Common Mistakes When Using The Fence Drawing Calculator Program
Gates in a stretch of fence
The most misunderstood detail about fence installation is most people's notion that a stretch of fence includes the gates. For estimating purposes this is not true.
If your yard measures 150' across the back and you want to install a 4' wide gate somewhere in that 150', the exact location of that gate is important. If the gate would be on one of the ends, there is no fence on the one side and therefore no line posts and no sections of fence. Also you only need 3 terminal posts instead of 4, had the gate been centered. Each LINE of fence is critical to determine exact line post count.
In the example above, the gate divides the 150' into three segments, which need to be drawn one at a time in the drawing program. A 73' line is on one side of the gate and a 73' line is on the other. You must draw the 73' line, then the 4' gate and finally the other 73' line. To draw 150' across and then move to the center and draw a gate, is the same as adding a gate to an already existing fence. This is not the correct way to do it. The program will assume you need one line of 150' plus a separate gate of 4' wide and two gate posts.
Plan your gate position so one side of the fence is an even number of sections and the other side might need cut. That way you minimize line post count and avoid cutting down two sections to fit rather than one.
Drawing method
If you draw your fence sequentually, one component at a time and avoid moving the cursor back to previous positions, you will be entering data correctly. The principle is simple. Imagine drawing a square on a piece of paper. Normally you draw one side at a time around the square until you end up where you started. You wouldn't normally draw one side, then the opposite and then the last two randomly. This drawing program is no different.