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Pickets per foot, per 8 ft section and for the whole run.
With these inputs:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total boards | 351 |
| Boards needed (with waste) | 351 |
| Boards per linear ft | 2.18 |
| Boards per 8 ft section | 18 |
| Posts | 20 |
| Rails | 57 |
| Screws (approx.) | 2317 |
| Board cost | $1,053 |
Wet pressure-treated boards butted tight will shrink apart into a 1/8" to 1/4" gap. Board-on-board or shadow box is the fix if that matters.
Every picket covers its own actual width plus whatever gap you leave beside it. Divide the run by that figure and you have the count. The trap is the nominal size: a '1x6' dog ear picket is 5.5 inches wide, not 6, so counting on 6 leaves you about 8 percent short.
Pickets = ⌈ ⌈(run ft − gate ft) × 12 ÷ (picket width + gap)⌉ × (1 + waste %) ⌉ — whole pickets first, then waste, rounded up
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