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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.

100' · 1200 in · 100 ft · 30.48 m

100 ft

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Answer

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Posts

14 posts

100 ft of fence · 13 bays · 14 posts in holes 42" deep

Posts 14 posts
Panels 13 panels
Fence, gates left out 100 ft
Concrete 38 × 50 lb fast-setting
Gravel under the posts 8 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³)
Ticked items cost $2,470.91
More numbers
Post holes 42" deep, 10" across
Widest post spacing 7' 8 5/16" on center
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Run 1: 100' × 6'.100'6'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.

Breakdown

Run or gate Measurements Qty Length Share
Run 1 100' Add ×1 100 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.

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.

38 × 50 lb fast-setting Bags 38 Left over 0.15 ft³ Weight 1,900 lb Cost $303.24 Reference price $7.98. Type your store's.

Shopping list

12 12 × 9 ft $515.16 Reference price $4.77. Type your store's.
2 2 × 9 ft $85.86 Reference price $4.77. Type your store's.
13 panels, 6 × 8 ft $1,430.13 Reference price $110.01. Type your store's.
14 caps $92.68 Reference price $6.62. Type your store's.
38 38 × 50 lb fast-setting $303.24
8 8 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³) $43.84 Reference price $5.48. Type your store's.
Ticked items $2,470.91

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 1 100' 100 ft
Posts 13 bays in 1 runs: 12 line + 2 end + 0 corner + 0 gate 14 posts

Change:Post spacing, vinyl panels

How deep a post goes 0.5 × 72" out of the ground, or the frost depth 0" where deeper 36" + 6" = 42"

Change:Post in the ground, share of its height aboveYour frost depthGravel in the bottom of a hole

Line posts, length 72" + 36" = 108" 12 × 9 ft
End posts, length 72" + 36" = 108" 2 × 9 ft
Concrete, each line post (π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" − 5" × 5") × 32 1/2" 1.007 ft³ × 12 = 12.084 ft³

Change:Hole across, vinyl postConcrete stops under the ground

Concrete, each end post (π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" − 5" × 5") × 32 1/2" 1.007 ft³ × 2 = 2.014 ft³

Change:Hole across, vinyl postConcrete stops under the ground

Bags of concrete 14.098 ft³ ÷ 0.375 ft³ 37.59 → 38 × 50 lb fast-setting

Change:Yield, 50 lb fast-setting bag

Gravel under the posts π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" × 6" × 12 + π ÷ 4 × 10" × 10" × 6" × 2 3.818 ft³ → 8 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³)

Change:Gravel in the bottom of a hole

Panels one panel to each of the 13 bays, the last of a run cut to fit 13

Change:Post spacing, vinyl panels

What it comes to 12 × 9 ft × $4.77/ft + 2 × 9 ft × $4.77/ft + 13 × $110.01 + 14 × $6.62 + 38 × $7.98 + 8 × $5.48 $2,470.91

Assumptions

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

Assumption Value Confidence
Post spacing, vinyl panelsA 6×8 vinyl privacy panel (Veranda Linden) is 91 in wide between 5 in posts: 96 in on center. Freedom's kit instructions space posts at the panel's width plus the post's. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Post in the ground, share of its height aboveQuikrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix spec sheet, section 5: a post hole one half as deep as the post stands above ground. Quikrete's Setting Posts sheet says the same as one third of the post's length, and so does Home Depot's chain link guide for its posts. ratio 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
Hole across, vinyl postFreedom vinyl fence kit instructions, p. 2: a 10 in hole for a 5×5 post. Veranda's instructions say the same. in From a data sheet or an agency document
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.