Fence Material Calculator — Posts, Rails, Pickets & Concrete
Calculate the complete material list for a wood fence: posts, rails, pickets or panels, concrete and fixings. Enter fence length, height and style, and get every component counted with waste — priced with your own local rates.
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Plan the whole job — not just this calculation
Save results to a project: budget and shopping list build themselves, and the whole plan exports as a PDF. Draw your floor plan and room sizes pre-fill the calculators.
How the fence material list is calculated
- 1Posts: fence length ÷ post spacing + 1, rounded up
- 2Rails: fence length × rail rows (2 rows under 1.2 m height, 3 rows above)
- 3Pickets: fence length ÷ (picket width + gap); panels: fence length ÷ panel width
- 4Concrete: one hole per post — π × (hole radius)² × depth
- 5Fixings: 2 screws per picket per rail; brackets or nails for rails
- 6Add 10% waste on rails and pickets; posts count exactly
Worked example
Wood picket fence: 25 m long, 1.5 m high. Posts at 2.4 m spacing, 3 rails, 75 mm pickets with 25 mm gaps.
Material list: 12 posts, 75 running metres of rail (+10% = 83 lm), 250 pickets, ~20 bags of 25 kg concrete and roughly 1,500 screws.
Frequently asked questions
What materials do I need for a wood fence?
Posts (pressure-treated, rated for ground contact), horizontal rails, pickets or panels, concrete for the post holes, and exterior-grade screws or ring-shank nails. Gates need their own heavier posts and hardware.
How many pickets do I need per metre of fence?
Divide 1000 mm by picket width + gap: 75 mm pickets with 25 mm gaps = 10 pickets per metre. Board-on-board (overlapping) styles need roughly 13–14 per metre.
How much material do I need for 100 feet of fence?
At 8 ft post spacing: 14 posts, about 300 ft of rail for 3 rows, ~300 pickets (3.5 in wide with gaps), and roughly 20–28 bags of concrete. Use the calculator for your exact style and height.
Wood or panels — which needs less material?
Pre-made panels replace rails and pickets with one unit per bay, so the count is simpler (posts + panels). Stick-built picket fencing uses more pieces but survives slopes and odd lengths with less waste.
How much extra fence material should I buy?
10% on rails and pickets covers cuts, splits and culls. Posts and panels count exactly — but one spare post is cheap insurance against hitting rock in a post hole location.