How to use the brick calculator
- Enter the wall. Type the length and the height of the wall. If the wall has doors or windows, enter their total area as openings.
- Choose the brick. Pick the brick size. Modular brick is the first choice in the list. Set the waste allowance, which starts at 5%.
- Read the bricks and the mortar. The result shows the bricks to buy, the courses, the bricks in each course and the mortar.
What is a brick calculator?
A brick calculator is a tool that counts the bricks in a wall. It divides the area of the wall by the area of one brick face, including the mortar joint, and adds an allowance for waste.
This calculator counts a wall that is one brick thick, which is called one wythe. For a wall two bricks thick, double the result.
Features
- The number of bricks for a wall, with door and window openings taken out
- Five brick sizes: modular, engineer modular, closure modular, Norman and utility
- The number of courses and the bricks in each course
- The volume of mortar, and the bags of mortar mix for modular brick
- A waste allowance that starts at the 5% named by the Brick Industry Association
- A cost from your own price per brick
- A live drawing of the wall with every brick, a 3D view, a PDF of the estimate and a WhatsApp share button
What you can use it for
- A brick garden wall or a planter
- Brick veneer on a house wall
- A brick barbecue or a mailbox stand
- Comparing modular, Norman and utility brick for the same wall
How the number of bricks is calculated
Bricks = (wall length × wall height − openings) × bricks per square foot × (1 + waste ÷ 100), rounded up.
A brick is counted by its nominal size, which is the brick plus one mortar joint. A modular brick is nominally 8 inches long and 2 2/3 inches high, so three courses are 8 inches high. Bricks per square foot = 144 ÷ (nominal length × nominal height).
| Brick | Nominal face (length × height) | Bricks per square foot | Bricks per 100 sq ft | Mortar per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 8 in × 2 2/3 in | 6.75 | 675 | 5.5 cu ft |
| Engineer modular | 8 in × 3 1/5 in | 5.63 | 563 | 4.8 cu ft |
| Closure modular | 8 in × 4 in | 4.5 | 450 | 4.1 cu ft |
| Norman | 12 in × 2 2/3 in | 4.5 | 450 | 5.1 cu ft |
| Utility | 12 in × 4 in | 3 | 300 | 3.7 cu ft |
The counts and the mortar volumes are from the Brick Industry Association's Technical Note 10, Dimensioning and Estimating Brick Masonry (February 2009). They are for 3/8 inch joints in running or stack bond, and they do not include waste.
Worked example: a 20 ft by 8 ft wall of modular brick
- Wall area: 20 × 8 = 160 square feet.
- Bricks without waste: 160 × 6.75 = 1,080 bricks.
- With 5% waste: 1,080 × 1.05 = 1,134 bricks.
- Courses: 96 in ÷ 2 2/3 in = 36. Bricks in each course: 240 in ÷ 8 in = 30.
- Mortar: 160 ÷ 100 × 5.5 = 8.8 cubic feet, before waste.
These are the numbers the calculator shows when the page opens.
How much mortar the bricks need
The calculator gives the mortar in two ways. The volume in cubic feet comes from the Brick Industry Association's table. The same note says to add 15 to 25 percent to the mortar for waste, which is not added here.
For modular brick it also gives bags. Quikrete's data sheet for Mortar Mix (product 1102, revised November 2020) says one 80 lb bag lays up to 37 standard bricks. The sheet does not give the size of a standard brick, so the bag count is shown only for modular brick and should be read as a lower limit: 1,134 bricks ÷ 37 = 30.6, so 31 bags.
What the calculator includes
- The count is for one wythe. Corners, bond patterns with headers, arches, sills and soldier courses are not counted separately.
- The five sizes are modular sizes from the Brick Industry Association's table. Queen, king and other non-modular bricks are not in the list: ask your supplier for the bricks per square foot.
- Openings are entered as one total area. Lintels are not included.
- The mortar volume is for 3/8 inch joints and has no waste added. The bag figure is Quikrete's "up to" number.
- Each dimension can be up to 10,000 in its unit, the openings up to 1,000,000 and waste 0 to 50%.
Is it private?
Yes. The calculation and the PDF are made in your browser. The numbers you type are not sent to our server and are not saved.
Tips for an accurate estimate
- Choose the brick size printed on the pallet, because brick sizes vary by maker.
- Measure the wall face in square feet and subtract large openings yourself.
- Keep at least the waste allowance shown, for chipped and cut bricks.
- Order all bricks from one batch so the colour matches across the wall.
- Buy the mortar with the bricks, using the bag count on this page.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
- How many bricks do I need?
- Multiply the wall area in square feet by the bricks per square foot and add waste. A 20 ft by 8 ft wall of modular brick is 160 square feet × 6.75 = 1,080 bricks, or 1,134 with 5% waste.
- How many bricks are in a square foot?
- 6.75 for modular brick with 3/8 inch joints, according to the Brick Industry Association. Larger bricks need fewer: 4.5 per square foot for Norman and 3 for utility brick.
- How many bricks are in 100 square feet?
- 675 modular bricks, 563 engineer modular, 450 closure modular or Norman, and 300 utility bricks, before waste. These figures are from the Brick Industry Association's Technical Note 10.
- How much waste should I add for bricks?
- The Brick Industry Association says at least 5 percent is added to the net brick quantity. The calculator starts at 5% and you can change it.
- How much mortar do I need for 1,000 bricks?
- For modular brick with 3/8 inch joints, the Brick Industry Association's table gives 5.5 cubic feet per 100 square feet, which is 675 bricks. That is about 8.1 cubic feet per 1,000 bricks, before waste.
- Does the calculator work for a double brick wall?
- It counts one layer of brick. For a wall two bricks thick, double the number of bricks. The mortar between the two layers is not included.
Sources
Every figure this calculator uses comes from the published sources below. The formulas are on this page, so any result can be checked by hand.
- Brick Industry Association, Technical Note 10. Bricks per square foot by brick size, mortar per 1,000 bricks, 5% brick waste and 15 to 25% extra mortar.
- Quikrete, Mortar Mix No. 1102: data sheet (revised November 2020). One 80 lb bag lays up to 37 standard bricks or 13 standard 8 × 8 × 16 in blocks.