Chain Link Fence Parts Calculator

Line posts, terminal posts for every corner, end and gate, chain link fabric, top rail with sleeves to join the sticks, and then the small hardware: tension bars, tension bands, brace bands, rail ends, post caps, loop caps, tie wires and bottom tension wire. Gates add hinges, a latch and a drop rod on double gates.

Terminal posts are the corner, end and gate posts. They are a larger diameter and heavier gauge because they take all the tension of the stretched fabric. Line posts sit between them, carry no tension and only support the top rail through a loop cap. Substituting a line post at a corner will bend it.

One per foot of fence height minus one, at every terminal post. A 4 ft fence uses three per terminal, a 6 ft fence five. With five terminal posts on a 4 ft fence that is 15 tension bands. Each one pairs with a carriage bolt and holds the tension bar against the post.

It is the flat bar you weave vertically through the last row of fabric diamonds at a terminal post. The tension bands then clamp that bar to the post, which is how the fabric is anchored. One tension bar per terminal post; you cannot tension a chain link fence without them.

Ten feet on centre is the maximum most codes allow and the normal spacing. Closer spacing — eight feet — is worth it on uneven ground, on tall fences, and anywhere the fence will take a load from dogs or drifting snow.

Roughly one per foot along the top rail and one every two feet up each line post. A 100 ft run of 4 ft fence with nine line posts comes to about 118 ties. They are sold in bags of 100 or so — buy an extra bag.

Fifty feet is the common residential roll, and 100 ft rolls are sold for longer runs. Buy by total run length and expect to join rolls mid-run, which is done by unwinding one strand of wire to separate the fabric and weaving the two ends together.

Residential fences almost always use one — it holds the line posts in position and keeps the fabric from sagging between them. The alternative is a top tension wire, which is cheaper and used on agricultural and temporary fencing, but it lets the fence flex noticeably.