Create a fence material list from up to three connected straight runs. Choose panels or individual pickets, subtract gate openings, set maximum post spacing, and estimate posts, panels or pickets, rails, user-sized post-hole concrete, accessories, and entered costs.
Measurement plan and assumptions
Measure each straight run between changes of direction. Do not add the same corner to both runs. Record every gate or permanent opening and check whether its posts replace or supplement nearby line posts. The diagram is schematic; it helps label runs and does not locate property lines, utilities, easements, grade changes, or code-required setbacks.
Worked example
For one 40 ft run with one 4 ft gate and an 8 ft maximum spacing, covered length is 36 ft and the calculator creates 5 sections. Its explicit gate rule counts 7 posts when the gate is at the end: 6 along the fenced span and one at the far end of the gate. With 8 ft panels, purchase 5 panels. For 12 in diameter × 30 in deep holes, concrete volume is about 13.74 ft³; at 0.60 ft³ per bag, that is 23 whole bags.
Before purchasing
Confirm panel width, picket face width, rail length, gate hardware, cap fit, fastener compatibility, actual concrete yield, and any corner or terminal-post detail in the selected system. Post spacing is a maximum input, so the final layout may use shorter bays. Verify boundaries, underground utilities, frost depth, wind exposure, and local requirements with the responsible authorities.
Common mistakes include double-counting shared corners, forgetting gate width, mixing nominal and actual picket width, using panel width as post spacing without checking the system, and treating a bag's weight as its concrete yield.
Before digging, use the applicable utility-locating process; 811's excavator guidance provides the US starting point. For bagged concrete, use volume yield from the selected product rather than bag weight. For example, the QUIKRETE Concrete Mix data sheet lists approximately 0.60 ft³ for its 80 lb bag. The calculator does not account for post displacement inside the hole, soil collapse, bell-shaped footings, or bracing during cure.
Examples
Picket mode
For 36 ft of coverage, 5.5 in pickets with 0.5 in gaps repeat every 6 in, so
the area-based row estimate is ceil(432 ÷ 6) = 72 pickets before any project
specific spare allowance.
Formula
Connected runs share corner posts. Gate openings reduce covered fence length; each gate boundary has a post, shared where it coincides with an existing boundary.
covered length = sum(runs) − gate count × gate width
sections = sum(ceil(each uninterrupted span ÷ permitted spacing))
posts = distinct section, gate, end and corner boundaries
panels = sections (spacing limited by panel width)
pickets = sum(ceil(each span ÷ (picket width + gap)))
hole volume = posts × π × (diameter / 2)² × depth
bags = ceil(hole volume ÷ entered bag yield)
Runs, corners and gate placement
Sections are rounded up separately on each straight run and on each fence span separated by a gate. Connected runs share one corner post. A closed loop also shares the final/first post. Panel sections respect both the maximum post spacing and panel width; shorter sections may require cutting a panel.
Optional gate rows use run number, start distance, width in the fence unit,
measured from the start of that run. Rows override the simple gate count/width.
Without rows, gates sit consecutively at the end of Run 1. Gate openings must fit
inside their run and cannot overlap. Gate boundary posts are counted once,
including a post shared with a corner or adjacent gate; verify structural and
hardware requirements with your installer. This is a material estimate, not a
structural design. The layout diagram is schematic, not a scaled gate drawing.