Solve backwards
How much fence will my pickets cover?
- 100 picketsThe example worked below
- Fence Picket CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much fence pickets?
Worked by the Fence Picket Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Picket Width
- 5.5 in
- Gap Between Pickets
- 0.25 in
- Reject and Breakage Allowance (%)
- 5
What it will do
Enough for 45.6 ft of fence.
One fence. Enough for 45.6 ft of fence.
Or several. Less than one fence of the size the Fence Picket Calculator opens on (49 ft of fence).
Check it forwards
- Fence Length
- 45.6 ft
- It asks for
- 100 pickets
- You have
- 100 pickets
The Fence Picket Calculator asks for 100 pickets at that size, and 101 pickets one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the Fence Picket Calculator at the same settings.
Half
50 pickets
22.8 ft of fence
Yours
100 pickets
45.6 ft of fence
Half as much again
150 pickets
68.5 ft of fence
Double
200 pickets
91.3 ft of fence
Common amounts
What each amount of fence pickets covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the Fence Picket Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one fence | Average fences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 pickets | — | 22.8 ft of fence | under 1 |
| 100 pickets | — | 45.6 ft of fence | under 1 |
| 200 pickets | — | 91.3 ft of fence | 1 |
| 500 pickets | — | 228 ft of fence | 4 |
Width plus gap, picket by picket
The count is the fence length divided by one picket's width plus its gap. A standard dog-ear picket is 5½ inches (14 cm) wide, and the page opens with a ¼ inch (6 mm) gap. Privacy fences use little or none; semi-private and shadowbox styles 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm), which stretches the same pickets much further.
Set out bay by bay
Pickets are set out between posts, not along one run: each bay is spaced on its own and the last picket in it is often ripped to close. So a fence of many short bays uses more pickets than one long run of the same length, and five per cent for rejects and closers only covers a clean straight run.
One face, and a gate is not fence
The count is one face of the fence; a design picketed on both sides takes the pickets twice for the same run. A gate is built separately, usually to a different spacing, and its opening is not a length of pickets. Rails and posts — the parts that decide whether the fence stands — are separate orders.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The Fence Picket Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting fence in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
Fence Picket Calculator
runs it forwardsEstimate how many fence pickets you need based on fence length, picket width, and gap spacing.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
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Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much fence does 100 pickets of fence pickets cover?
- At the Fence Picket Calculator's own settings: Enough for 45.6 ft of fence. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many pickets do I need for 100 feet of fence?
- With 5½ inch pickets and a ¼ inch gap, each picket takes 5¾ inches of fence, so 100 feet needs about 209 pickets, or about 220 with five per cent for rejects and closers. With no gap, about 218 before the allowance. One face only.
- How much gap should be between fence pickets?
- None to a quarter inch for a privacy fence, and 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm) for semi-private or shadowbox styles. Wet pickets shrink as they dry, so boards butted tight when wet usually open a small gap by themselves.
- Do I need to buy extra fence pickets?
- A few — sawn pickets always include some with loose knots or split ends, and a bay that does not divide evenly finishes with a picket ripped down. Five per cent suits a clean straight run of graded stock; a fence of many short bays and corners wants ten.