Size up a fence job without walking the line first.

Fence inquiries come in fast in the spring, and most of them start with the same question: how long is it? Customers guess, or send a satellite screenshot, and you end up driving out to walk the line before you can give a number.

For a preliminary quote you mostly need the length of each section, the post spacing, the height and the gate openings. On an existing fence those are visible, and the customer can capture them while standing in their own yard.

Sightimate gives you those visible lengths from the customer’s capture, so you can use the processed scan to prepare a preliminary price range and save the site visit for checking the ground, the line and the details.

1. Send a scan link per section. A straight run or a gate area is a good unit for one scan. The customer opens the link in their phone’s browser. No app or account.

2. The customer walks through the guided capture. A short calibration sweep and then guided photos. No reference object is needed; scale is automatic.

3. You measure in the measurement workspace. Pick posts, gate edges and the top of the fence, and read each length with its ± range.

Capture tips to pass on for fences

• Capture in daylight. Low evening sun across the yard throws long shadows over posts.

• Stand back far enough to see both end posts of the section, plus the ground at their base.

• For long runs, split the fence into sections at a corner or a gate and send one link each.

• Capture the gate on its own, closed, with both gate posts in view.

• Keep pets, cars and garden furniture out of the line where possible.

• Run lengths between visible posts or corners for each section.

• Post spacing, to check bay widths against standard panels.

• Gate opening between the gate posts, and the gate leaf width.

• Height from the ground to the top rail or the top of the boards at a given post.

Sightimate is designed for preliminary quotes. The target is about ±⅝ in over a span of roughly 6½ ft (±1.5 cm on 2 m), and every length is shown with its own ± range. For runs much longer than that, look at the ± range the desk shows for each length; splitting a long run into sections helps capture visible endpoints but does not guarantee a smaller uncertainty.

Limits: check these in person

• Ground slope and grade changes. Photos show the surface, but stepping or racking a fence needs a proper check.

• Property lines. A scan measures what is visible; it does not tell you where the boundary is.

• What is underground. Post depth, footings, roots and utilities need to be checked on site before any digging.

• Hidden sections. Fence behind sheds or hedges is not in the photos. Verify final dimensions on site before ordering or installing.

Imagine a back fence with a gate near the house. The customer sends two scans: the straight run and the gate area. In the measurement workspace you pick the corner post and the gate post to read the run length, pick two posts to check spacing, and read the gate opening and the height. Each figure comes back as a length with a ± range. These are illustrative, not a customer job.

Use the visible details and measured distances to assess a preliminary materials and labor estimate. Explain what still needs checking on site, such as the slope along the run, before relying on the estimate.

Also working on doors or windows? See door measurement software and window measurement software.

Plan the whole inquiry with the remote site survey workflow and preliminary estimate checklist. For measurement methods and their limits, read measuring from a photo.