Fence Ledger
How many posts, rails, pickets and bags of concrete your fence needs — and what each number is made of. No sign-up, and nothing is guessed at.
These are typical values, not requirements. Post depth in particular is governed by your local frost line and building code — check before you dig.
National planning ranges compiled from published US construction cost guides, last checked September 2026 (confidence: medium-low). Prices vary sharply by region, season and contractor. These are estimates for planning, not quotes.
Sources: homeguide.com, calcsummit.com, angi.com, ergeon.com, homewyse.com
| Material | Size | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Posts | 4x4 | 21 |
| Rails incl. waste | 2x4 | 63 |
| Pickets incl. waste | 1x6 | 336 |
| Concrete mix | 35bags | |
| Gravel | 8bags | |
| Exterior screws | ≈2,200 | |
| Walk gate kit | 1 |
Most fence calculators divide your total length by the post spacing and round up. That works for one unbroken straight run and undercounts everything else, because some posts are not optional: every corner needs one, every gate needs one on each side, and an open run needs one at each end.
Those forced posts break the fence into separate runs, and each run has to be divided and rounded on its own. On a 50 × 30 ft yard that difference is two posts. On an L-shaped run it is one. Small numbers, but they are the posts you discover missing with the hole already dug.
Concrete works the same way. The rule of thumb is two bags per post, which contains no hole diameter — and hole diameter is what the answer is most sensitive to. Widening a 10 in hole to 12 in raises the requirement by about 45%. We compute the bore volume, subtract the gravel base and the space the post itself occupies, and show you the working.
Defaults are typical US practice for a wood privacy fence: 8 ft post spacing, because 2×4 rail stock is sold in 8 ft lengths and that lets one rail span exactly one section. Pickets are measured at their actual 5.5 in width, not the nominal “1×6” on the tag. Every one of these is editable under Advanced options.
We do not preset frost depth, permit requirements, fence height limits or setbacks. Those vary by county and sometimes by street, and a plausible-looking number would be worse than none. Check them locally before you build.