Fence And Deck Calculator
Estimate materials, concrete and cost for your fence or deck in under a minute. Built by a civil engineer, shows every formula, and your project stays in your browser — nothing is uploaded, and no signup is needed.
- Engineer-built formulas
- Shows the math
- Free, no signup
- Private: stays in your browser
How It Works
Three steps, one Calculate button, and a materials list you can print and take to the lumber yard.
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Describe Your Project
Pick a fence style or decking material, then enter the length, height or deck size and press Calculate.
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Get The Real Numbers
Posts, rails, boards, per-post concrete bags, joists, beams and footings — with span checks against AWC DCA 6 and IRC rules, and every formula shown.
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Plan, Save And Print
Your project autosaves in your browser. Print a clean one-page plan, and take the materials list shopping.
Engineer-Reviewed
Every span table, concrete yield and code check is traced to a published source and reviewed by a licensed civil engineer.
Meet our engineerPublic Methodology
We publish every formula, assumption and data table the calculators use — nothing is a black box.
How we calculatePrivate By Design
Your inputs, saved projects and printed plans never leave your browser. No accounts, no uploads, no tracking of what you build.
Read the privacy policyMost Popular Calculators
Specialized tools for the numbers people ask for most — 33 of them, all running the same verified engine as the flagship estimator above.
Browse By Hub
Three hubs cover the whole project: the tools, the guides, and the numbers behind them.
What Each Estimator Gives You
Both estimators return a full materials list with a reason for every line, not a single number.
The fence estimator counts posts for your length and spacing, adds heavier gate posts for each walk gate, and lists rails per section, boards or pickets with your gap and waste factor, exterior fasteners, and bags of concrete per post. Pick your state and it fills in a typical frost depth, deepens the post holes to clear it, and flags the change. It then prices the fence as a pro install or as DIY materials, using dated national price ranges.
The deck estimator checks your joist size and spacing against the American Wood Council's DCA 6 span table for the lumber species you pick, and tells you whether the span passes, sits close to the limit, or fails. It sizes the beam and the number of 6×6 posts, sets a round footing diameter for each post from the load and 1,500 psf soil, and counts deck boards, joists, ledger and rim length and structural screws. Cost comes from the same sourced price table as the fence side.
Every line has a "Why?" note, and the "Show the math" toggle lists each step in order, so you can check any number by hand before you spend money on it.
Who These Calculators Are For
The calculators are built for homeowners pricing a fence or deck before calling contractors, and for DIY builders turning a sketch into a shopping list. Comparing bids is easier when you know how many posts and bags of concrete the job takes, and a span check before the lumber order saves a return trip. The same tools work for a contractor's quick takeoff, since the math follows the same tables inspectors read.
How Far To Trust The Numbers
Material counts follow published rules and round up, so they land on the safe side of what the job needs. Span and footing checks apply prescriptive code tables and stop where those tables stop. Prices are national ranges with a review date, useful for budgeting and for spotting a quote far outside the norm, but no substitute for local quotes. Your building department has the final word on depth, spans and permits, and 811 marks buried utilities before any digging.
Planning both a fence and a deck? Most of our readers are — the same materials list engine powers both estimators.
Run the other estimator