How Many Fence Pickets Do I Need? (Per Foot, 100 ft and 30 m)

The quick answer: for a privacy fence with standard 6 inch pickets (actual width 5.5 in / 140 mm) butted tight together, you need about 2.2 pickets per foot. A 100 ft fence takes about 219 pickets, or 230 with 5% waste. In metric, a 30 m run needs about 215 pickets, or 225 with waste.

Got a different picket size, gap or fence length? Our fence calculator works out pickets, posts and rails in one go.

Fence pickets needed at a glance

Fence length	Pickets (5.5 in, no gap)	With 5% waste
50 ft (15.2 m)	110	115
100 ft (30.5 m)	219	230
150 ft (45.7 m)	328	344
200 ft (61 m)	437	459

These figures are for a solid privacy fence with no gaps. A spaced picket fence uses fewer pickets, as shown below. All counts are rounded up to whole pickets.

How to work it out

1. Measure the total fence length in feet or metres. Leave out any gate openings.
2. Add the picket width and the gap between pickets. Use the actual width: a “6 inch” picket is usually 5.5 in (140 mm), and a “4 inch” picket is usually 3.5 in (89 mm).
3. Convert the fence length to inches (feet x 12) or millimetres (metres x 1,000).
4. Divide the length by the picket width plus the gap.
5. Add 5% for waste, splits and offcuts, then round up.

As a formula: pickets = fence length ÷ (picket width + gap), with both in the same units.

Worked examples

Privacy fence: 100 ft with a 4 ft gate

• Length without the gate: 100 − 4 = 96 ft = 1,152 in
• Pickets: 1,152 ÷ 5.5 = 209.5, round up to 210
• Add 5% waste: 209.5 x 1.05 = 219.9, round up to 220 pickets

Remember to buy pickets for the gate itself too, if you are building it on site.

Spaced picket fence: 100 ft

With 3.5 in pickets and a 2.5 in gap, each picket plus gap takes up 6 in, so you need 2 per foot. That is 200 pickets, or 210 with 5% waste. The same fence with no gaps would need about 343.

Metric: a 30 m privacy fence

• Length: 30 m = 30,000 mm
• Pickets: 30,000 ÷ 140 = 214.3, round up to 215
• Add 5% waste: 214.3 x 1.05 = 225, so 225 pickets

Posts, rails and fixings

• Posts: are usually set every 6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m). A 100 ft run at 8 ft spacing has 13 sections and needs 14 posts. See how many fence posts for 100 feet for the full method.
• Rails: fences up to about 4 ft high often use 2 rails per section; taller fences around 6 ft usually use 3. That 100 ft run would need 39 rails at 3 per section.
• Fixings: a common approach is 2 nails or screws per picket at every rail, so a 3-rail fence uses about 6 per picket. Use exterior-rated, corrosion-resistant fixings.
• Concrete: if you are setting posts in concrete, our concrete calculator works out the bags.

Common mistakes

• Using the nominal width. Dividing by 6 in instead of 5.5 in leaves you about 8% short.
• Forgetting gates. Take gate openings off the run, then count gate pickets separately.
• Skipping waste. Some pickets will be split, warped or cut at the ends.
• Ignoring board-on-board styles. Overlapping (shadowbox or board-on-board) fences use a lot more pickets, often around one and a half times as many, depending on the overlap.

Frequently asked questions

How many pickets are in a foot of fence?

With 5.5 in pickets and no gap, about 2.2 per foot. With 3.5 in pickets and no gap, about 3.4 per foot.

How many pickets are in an 8 ft fence panel?

For a privacy section using 5.5 in pickets, 96 in ÷ 5.5 = 17.5, so 18 pickets.

How big should the gap be between pickets?

Privacy fences usually have no gap, or just a few millimetres to allow for swelling. Decorative picket fences often use gaps of about 2 to 3 in (50 to 75 mm), but check any local rules, especially for pool fences.

Should pickets touch the ground?

No. Leaving a small gap, often around 2 in (50 mm), helps stop the bottom of the pickets from rotting.