What you need
- A measuring wheel, or a 100-foot tape and a second person.
- Wooden stakes or marking flags, and a ball of string.
- Paper and a pencil, or a photo of the yard you can draw on.
- Your property survey or plat, if you have one. It often came with the closing papers when you bought the house.
Step 1: Find the line
The fence has to sit on your side of the property line, and most cities also want it set back from sidewalks and kept low near the street. Before you measure anything, find out where the line is and what your city allows.
Look for the metal survey pins at the corners of the lot; they're often a few inches under the grass. If you can't find them, or you're close to a neighbor's fence or driveway, a survey costs less than moving a fence later. Our guide on what a fence costs covers permits and height limits.
Step 2: Stake the corners and run a string
Put a stake at each corner and at each end of the run, a little inside the line. Tie a string between the stakes, pulled tight and close to the ground. The string is your fence, and it shows you what's in the way: trees, sheds, utility boxes, the corner of the patio.
Step 3: Measure each side
Measure along the string, one straight side at a time, and write each number down with a sketch of the yard. Round up to the next foot. Then add the sides together.
Measure the fence that runs from the house to the side of the lot, too. Those short pieces with the gates in them are easy to forget, and they're often the most expensive feet of the job.
Measuring a lot you can't walk? If it's roughly square, the acre calculator works out the fence length from the lot size.
Step 4: Mark the gates
Decide where you'll walk in and out, and where anything wide has to get through: a mower, a trailer, a car. A walk gate is usually 3 to 4 feet wide, and a driveway gate 10 to 12 feet for a double gate. Mark each one on your sketch with its width.
You don't subtract the gates from the fence length when you get prices. The fence is priced by the foot along the whole line, and each gate is added on top. The gate calculator prices them.
Step 5: Count the corners and the posts
Posts go at every corner, every end and both sides of every gate, and in between at a regular spacing. Our calculators use 8 feet for wood and vinyl privacy fences, 10 feet for chain link and 6 feet for aluminum.
On a straight run, the count is the length divided by the spacing, rounded up, plus one. A 150-foot straight run of wood fence makes 19 sections, so it needs 20 posts. Each corner and each gate adds posts, which is why fences with lots of turns cost more than their length suggests.
Building it yourself? The picket calculator counts the pickets, rails and posts for a wood fence.
Step 6: Note the slope
If the ground rises or falls along the line, write down where. A fence follows a slope in one of two ways.
Stepped: each section stays level and drops down at the next post, like stairs. It works on steep ground, but it leaves triangle-shaped gaps under the sections.
Racked: the rails follow the slope and the boards stay upright, so the bottom of the fence follows the ground with no gaps. It looks smoother, but it only works up to a point, and steep ground still needs stepping.
Either way, measure along the ground, the way the fence will run. A contractor will look at the slope when quoting, because it adds time and sometimes posts.
Step 7: Check before you buy
- Call 811 a few days before anyone digs. It's free, and the utilities mark their buried lines.
- If you're in an HOA, get the fence approved in writing.
- Add about 10% to any materials you buy yourself, for cuts and the odd bad board.
Fair questions
Should I measure in feet or in sections?
Feet. Fence prices are quoted by the linear foot, and panel sizes vary from one product to another. Count sections only when you're buying panels yourself.
Does the fence go right on the property line?
Usually a few inches inside it, so the posts and footings are entirely on your land. Some cities require a setback, and some neighbors agree to a shared fence on the line. Get either in writing.
How accurate does the measurement need to be?
For a first estimate, to the nearest foot is fine. A contractor will measure again before writing a final quote.
Sources
- Top Rail Fence, Building a fence on a sloped property: how stepped and racked fences follow a slope, and when each one is used.
- Call 811: the national call-before-you-dig service, for when and how to have buried utilities marked.
- How we calculate: every suggested price behind this calculator, with the date it was last reviewed.
