Fence linear feet calculator

1. Type the address and tap Open the satellite map.
2. Zoom in until you can see the property line, the old fence or the edge of the yard.
3. Tap where the fence starts, then at every place it turns, and where it ends. Each tap adds a straight piece.
4. Tap New line to start a second run, for example the other side yard. The total adds every run.
5. Wrong tap? Undo takes the last one back. Clear starts again.

The answer shows the total in feet and metres, and each run on its own. "How we got this" lists every run so you can check it against the yard.

Once you have the feet, the materials follow from the post spacing. The spacing comes from the panel or the style you sell and from your local code, so use your own. The examples below use 8 ft and 6 ft.

For one straight run: posts = run ÷ spacing, rounded up, plus one. A 96 ft run at 8 ft spacing: 96 ÷ 8 = 12 sections, so 13 posts. Every corner where two runs meet shares a post, and every gate needs its own pair of posts sized for the gate.

A typical backyard is three runs: two sides and the back. Measure each as its own line so the post count per run is right, then take off the gate openings.

A backyard with a 120 ft back line and two 60 ft sides, closing on the house at both ends, with posts at 8 ft:

• Total: 60 + 120 + 60 = 240 ft.
• Sections: each side is 60 ÷ 8 = 7.5, so 8 sections; the back is 120 ÷ 8 = 15. That is 31 sections.
• Posts run by run: 9 + 16 + 9 = 34. The two back corners are each counted twice, so 32 posts.
• A 4 ft walk gate in a side run replaces part of a section and needs its own pair of gate posts. Price it on its own.

The fence cost calculator takes the feet and the gates and gives a price range by material and height, with the math shown. "Use in a calculator" on the answer fills the feet in for you.

The same Draw line tab measures anything that runs along a line:

• Gutters. Tap along the eaves on each side of the house. The answer has a button for the gutter cost calculator with the feet filled in.
• Bed edging and borders. Tap along each bed edge. Curves need more taps; one every few feet keeps the length honest.
• Fence washing or staining. The "Fence washing cost" button opens the pressure washing cost calculator with the fence feet in.

For areas instead of lines (a lawn, a drive, a roof footprint) switch to Draw area.

The length of each piece is worked out on the ground between the two points you tapped (a great-circle distance, then turned into feet at 0.3048 m a foot). So the answer is as good as where your taps land.

• At full zoom, a tap lands within a few inches on the picture. Over a 100 ft run, being a foot off at each end is a 2% error.
• Trees and shade can hide the fence line. Follow the grass edge or the old posts where you can see them.
• The map is flat. On a steep slope the fence itself is a little longer than the map distance; on a 10% grade it is about half a percent more.

Round up when you order. A spare panel costs less than a second trip.

• Measuring the yard, not the fence. A fence often stops short of the house, steps in for a setback or jogs around a tree. Tap the line the posts will follow, not the lot edge.
• Forgetting where it ties in. Note whether each run ends at the house, at a neighbour's fence or at a post of its own. Each end that ties into something else changes the post count.
• Gates as fence. A gate is not a fence panel. Measure the gate openings and price the gates on their own, with their own posts and hardware.
• One run for the whole yard. Measure each side as its own line. Posts are counted per straight run, and a long single line hides the corners.
• Rules on the line. Many towns and HOAs set heights, setbacks and which side faces out. Check before the quote, not after the dig.
• Utility lines. Call 811 before you dig, every time.

With the runs measured one by one, the post count, the panel count and the price all come out of the same numbers, and the customer can see every run on the estimate.

"Save to a Koira estimate" opens a free Koira office. Inside Koira, measuring sits on every estimate: tap "Measure it on the map" and the number lands on the line, then the estimate goes to the customer by text. See how estimates work in Koira.