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Landscaping & Outdoor

Fence Picket Calculator

Picket count and spacing for a run of fence, from the picket width and the gap you want between them.

Your measurements

The gap is the visible space between pickets, not the centre-to-centre spacing.

The run
Pickets
The actual width, not the nominal. A 1 × 6 board measures 5.5 in.
Covers split boards and the cuts at posts and corners.

Your result

Sample values

211

Pickets

96.00

Run length, ft

5.75

Picket pitch, in

17

Pickets per 8 ft section

96 ft run, 5.5 in pickets, 1/4 in gaps, 5% waste.

What to order

Item Quantity
Pickets, including waste 211
Pickets before waste 200.39
Picket pitch 5.75 in
Per 8 ft section 17

How to use this calculator

Enter the fence length excluding any gate openings, then the actual picket width and the gap you want between boards. Use the real board width rather than the nominal one — a 1 × 6 is 5.5 inches, and using 6 will leave you ten percent short over a long run.

For a solid privacy fence, set the gap to zero. Boards butted tight still need a small allowance because they shrink after installation, which is one reason many people set a 1/8 in gap even on a privacy fence.

Formula

Pitch = Picket width + Gap

Pickets = ceil((Run + Gap) ÷ Pitch)

Ordered = Pickets × (1 + Waste)

Pitch
centre to centre spacing, board plus one gap
+ Gap
there is one fewer gap than picket, so the run gains one

A picket fence has n pickets and n − 1 gaps, which is why the gap is added before dividing.

Worked example

A 96 ft run in 5.5 in pickets with 1/4 in gaps, 5% waste.

  1. Run: 96 ft × 12 = 1,152 in
  2. Pitch: 5.5 + 0.25 = 5.75 in
  3. Pickets before waste: (1,152 + 0.25) ÷ 5.75 = 200.39
  4. With waste: ceil(200.39 × 1.05) = 211
  5. Per 8 ft bay: ceil((96 + 0.25) ÷ 5.75) = 17

211 pickets at a 5.75 in pitch

Understanding your results

The gap decides how the fence looks far more than the picket width does. A quarter inch reads as solid from a few feet away; an inch reads as a picket fence you can see through; three inches is a rail fence with pickets. It also changes the count materially — going from 1/4 in to 1 in gaps on this run saves about thirty boards.

Nominal versus actual board width is the classic error. Sizes like 1 × 6 describe rough sawn timber before planing. The finished board is 5.5 in, and using 6 in the arithmetic under-orders by nine percent, which on a long fence is a second trip to the yard.

Questions

About this calculator

Ask something else

A quarter inch for a fence that reads as solid while still letting some wind through, three quarters to an inch for a traditional open picket look. Leave a small gap even on privacy fences, because wet timber shrinks as it dries and butted boards will open up anyway.

Because a run of n pickets has only n − 1 gaps between them. Adding one gap to the run length before dividing by the pitch makes the arithmetic come out right, in the same way a fence with ten bays needs eleven posts.

Always the actual. A 1 × 6 measures 5.5 in and a 1 × 4 measures 3.5 in. Entering the nominal size under-orders by roughly nine percent, which is more than the waste allowance will absorb.

Work out the pitch, then adjust the gap by a small amount so the pickets divide evenly into each bay. Spreading a sixteenth of an inch across seventeen gaps is invisible, whereas one narrow board at the end of every bay is not.

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Estimates, not specifications. Results are based on the values you enter and on typical material properties. Densities, coverage rates and product sizes vary between suppliers, so confirm quantities against your supplier's data before ordering. Structural work must be signed off by a qualified professional and meet your local building code.