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Calculate fence materials including posts, rails, pickets, concrete, and cost estimates for wood, vinyl, chain link, and aluminum fences.
Calculator inputs
Enter measured project values. Results update only when you choose Calculate.
Method
Posts drive everything else. Pick 8-foot spacing on a 6-foot wood privacy fence and you save lumber but tighten the panel layout; drop to 6 feet and the wind loads ease but post and concrete count climbs by 33 percent. Pressure-treated 4x4s in 2026 run roughly $13 to $18 each at most yards; a 60lb bag of premix is $5 to $7 and you usually need two per hole on a residential 6-foot fence.
Linear footage is the sticker on the bid; the real cost lives in the corners, gates, demo, terrain, and the call before you dig. Most jurisdictions require a 48 or 72-hour utility locate ticket through 811, and skipping it is how you replace a $200 service line and lose a day.
Tape every straight run separately. Mark corners, end posts, gate locations, and slope changes on a quick site sketch — those are the line items that drive cost.
A 6-foot dog-ear privacy fence usually goes 8 feet on center; a 4-foot picket can stretch to 8 feet but most installers default to 6 feet for a tighter-looking line.
Posts including end, corner, and gate. Then sections (post count minus 1 for a single run), pickets at coverage width, rails per section, and concrete bag count for footings.
Demo and haul-off, root or rock contingency on wooded lots, slope adjustment for stepped or racked panels, and the dump fee. Labor is usually 50 to 65 percent of a residential installed price.
At 8-foot spacing on a single straight run, plan on 14 line posts plus an end post on each end — round up to 15 or 16 once you cut sections to fit the actual length. Add a post for every gate and corner.
A 6-foot wood fence with a 9-inch diameter hole at 30-inch depth typically takes two 60lb premix bags. Tall fences, sandy soils, gate posts, or 12-inch holes can push it to three or four. Confirm against the manufacturer spec on vinyl and chain-link kits.
Five percent on a straight run with consistent panel sizes. Ten percent or more if the lot has slope, curves, or you are cutting custom pickets to hide an uneven grade.
A gate is a finished assembly: heavier posts, deeper footings, hinges, a latch, frame bracing, a drop rod on doubles, and 30 to 60 minutes of layout per opening. Picket count is small but labor and hardware land closer to a kit-built unit price.
Separate plan workflow
This calculator solves one bounded formula from the inputs shown. BuildVision AI supports reviewed plan takeoff, complete-document CSV, and editable quote lines; the estimator owns pricing and final bid approval.