How to measure a fence line
Fifteen minutes and a tape gets you a number close enough for a real estimate.
What you need
- A 100 ft tape measure or a measuring wheel
- Stakes or marking flags
- A phone or notepad for a quick sketch
Step by step
- Sketch the yard. Draw the house and the fence line as you picture it. Mark every corner and every gate.
- Flag the corners and ends. Put a stake where the fence starts, at each corner and where it ties into the house.
- Measure each straight run. Measure stake to stake and write each run on your sketch. Keep the tape tight and level.
- Mark the gates. Note where each gate goes and how wide the opening should be. Walk gates are usually about 4 ft. Driveways usually take 10 to 16 ft.
- Add it up. The total of all runs, gates included, is your footage.
Before anything goes in the ground
- Know your property line. If you aren’t sure, find your survey or have the corners located. Many people set a fence a few inches inside the line.
- Check the rules. Your city and HOA may limit height, style or how close to the street a fence can go.
- Call Louisiana 811 before any digging so buried utilities get marked. Your installer should handle this on an installed job.
- Talk to the neighbor if the fence runs along a shared line.
Close is good enough
An estimate doesn’t need an exact count. Send your best total, and the final measurement gets confirmed before anything is ordered or built. Want to know how many posts that footage means? Try the post and section counter.