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Privacy Fence Calculator

Three sides of a back yard — pickets edge to edge, rails behind, posts at the corners.

An estimate of material — your lumber yard's lengths and prices decide the order.

200' · 2400 in · 200 ft · 60.96 m

200 ft

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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 privacy fence takes

Count the pickets run by run, edge to edge. A back yard closed on three sides — a 50 foot side, a 100 foot back and another 50 foot side — is 600 + 1,200 + 600 inches of fence. At 5½ inches a 1×6 picket that is 110 + 219 + 110 = 439 pickets, each run rounded up on its own because the last picket of a run is ripped to fit and its offcut cannot turn a corner. With 5% for the ones that split, warp or have a knot through them: 461.

A 6 foot fence stands on three rails a bay. The posts may be no more than 8 feet apart, so the sides are 7 bays each and the back 13: 27 bays, 81 rails of 2×4, each an 8 foot board. The posts are 24 inside the runs, 2 at the corners and 2 at the house — 28, each a 10 foot 4×4 set 36 inches deep on 6 inches of gravel, with 94 bags of fast-setting concrete between them.

Pickets: width, length, gap

A 1×6 picket is 5½ inches wide when it is dressed, and that is the number that counts — a fence figured at 6 inches comes out about 8% short. A privacy fence butts them tight; a gap of even ¼ inch drops the 100 foot back from 219 to 209 pickets and shows daylight. A 6 foot fence uses 6 foot pickets set 2 inches off the ground so they do not wick water; at 8 feet the pickets are 8 feet long and the posts 12.

RunBaysRailsPickets
Left side, 50 ft721110
Back, 100 ft1339219
Right side, 50 ft721110

Screws

Two screws where every picket crosses a rail is 439 × 3 × 2 = 2,634 screws 2 inches long, and two at each end of every rail is another 324, 3 inches long. The list buys them in the boxes a store sells, the cheapest way to cover the count. The spare pickets are not counted: nothing is screwed to them.

Before you build

Call 811 before you dig, and ask your town how high a back-yard fence may be — many stop at 6 feet, and the IRC exempts only fences up to 7 feet from a permit. Put the good side out if your town asks for it. We are not connected with any maker, store or supplier named here.