How many fence panels do I need?
Measure the run, pick the panel width, and get the number of panels and posts — plus gravel boards and bags of postcrete. A straight run always needs one more post than panels, and that last post is the one people forget. Free, no sign-up.
A guide, not a guarantee. Panels are rounded up, so the last bay may need cutting down. Posts should be set about 600 mm into the ground (more for a tall or exposed fence), so a 1.8 m fence wants a 2.4 m post. Boundary ownership, the 2 m height rule next to a highway, and any covenant or party-wall issue are yours to check. Postcrete, caps and clips are extra. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Panels, posts, and the one people forget.
Panels come first. Divide the run by the panel width and round up. A standard panel is 1.83 m (6 ft), so a 20 m run is eleven panels — the last one cut down to fit. Measure post-to-post if you already have an end in place.
Then the posts — and the extra one. A straight run with two free ends needs one post more than panels: a post at each end and one between every pair of panels. If both ends butt up to a wall or an existing corner post, you need the same number of posts as panels. Forgetting the end post is the classic mid-job shop run.
Gravel boards save the panels. A gravel board sits along the bottom of each bay, lifting the timber clear of wet ground so it doesn't wick up water and rot. One per panel. Concrete gravel boards last longest; timber ones are cheaper and sacrificial.
Postcrete by height. A fast-set bag or two per post is the quick way to set them. One bag suits a fence up to about 1.8 m; go to two for a taller fence, a heavy closeboard panel or an exposed, windy site. Dig the hole roughly three times the post width and a third of the post's length deep.
What this leaves out. Post caps, fixing clips or nails, treatment for cut ends, and the cost of removing the old fence are separate. Check who owns the boundary before you start, and the 2 m height limit where a fence meets a road.
Keep every job and its details in one place.
Stead remembers your garden and outdoor jobs, what you built and when, and what's due next — so the next project starts with the numbers already to hand.