Reference
Fence terms explained
Fence quotes, material lists and permit forms are written in a shorthand that assumes you already know the words. This glossary translates the terms that come up most often, in the sense a fence contractor means them, so you can compare bids and read a supplier's quote without guessing.
Start with the section that matches what you are doing: anatomy if you are reading a material list, materials if you are choosing a product, measurements and pricing if you are comparing quotes, and site and code terms before you mark a line on the ground.
Anatomy of a fence
The parts a material list or a quote is built from. Learn these and most fence paperwork stops being guesswork.
- Line post
- Any vertical post in a straight run, as opposed to the heavier posts that brace corners and carry gates. Line posts are set 6 to 10 feet apart depending on the material.
- Terminal post
- A corner, end or gate post. It takes the pull of the fence and the swing of a gate, so it is larger and set deeper than a line post and always set in concrete.
- Brace
- A short horizontal or diagonal member that stops a terminal post from leaning under fence tension. Corners and ends are braced in both directions.
- Rail (also stringer)
- The horizontal member the boards fasten to. A wood fence uses two or three 2x4 rails; panel systems build the rail into the panel itself.
- Picket
- A single vertical board. A 6 ft wood privacy fence uses more than 200 pickets per 100 linear feet, while a spaced picket fence uses narrower boards with deliberate gaps.
- Panel
- A factory-assembled section, usually 6 or 8 feet wide, that slides into or brackets onto posts. Vinyl, aluminum and composite fences are panel systems.
- Fabric
- The galvanized mesh in a chain link fence, sold in 50 ft rolls and stretched tight between posts with a come-along or fence stretcher.
- Top rail
- The horizontal pipe along the top of a chain link or ornamental fence that keeps the fence line straight and stiff.
- Tension wire
- A wire threaded through the bottom of chain link fabric so the mesh cannot be pushed or lifted. It is standard on 6 ft fences and any fence containing a digger.
- Bottom clearance
- The gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Wood fences leave 1 to 2 inches so boards and rails stay out of damp soil; chain link is set flush or slightly buried to contain pets.
- Post cap
- A decorative or weather cap on top of a post. It sheds water away from the end grain, which is where a wooden post starts to rot.
- Gate
- The hinged opening in a fence. A walk gate is 3 to 4 feet wide; a drive or double gate is 10 to 14 feet and is built as two leaves that meet in the middle.
Materials
The same fence shape can be built from very different products, and that choice drives both the price and the upkeep.
- Pressure-treated (PT) lumber
- Softwood injected with preservative so it resists rot. Ground-contact rated material is the version that belongs in the soil, while the cheaper above-ground grade is fine for rails and pickets.
- Cedar
- A naturally rot-resistant wood that weathers to a soft gray. Commonly used for pickets where a stain finish is wanted, at roughly 20 to 40 percent more than pressure-treated.
- Galvanized steel
- Steel coated in zinc so it does not rust. It is the standard finish for chain link posts, rails and fabric.
- Powder-coated aluminum
- Aluminum pickets with a baked-on colored finish. Light enough for one person to carry a panel, rigid, and rust-free for decades.
- Vinyl (PVC)
- Extruded plastic pickets and rails, most often white, tan, gray or black. Nothing to stain and nothing to rot, but it moves with temperature and must never be set tight.
- Composite
- A wood-and-plastic blend pressed into boards or panels. It looks like stained wood, needs no coating, and is the most expensive material per foot in this list.
- Capped composite
- Composite with a bonded outer skin. The cap resists fading, staining and scratching better than uncapped board, and it is what most composite warranties cover.
Measurements and pricing
Fence is sold and quoted by the foot of run. These are the terms that decide what that number actually buys.
- Linear foot
- One foot measured along the fence line, not the area of fence. A 150 ft run is 150 linear feet whether it stands 4 ft or 6 ft tall, which is why fence is quoted per linear foot.
- Installed price per linear foot
- What a contractor charges per foot of run, material and labor together. National averages run about $16 to $30 for chain link, $30 to $60 for wood privacy, $32 to $60 for vinyl and $45 to $85 for composite.
- Material-only price
- What the parts cost before labor. It usually lands 40 to 50 percent below the installed price, because labor is roughly half of a fence bill.
- Post spacing
- The distance between posts, measured center to center. Wood and vinyl systems are usually 8 feet, chain link 10 feet, and aluminum and composite panels 6 feet.
- Panel width
- How wide one prefabricated panel is, most often 6 or 8 feet. Panels set the post positions, so gates have to be planned around them.
- Racking
- Following a slope by tilting each panel slightly inside its post channels, so the top line descends in one continuous run instead of jumping.
- Stepping
- The alternative to racking: each section sits level and the top of the fence drops in visible stairs. Stepping is normal on steep grades and with fence types that cannot be racked.
- Dog-ear
- The clipped top corner on a picket, cut to shed water and soften the fence line. Flat-top pickets are square across, and French gothic pickets come to a point.
- Fence height
- Measured from the ground to the top of the fence, not the length of the post. Most residential fences are 4 or 6 feet because that is where permit thresholds usually sit.
Site, codes and rules
The words that decide whether your fence can stand where you planned it. Getting these wrong is the expensive kind of mistake.
- Property line
- The surveyed legal boundary between two lots. Fences nearly always sit a few inches inside it so that the fence clearly belongs to one owner.
- Easement
- A strip of your lot a utility or the city has a legal right to enter. Fences generally cannot be built inside a utility easement, because crews may need to dig there later.
- Setback
- The minimum distance a fence must sit from the property line or from the front of the lot. Setbacks are usually larger at the front corner of a lot, where sight lines matter for drivers.
- Height limit
- The tallest fence a city allows without a variance or permit. Common rules cap front-yard fences at 3 to 4 feet and back and side fences at 6 feet.
- Pool barrier code
- The code that governs fences around pools: usually a 4 ft minimum height, no climbable horizontal rails, self-closing and self-latching gate hardware, and a latch placed out of a small child's reach.
- Frost line
- How deep the ground freezes in winter. Posts are set below it so frost heave does not lift and tilt the fence, which is typically 30 to 36 inches in most of the country.
- Permit
- Written approval from your local building department to build. Many cities require one for any fence, and nearly all of them require one above 6 feet.
- HOA architectural review
- The committee approval a homeowners association requires before a fence goes up. Getting it in writing before you buy material avoids building a fence you are later told to take down.
- 811
- The free national call-before-you-dig service that marks buried utilities. Call it and wait for the marks before you dig a single post hole.
How FenceCalc uses these terms
When you draw a run in the calculator, every one of these words becomes a number. The length of the run sets the linear feet. Post spacing divides that run into posts, and each post is priced with its concrete, brace and cap. Picket width and gap decide how many pickets fit across the run, and rails are counted from the height you choose. Gate openings are removed from the fence run and priced as gates, using their own labor time. Finally, the price per linear foot you set for the style is applied to the feet you drew, which is why the estimate you get is a specification you can price locally rather than a guess.
Last reviewed: October 2026