A 75 ft wood privacy fence 6 ft tall takes 181 pickets (164 plus 10% extra), 11 posts, 30 2×4 rails and 44 bags of 50-lb Fast-Setting concrete.
| Post | Buy | Hole | Fill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line × 9 | 4×4 × 10 ft | 10 × 40 in | 4 bags |
| End × 2 | 4×4 × 10 ft | 10 × 40 in | 4 bags |
Each post goes 36 in into the ground on 4 in of gravel, so a 6-ft fence needs posts at least 9' long. Concrete stops 3 in below grade so soil or sod can cover it.
Different hole size or a single post? Use the post hole concrete calculator.
Boards butted edge to edge — 2.18 per foot, 18 per 8-ft section. Keep the bottoms 2 in off the ground so they don't wick up water.
Typical U.S. big-box prices, checked October 2026; posts and pickets are 2026 snapshots. Not in the total: 2 in hot-dip galvanized or stainless screws/nails (pickets), 3 in hot-dip galvanized or stainless screws/nails (rails), post caps.
Installed wood privacy fences run about $15–$45 per foot (Modernize, Aug 2026) — roughly $1,125–$3,375 for 75', against about $1,217 in materials above. Compare materials, gates and removal →
| Style | Boards / panels | Posts | Concrete bags | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood privacy, 6 ft | 181 pickets | 11 | 44 | $1,217 |
| Board-on-board, 6 ft | 248 pickets | 11 | 44 | $1,370 |
| Spaced picket, 4 ft | 165 pickets | 11 | 33 | $804 |
| Prebuilt wood panels, 6 ft | 10 panels | 11 | 44 | $1,365 |
| Vinyl privacy panels, 6 ft | 10 panels | 11 | 33 | $1,907 |
Posts: 75 ft ÷ 8 ft maximum spacing = 9.38, rounded up to 10 sections, spaced evenly at 7' 6". A straight run needs one more post than it has sections: 10 + 1 = 11. Every corner shares a post; every gate adds two.
Concrete per post: a 10-in hole has 78.5 sq in of area; minus the 3.5 × 3.5 in post leaves 66.3 sq in. Concrete fills 33 in (the 36-in embedment minus a 3-in soil cap): 66.3 × 33 ÷ 1,728 = 1.27 cu ft ÷ 0.375 cu ft per bag = 3.38 → 4 bags.
Prices used: 4×4×10 ft ground-contact PT posts $19.68; Pressure-treated pine dog-ear pickets, 5.5 in × 6 ft $2.28; 2×4×8 ft ground-contact PT rails $6.98 (estimate); Quikrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix (No. 1004), 50 lb bags $7.97; All-purpose gravel, 0.5 cu ft bags $6.95. Tap any price in the calculator to use your store's.
The full method, material data and tips are on the main fence calculator page.