How to work out fence materials
- Choose Feet and inches or Metres and cm, and enter the total Fence length and the Post spacing (the panel width for panel fences).
- Enter the number of Corners and the Rails per section. For a picket or board fence, enter the board width and the gap; set the width to 0 for panel fences.
- Read the posts, sections, rails and pickets to buy.
Planning a fence
Mark the line first with string between stakes, and measure along it. Check your property line and any local rules on fence height, and call your local utility locator service before digging post holes.
The calculator gives the materials for a straight run plus extra posts for corners. With 1.83 m panels, a 30 m fence takes 17 panels and 18 posts. If the last section comes out shorter than the rest, you can cut a panel or space the posts evenly; the section width row shows the even spacing.
Setting the posts
A common guide is to bury about a third of the post’s length, or at least 2 ft (60 cm), deeper in soft ground. Posts are usually set in concrete or compacted gravel. The amount of concrete per post depends on the hole size; the concrete calculator works out the volume and bags. For a gravel strip along the fence, use the gravel calculator.