 foot runs either side of a 4 foot walk gate, in 1×4 pickets 3½ inches wide with 2½ inch gaps, takes (360 + 2.5) ÷ (3.5 + 2.5) = 60.4, so 61 pickets a run, and 9 on the gate: 131 pickets, 138 with 5% for culls. On a fence 3½ feet high each is a 4 foot picket set 2 inches off the ground.

Rounded up, the pickets will not land on exactly 2½ inches. Spread 61 of them evenly along 30 feet and the gaps come to (360 − 61 × 3.5) ÷ 60 = 2 7/16" — the width to cut a spacer block to, so the last picket meets the post as square as the first.

Rails, posts and the gate

A fence this low carries two rails a bay, top and bottom. Each 30 foot run is 4 bays of 7' 6", so 16 rails of 2×4, and 10 posts: 6 inside the runs, one at each end, and the two gate posts — 6×6, because a gate swings on them. The posts go 21 inches into the ground on 6 inches of gravel, half of what stands above it. The gate is framed from the same boards: two rails and a brace from the bottom of the hinge side to the top of the latch side, two hinges, and a latch.

Spacing

The gap is the Gap between pickets under Assumptions: 2½ inches is the figure Omni's fence FAQ uses, Inch Calculator uses 2. Narrow it and the count rises, widen it and it falls; the even gap on the page follows.

Round a pool the gap is not a matter of taste. Where the tops of the rails are less than 45 inches apart, as they are on any fence this height, the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code puts the rails on the pool side and holds the gaps to 1¾ inches (section 305.2.5); choose A pool under Assumptions and the page checks it. We are not connected with any maker, store or supplier named here.