★ REFERENCE TABLE · CONSTRUCTION · FENCING
A 100-foot fence with 6-inch pickets and a half-inch gap needs 185 pickets exactly — buy 195 with 5% waste — and 14 posts. The whole job is one division: fence length in inches divided by the pitch (picket width plus gap), rounded up. Read your combination off the chart below, or enter any fence length and the calculator counts pickets, waste, and posts for you.
Guessing pickets by the bundle is how a fence job ends with a second trip to the yard — or a stack of extras that never gets returned. Each picket covers its own width plus one gap, so the count is fence length divided by that pitch, rounded up, plus waste for cuts and bad boards. Count it before you buy, and the only surprise left is the digging.
Pitch in inches = picket width in inches + gap in inches. Pickets exactly = fence length in feet × 12 ÷ pitch, rounded UP to a whole picket — a partial picket still has to be bought and cut. Buy count = pickets exactly × (1 + waste percentage ÷ 100), rounded UP. Posts = fence length ÷ post spacing, rounded UP to whole sections, plus 1: one post at the end of every section, plus the starting post. The chart below uses the same rule for a 10-foot run: pickets per 10 ft = 120 ÷ (width + gap), rounded up. Gates, corners, and slopes are not pickets: measure the fence line net of gate openings, and add waste for angled cuts on slopes.
Read across for your picket width and down for your gap. Every cell is pickets per 10 feet, rounded up, from 120 ÷ (width + gap).
| Picket width | Gap 0 in | Gap 0.5 in | Gap 1 in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 in | 30 | 27 | 24 |
| 5.5 in | 22 | 20 | 19 |
| 6 in | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| 8 in | 15 | 15 | 14 |
To use the chart for any length, multiply the 10-foot figure by your length in tens of feet and round up — but the calculator above does this exactly, without the chart's rounding, so use it for the final buy count. Example: 6-inch pickets at a 0.5-inch gap read 19 per 10 feet, so a 100-foot fence is about 190 by the chart — the calculator's exact figure is 185, because 1200 ÷ 6.5 = 184.6, rounded up. The chart is for quick estimating; the calculator is for buying.
Setup: 100 ft, 6-in pickets, 0.5-in gap, 8-ft post spacing, 5% waste.
Line 1 — pitch. 6 + 0.5 = 6.5 in per picket-plus-gap.
Line 2 — pickets exactly. 100 × 12 ÷ 6.5 = 184.6, rounded up = 185 pickets.
Line 3 — buy count. 185 × 1.05 = 194.25, rounded up = 195 pickets.
Line 4 — posts. 100 ÷ 8 = 12.5 sections, rounded up to 13 sections, plus the starting post = 14 posts. The rule, stated plainly: posts = sections + 1.
Long fence, narrow pickets: 200 ft, 4-in pickets, 0 gap. Pitch 4 in, so 2400 ÷ 4 = 600 pickets exactly, 630 to buy at 5% waste, and 26 posts at 8-foot spacing.
Short fence, wide pickets: 50 ft, 8-in pickets, 1-in gap. Pitch 9 in, so 600 ÷ 9 = 66.7, rounded up = 67 pickets exactly, 71 to buy at 5% waste, and 8 posts.
Same fence, 5.5-in pickets, no gap: 100 ft, 5.5-in, 0 gap. Pitch 5.5 in, so 1200 ÷ 5.5 = 218.2, rounded up = 219 pickets exactly, 230 to buy at 5% waste, and 14 posts.
More waste: 10% instead of 5%. The default 185 pickets become 185 × 1.10 = 203.5, rounded up = 204 pickets to buy — nine more boards for rough stock or a sloped yard.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch | Picket width + gap (inches) | 6.5 in at the defaults — the fence length one picket-plus-gap covers. |
| Pickets exactly | Ceil(length ft × 12 ÷ pitch) | 185 at the defaults — the boards the fence itself needs. |
| Pickets to buy | Ceil(exact × (1 + waste% ÷ 100)) | 195 at the defaults — the number to order, waste included. |
| Posts | Ceil(length ÷ spacing) + 1 | 14 at the defaults — one per section end, plus the starting post. |
| Chart cell | Ceil(120 ÷ (width + gap)) | Pickets per 10 ft for quick estimating — the calculator is exact. |
The count is exact for the numbers you enter, but the fence line is where errors creep in. Measure along the ground following slopes, not the flat map distance, and subtract gate openings before entering the length — gates are framed separately and their pickets, if any, are counted by the gate design, not by this formula. Nominal board widths can differ from actual widths: a board labeled 6 inches may measure slightly less once dried, which raises the true count by a board or two over a long run — measure one board and enter the real width. Corner posts, end posts, and gate posts are all counted by the posts rule (sections + 1), but a fence with several corners needs a post at each corner, which can add posts beyond the spacing rule if corners fall mid-section. Waste covers cuts and bad boards only; it does not cover a second trip for a mismeasured length. Error policy: missing, non-numeric, or out-of-range inputs are reported as errors rather than calculated.
Bright Side Kit. "Fence Picket Chart & Calculator 2026." https://brightoolbox.com/fence-picket-chart/ Accessed October 24, 2026.185 pickets exactly with 6-inch pickets and a 0.5-inch gap — buy 195 with 5% waste — plus 14 posts. The pitch is 6.5 inches, so 1200 ÷ 6.5 = 184.6, rounded up to 185.
120 ÷ (picket width + gap), rounded up. For 6-inch pickets at a 0.5-inch gap that is 120 ÷ 6.5 = 18.5, rounded up to 19 per 10 feet. The chart on this page lists all twelve combinations of 4, 5.5, 6, and 8-inch pickets with 0, 0.5, and 1-inch gaps.
Sections + 1: fence length divided by post spacing, rounded up, plus the starting post. A 100-foot fence at 8-foot spacing is 13 sections plus 1, or 14 posts. Corners can add posts if they fall mid-section.
No — subtract gate openings first. Gates are framed separately, so their width should not be counted as picket run. Measure the fence line net of gate openings, then add gate materials by the gate design.
5% for straight runs with decent boards; 10% for rough stock, many corners, or slopes. At the defaults, 5% turns 185 pickets into 195 to buy, and 10% turns them into 204.
Rounding: the chart rounds each 10-foot block up, while the calculator divides the whole 1200 inches at once. 120 ÷ 6.5 = 18.5 rounds up to 19 per block, or 190 for ten blocks, but 1200 ÷ 6.5 = 184.6 rounds up to 185 exactly. Use the chart for estimating and the calculator for buying.
Yes — sharply. For a 100-foot fence with no gap, 4-inch pickets need 300 boards, 6-inch pickets need 200, and 8-inch pickets need 150. Wider boards also mean fewer gaps to keep even, though they show cupping more on cheaper stock.
Enter the measured width, not the label. A board labeled 6 inches that measures 5.5 inches changes the pitch from 6.5 to 6.0 inches at a half-inch gap, which raises a 100-foot fence from 185 to 200 pickets exactly. Measure one board before you buy.