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About Smart Fencing Calculator

A free set of fencing calculators, reference tables and build guides. No account, no email gate, no paywall on any tool. Enter your numbers, get the material list, take it to the lumberyard.

Why it exists

Fence estimating goes wrong in the same few places every time. A "1x6" picket is 5.5 inches wide, not 6, so an order planned on the nominal size comes up about 8 percent short. Gate openings get counted as fence. Board-on-board and shadow box get quoted as "double the boards" when the real figure depends entirely on the overlap. Every calculator here exists because one of those mistakes is expensive and easy to avoid.

Where the numbers come from, and what they are not

Two kinds of number appear on this site and they do not carry the same weight.

Geometry and counts are exact. Picket counts, board counts, post and rail counts, concrete volume, chain link part counts — these are arithmetic from the dimensions you enter, and each calculator shows the formula and a worked example so you can check it. Where a figure comes from a code or a manufacturer requirement, such as the 10 ft maximum spacing for chain link line posts, the page says so.

Cost figures are estimates. They are ranges built from typical national pricing and are there to sanity-check a quote, not to replace one. Local material prices, how busy installers are in your area, ground conditions and what a tear-out reveals all move the real number. Every cost calculator states its assumptions on the page rather than hiding them.

What this site does not have is a proprietary database of contractor quotes or a survey panel, and it would rather say so than imply a precision the method cannot support. If a figure here looks wrong to you, it might be — tell us and it gets checked.

How the tools are built

Each calculator is a pure function: the same inputs always give the same output, and the working is shown beneath the result instead of hidden. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is stored, and every tool runs in your browser — which is also why the Android app works on a job site with no signal.

Nothing here replaces your local building department. Fence height limits, setbacks, pool barrier rules and frost depth are all local, and an inspector's reading is the one that counts. Use these tools to plan and to check, then confirm before you build.

What you will find

  • Fence type calculators — wood, vinyl, chain link, aluminium, composite, privacy, picket, split rail, pool, deer, barbed wire, electric, horse and woven wire.
  • Component calculators — posts, pickets, rails, concrete, gates, post spacing, post depth, panels, and board-on-board, shadow box and dog ear board counts.
  • Cost tools — materials, installed cost, cost per foot, removal, repair and staining.
  • Reference — how many pickets you need, cost by state, permit requirements and property line rules.
  • Guides — installation, permits, maintenance, repair and material selection.

Our other apps

Dixon App Studio also builds free estimating apps for other trades:

Corrections

If a number here is wrong, we would rather fix it than defend it. Send the page and the figure and it gets checked.

Get In Touch

Have feedback or a calculator request? Email support@dixonappstudio.com or visit our Support page.