Brick Calculator
Brick Calculator
Work out how many bricks and how much mortar a wall needs from its size, the brick you are using and the joint thickness, with doors and windows taken off and an allowance for waste. The page covers US modular, Norman, utility, queen and king bricks and the UK standard brick, in feet or meters, for single or double walls.
One square of your wall, to scale
Bricks for the same wall, brick by brick
Brick counts use the nominal size of modular bricks, which includes the joint, and the actual size plus the joint for other bricks; this reproduces the Brick Industry Association figures of 675 modular bricks per 100 sq ft and 60 UK bricks per m² (59.3 exactly). Mortar is the volume of the bed and head joints through the thickness of the brick, which matches the association’s figures for modular, engineer modular and utility bricks, such as 8.1 cu ft per 1,000 modular bricks at 3/8 in joints; its table lists more for the nonmodular standard, queen and king sizes. It does not include a collar joint between wythes or filling frogs and cores. Bags use the maker’s figure of up to 37 standard bricks per 80 lb bag of premixed mortar, scaled for the joint volume of other bricks. Waste allowances are editable: at least 5 percent on brick and 15 to 25 percent on mortar are usual. The CSV, image and printed report contain the values you entered, nothing preloaded.
How to use this tool
Enter the wall’s length and height and the area fills in, or type the area directly, in feet or meters. Take off doors, windows and other openings in the openings box. Choose the brick you are using, the joint thickness and whether the wall is one wythe, a single layer of brick, or two. The bricks to order, the mortar and the number of 80 lb bags of premixed mortar appear at the top.
The waste boxes start at 5 percent for brick and 20 percent for mortar, the middle of the usual ranges; raise them for walls with many cuts. The drawing shows a square foot or square meter of your wall to scale, the bar chart compares every brick size for the same wall, and the table lists the per square foot and per square meter rates.
How the count is worked out
Every brick in a wall occupies its own face plus half the joint around it. For modular bricks that works out to a neat grid: a modular brick with its 3/8 in joint takes 8 in of length and 2⅔ in of height, because three courses rise exactly 8 in. That is 21.33 square inches, and 144 square inches divided by 21.33 is 6.75 bricks per square foot, the Brick Industry Association figure of 675 per 100 sq ft. Non modular bricks, and the UK brick, are worked out from the actual size plus the joint: 225 by 75 mm for a UK brick, which gives 59.3 per square meter.
Mortar is the volume of the joints: the brick’s face plus its joint, minus the brick’s own face, times the thickness of the brick. For a modular brick with 3/8 in joints that is 13.9 cubic inches per brick, or 8.1 cu ft per 1,000 bricks, matching the association’s table. Premixed bags are counted from the maker’s figure of up to 37 standard bricks per 80 lb bag, scaled for the joint volume of other sizes.
Bricks per square foot and square meter
| Brick | Actual size | Per sq ft | Per 100 sq ft | Per m² | Mortar per 1,000, cu ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 3⅝ x 2¼ x 7⅝ in | 6.75 | 675 | 72.7 | 8.1 |
| Engineer modular | 3⅝ x 2 13/16 x 7⅝ in | 5.63 | 563 | 60.5 | 8.5 |
| Norman | 3⅝ x 2¼ x 11⅝ in | 4.50 | 450 | 48.4 | 11.2 |
| Utility | 3⅝ x 3⅝ x 11⅝ in | 3.00 | 300 | 32.3 | 12.3 |
| Standard | 3⅝ x 2¼ x 8 in | 6.55 | 655 | 70.5 | 8.4 |
| Queen | 3 x 2¾ x 8 in | 5.50 | 550 | 59.2 | 7.2 |
| King | 3 x 2¾ x 9¾ in | 4.55 | 455 | 49.0 | 8.4 |
| UK standard | 215 x 102.5 x 65 mm | 5.51 | 551 | 59.3 | 10.5 |
3/8 in joints for US bricks and 10 mm for the UK brick, before waste. Mortar is the bed and head joint volume.
A worked example you can check on paper
A garden wall is 20 ft long and 8 ft high, with a 3 by 7 ft door opening and a 4 by 4 ft window. The wall is 160 sq ft; the openings are 21 and 16 sq ft, 37 in all, so 123 sq ft is brick. At 6.75 modular bricks per square foot that is 830 bricks laid. Add 5 percent and round up: 872 bricks to order, or two packs of about 500 if that is how your yard sells them.
For the mortar, 830 bricks at 13.9 cubic inches each is 6.7 cu ft of joint. With 20 percent waste that is 8.0 cu ft to mix. In premixed bags, 830 divided by 37 is 22.4, so 23 bags of 80 lb.
Mortar types and mixing
Most garden walls and veneers above ground use Type N mortar, a medium strength general purpose mix. Type S is stronger and suits walls at or below ground, retaining walls and paving; Type M is the strongest and is kept for heavy loads and foundations. Stronger is not automatically better: a mortar harder than the brick can make the brick crack instead of the joint.
For larger jobs it is cheaper to mix mortar on site from masonry cement and sand, usually about one part cement to three parts damp sand by volume. The mortar volume on this page is the starting point for ordering either way.
Single and double walls
A single wythe wall, a half brick or single skin wall in the UK, is one brick thick, about 4 in or 102.5 mm. It is common for veneers over a frame and for low garden walls. A double wythe wall, one brick thick or 215 mm in the UK, is two layers tied together with metal ties or header bricks, and needs twice the bricks. It usually has a collar joint between the layers, which adds mortar this page does not count.
Mistakes that catch people out
Not taking off the openings. Doors and windows can be a quarter of a house wall.
Mixing up brick sizes. A queen or king brick needs a fifth to a third fewer bricks than a modular brick for the same wall. Check the actual size on the pallet.
Forgetting the second wythe. A wall one brick thick needs twice the bricks of a single skin.
Ordering exactly the count. Bricks break in delivery and cutting. Order at least 5 percent over, from one batch, so the color matches.
Underestimating mortar. Mortar that drops or goes stiff is wasted; 15 to 25 percent extra is normal.
Popular calculations
Each opens the calculator with its own address, and every value can be changed once it is open.
Modular bricks by wall area
UK bricks by square meter
Other brick sizes, 100 sq ft
Joints, double walls and metric
How this was checked
The engine was tested in Node against the Brick Industry Association estimating table: modular bricks give exactly 675 per 100 sq ft, engineer modular 562.5, Norman 450 and utility 300; the mortar works out to 8.06 and 10.38 cu ft per 1,000 modular bricks at 3/8 and 1/2 in joints against the published 8.1 and 10.3, and to 12.3 and 15.7 for utility bricks, matching exactly. The UK brick gives 59.26 per square meter against the trade figure of 60. The association lists more mortar for its nonmodular sizes than the joint geometry gives, and the page says so when one of those is chosen.
Every address in the lists above was then opened and checked for a distinct title, the right answer, charts that render, and clean CSV, image and print output containing only that calculation, at desktop, tablet and phone widths.
Common questions
How many bricks are in a square foot?
About 6.75 modular bricks, the most common US size, which is 675 per 100 sq ft of wall face. Larger bricks need fewer: 5.6 engineer modular, 4.5 Norman or 3 utility bricks per square foot. Add at least 5 percent for breakage and cuts.
How many bricks are in a square meter?
About 60 UK standard bricks, 215 by 65 mm faces with 10 mm joints, for a single skin wall; 59.3 exactly, which the trade rounds to 60. A wall one brick thick, 215 mm, takes twice as many. US modular bricks work out to about 73 per square meter.
How much mortar do I need for 1,000 bricks?
About 8 cu ft of mortar for 1,000 modular bricks with 3/8 in joints, rising to about 10.3 cu ft with 1/2 in joints, before waste. Add 15 to 25 percent for mortar dropped or left to harden, as the Brick Industry Association suggests.
How many bricks does an 80 lb bag of mortar lay?
The maker of a common premixed mortar gives up to 37 standard bricks per 80 lb bag, or 13 standard 8 by 8 by 16 in blocks. So 1,000 modular bricks take about 28 bags. Larger bricks lay fewer per bag because each has more joint around it.
How many bricks for a 10 by 8 wall?
A 10 by 8 ft wall is 80 sq ft. At 6.75 modular bricks per square foot that is 540 bricks, or 567 with 5 percent waste, and about 15 bags of premixed mortar. Take off any doors or windows first.
What waste allowance should I use for bricks?
At least 5 percent for a plain wall, which is the Brick Industry Association figure for breakage. Allow more for walls with many corners, openings, piers or patterned bonds that need cut bricks, and for bricks from a supplier with rougher handling.
Related Calculators and Reference
- CMU Block Wall Takeoff Calculator: for concrete block walls, grout and reinforcement.
- Sand Calculator: the sand for mixing mortar on site, in tons and bags.
- Concrete Calculator: for the footing the wall sits on.
- Retaining Wall Calculator: for block walls that hold back soil.
- Paver Patio Calculator: brick and concrete pavers, base and sand.
- Siding Calculator: squares, boxes and trim to side a house.
- Brick Industry Association Technical Note 10: dimensioning and estimating brick masonry.