Fence Picket Calculator

Frequently asked questions

Does this account for pickets at gate openings?

No — measure gate sections separately, since gate framing and hardware usually change the effective picket spacing near the gate posts.

What if my fence design has zero gap (shadowbox or board-on-board)?

Enter 0 for the gap — board-on-board styles use overlapping pickets rather than a gap, so you'd want to account for the overlap separately by reducing the effective picket width instead.

Should I round up or down on partial pickets?

Always round up (which this calculator does) — a partial picket still needs a full piece cut down to fit, so you can't buy a fraction of one.

What gap should I allow for pressure-treated pickets?

The gap on the day they are nailed, which for wet pressure-treated pickets butted tight is zero, entered with the delivered width, because they shrink open as they dry. Enter the width and the gap as they are on that day, because the spacing from one picket to the next is fixed then and the count follows it. Pressure-treated stock is often delivered still wet from treatment and shrinks across its width as it dries, so pickets butted tight on the day open into narrow gaps. Pairing the wet width with the gap wanted after drying overstates the spacing by the shrinkage and undercounts the pickets; use the delivered width with the gap set that day, or the dry width with the dry gap, never one of each. Kiln-dried stock, including boards dried again after treatment, holds its width far better. Measure several pickets from the actual delivery, since the count divides the run by width plus gap and a small difference repeats across every picket in the fence.

What are pickets called, and how are they sold, in the UK and North America?

In North America the upright board is a picket, sold by top profile — dog-ear, flat or pointed — and by length to suit the fence height, in nominal 1×4 or 1×6 sizes whose actual face is narrower than the name. In the UK the upright on an open fence is a pale, as on a picket or palisade fence, while a solid fence built board by board is typically closeboard, clad in featheredge boards that taper in thickness and lap one over the next. Pales are counted here with a gap; featheredge is lapped, so it follows the zero-gap answer above, with the lap taken off the width.

How many fixings do the pickets need?

The picket count times the number of rails times the fixings at each crossing, which is usually two per picket per rail in North America and one per board per rail on UK featheredge. The two nails or screws are set apart across the face so the board cannot twist. UK featheredge is fixed differently: its one nail per board per rail goes through the thick edge and just clear of the thin edge of the board beneath, so each board is held on its own and can move as it wets and dries. Use hot-dip galvanised or stainless fixings — copper-based timber treatments corrode plain steel, and cedar and oak stain black around it.

Should the pickets reach the ground?

No. End grain left in the soil stays wet and rots first. In the UK a gravel board, timber or concrete, runs along the foot of each bay and the boards stop on it; in North America a rot board or kickboard does the same job, or the pickets finish a small clearance above grade. That board is one per bay rather than a picket, so it is not in this count, and it is also why the pickets bought are shorter than the finished fence height by roughly the clearance or the board beneath them.