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What to measure for a fence install
Linear feet is the headline; post count is what you actually pay for.
5 min read
Fencing quotes in linear feet, and linear feet is the wrong number to build a price from on its own. Posts are what you actually pay for — in material, in concrete, and in the hours it takes to dig.
| Measurement | What it is | What it drives |
|---|---|---|
| Linear feet | Total run of fence | Panels or pickets, rails |
| Height | 4 ft, 6 ft, 8 ft | Post length, picket length, concrete |
| Corners | Direction changes | Corner posts (heavier than line posts) |
| End posts | Terminations | End posts, caps |
| Gates | Count and width each | Gate kit, hinges, latch, gate posts |
| Terrain | Flat, sloped, rocky | Labor, racking vs stepping |
| Post spacing | Usually 6 or 8 ft | Post count, concrete |
Post count is a derived number, and it has a plus one
At 8-foot spacing, 200 feet of fence is 200 ÷ 8 = 25 — plus one, because
a run needs a post at both ends. Twenty-six. Corners and gates add more, since each
needs its own. Forget the plus one on every run of a big job and you are short several
posts and a bag of concrete each.
Gates cost far more than the fence they replace
A 4-foot gate is not 4 feet of fence. It is two heavier posts set deeper, a frame, hinges, a latch, and the time to hang it so it still swings true in a year. A double drive gate more so. Count gates separately and price them separately — burying them in linear feet is how a job loses money.
Slope: rack it or step it
On a grade you either rack the fence to follow the ground or step it down in level sections. Racking suits pickets and looks continuous; stepping suits preassembled panels and leaves triangular gaps at the bottom. Both cost more labor than flat ground, and the customer has an opinion — so decide it at measure time, not on install day.
Two things to note that aren't measurements
Where the line is. A fence on the wrong side of a boundary is a fence you take down at your own cost. Note who confirmed it.
What's underground. Utility locates before digging, every time. It is a scheduling dependency, so it belongs on the job, not in someone's head.
Keep reading
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