Easy Wood Calc

How many pickets for 100 ft of privacy fence?

Short answer

A 100 ft privacy fence with 5½ in pickets butted tight needs about 230 pickets (219 plus 5% extra), 14 posts at 8 ft spacing and 39 rails for three rails per section.

How to work it out

  1. 1,200 in ÷ (5-1/2 in + 0 in) = 218.2 → 219 pickets + 5% = 230 pickets
  2. 100 ft ÷ 8 ft = 13 sections → 14 posts, 39 rails
  3. Per hole: π × (10 in ÷ 2)² × 24 in − post = 0.92 cu ft × 14 posts ÷ bag yield = 22 bags

Dog-ear 1×6 pickets are the standard for a 6 ft privacy fence and usually measure about 5½ in wide. Butted tight, treated pine pickets will still open small gaps as they dry — a board-on-board layout closes them but uses roughly twice the pickets.

Adjust for your project

ft
in
A 1×6 picket is about 5½ in
in
0 for a tight privacy fence
ft
2 for short fences, 3 for 6 ft
in
About 3× the post width is typical
in
Check your frost depth and local rules
in
4×4 = 3½ in
More options: Extra pickets
%
Pickets230 pickets
Posts (straight run)
14 posts
Sections
13 sections
Rails
39 rails
Pickets per section
17.5 pickets
Concrete bags for the posts
22 bags · 80 lb (≈ 0.60 cu ft)
Concrete volume
12.89 cu ft (0.48 cu yd)
  • Add a post for each corner and each side of every gate. Gates also need their own pickets, frame and hardware.
  • Many builders put 4–6 in (10–15 cm) of gravel in the bottom of each hole for drainage — reduce the concrete depth to match. Bag yields vary by product; check the bag.
Check your codeCode limits vary by jurisdiction — confirm with your building department before you cut or build. Fence height and setback rules are set locally.

For this job · affiliate link
Post hole diggerEven if you rent a power auger for 14 holes, a clamshell digger is what cleans out loose soil and squares up the bottoms for the gravel.
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Pickets by picket width (100 ft, no gap)

Pickets by picket width (100 ft, no gap)
Picket width (actual)PicketsPickets per section
3.5 in361 pickets27.4 pickets
5.5 in230 pickets17.5 pickets
7.25 in175 pickets13.2 pickets

What to know about a 100 ft privacy fence

  • 219 pickets cover the run; buy about 230. Twelve hundred inches divided by 5½ in is 218.2, so the last picket gets ripped to width. The extra 5% covers split tops, twisted boards and the odd one with a loose knot — sort the pile before you start and set the worst aside for cut pieces.
  • Fourteen posts assume one straight run with no gate. Every corner and each side of a gate adds a post. A 4 ft gate also takes about nine pickets out of the run, but the gate itself needs its own frame, pickets and hinges.
  • Thirty-nine rails at three per bay. With posts 8 ft on center, each rail is one 8 ft 2×4. The middle rail keeps 6 ft pickets from cupping and bowing between the top and bottom rails.
  • About 22 bags of 80 lb post concrete fill 10 in holes 24 in deep around 4×4 posts. Where frost goes deeper than that, your holes and bag count go up with it.

The usual mistake on a run this long is drift: pickets set by eye walk out of plumb over a hundred feet. Check every fifth picket with a level and correct gradually rather than all at once.

Different size? Use the full Fence Picket Calculator.

What you’ll need

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Frequently asked questions

How many posts and rails for 100 ft of privacy fence with posts 6 ft apart?

18 posts and 51 rails (17 sections, three rails each). The picket count stays at 230 pickets.

How many pickets for a 100 ft board-on-board fence?

About 141 pickets on each side — 5½ in pickets with 3½ in gaps, so each back picket overlaps the front ones by 1 in per edge — or about 282 for both layers.

How many pickets for 150 ft of privacy fence?

About 345 pickets of 5½ in butted tight, with 5% extra, plus 20 posts and 57 rails at 8 ft post spacing.