Brick
calculator.
Count the bricks for a wall from its size, the openings, the brick and the mortar joint, with the Brick Industry Association's bond factors and waste allowances, plus the mortar to lay them.
204 sq ft of modular brick at 6.75 bricks per sq ft needs 1,446 bricks including 5% waste, laid with about 13.4 cu ft of mortar.
- Bricks to buy
- 1,446 (with 5% waste)
- Bricks before waste
- 1,377
- Bricks per area
- 6.75 per sq ft · 72.66 per m²
- Net wall area
- 204 sq ft (240 − 36 openings)
- Mortar
- 13.4 cu ft (0.5 cu yd), with 20% waste
- Sand (about the same volume)
- 13.4 cu ft
bricks per sq ft = 144 ÷ ((7.625 + 0.375) × (2.292 + 0.375)) = 6.75
204 sq ft × 6.75 = 1,377 × 1.05 = 1,445.9 → 1,446 bricksWall area ×
bricks per square foot.
- Bricks per unit area = 1 ÷ ((brick length + joint) × (brick height + joint)), applied to the net wall area: gross area minus doors and windows. This is the Brick Industry Association's wall-area method.
- Modular brick (modular, Norman, utility) are sized so that brick plus joint makes the nominal module: 8 × 2⅔ in for modular. A thicker joint means a smaller brick, not fewer of them, so the count stays at 675 per 100 sq ft, as in BIA Technical Note 10, Table 4.
- Header bonds add face brick using BIA's Table 6 factors (for example + 1/5 for headers every fifth course). Waste is added last and the total is rounded up to a whole brick.
- Mortar is the theoretical volume of fully filled joints: the joint share of each brick-plus-joint module times the brick's depth, plus any mortar-filled collar joint, then mortar waste.
How do you calculate how many bricks you need?
Find the net wall area, multiply by the bricks per square foot, and add waste. A 30 × 8 ft wall with a 21 sq ft door and a 15 sq ft window has 240 − 36 = 204 sq ft of brickwork. Modular brick lay at 6.75 per sq ft, so the wall takes 204 × 6.75 = 1,377 brick. With BIA's minimum 5% for breakage and waste, buy 1,446 bricks.
net area = length × height − openings
bricks = net area × bricks per sq ft × (1 + waste ÷ 100), rounded upHow many bricks are in a square foot?
Divide 144 square inches by the face of one brick plus one joint. A modular brick (specified 7⅝ × 2¼ × 3⅝ in) with a ⅜ in joint is laid three courses to 8 in, so each brick takes 8 × 2⅔ = 21.33 sq in and there are 144 ÷ 21.33 = 6.75 per sq ft. BIA's Table 4 gives 675 per 100 sq ft for modular, 450 for Norman, 300 for utility and 655 for non-modular standard brick (8 × 2¼ in): 144 ÷ (8⅜ × 2⅝) = 6.55.
Some calculators add the joint to the rounded 2¼ in height and get 6.86 per sq ft. That overcounts by about 1.6%, because three modular courses really measure 8 in.
bricks per sq ft = 144 ÷ ((L + joint) × (H + joint)) (inches)How many bricks per square metre?
A standard UK brick is 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm, and with 10 mm joints its coordinating size is 225 × 75 mm on the face. One square metre takes 1 ÷ (0.225 × 0.075) = 59.26 bricks, which is where the familiar rule of 60 bricks per m² for a half-brick wall comes from. A 10 × 2.5 m wall with 2 m² of openings needs 23 × 59.26 = 1,363 bricks, or 1,500 with 10% waste.
bricks per m² = 1 ÷ ((0.215 + 0.010) × (0.065 + 0.010)) = 59.26How much mortar do I need for bricks?
The mortar fills the part of each brick-plus-joint module that is not brick, through the depth of the wall. For modular brick with ⅜ in joints that is (1 − 7⅝ × 2.29 ÷ 21.33) × 3⅝ ÷ 12 = 0.0547 cu ft per sq ft, or 5.5 cu ft per 100 sq ft, which is BIA's Table 4 figure. BIA advises adding 15% to 25% for mortar waste, so the 204 sq ft wall needs about 11.1 cu ft net and 13.4 cu ft with 20% waste.
BIA notes that about 1 cu ft of loose, damp sand makes about 1 cu ft of mortar, so the sand volume is close to the mortar volume. Masons also use a rough rule of eight bags of masonry cement per 1,000 modular brick, which includes some waste: 1,377 brick is about 12 bags.
mortar = net area × (1 − L × H ÷ ((L + j) × (H + j))) × depth × (1 + mortar waste)How do bond patterns and double walls change the count?
Running and stack bond use the plain count. Patterns with header courses show more brick on the face: BIA's factors are + 1/5 for common bond with headers every fifth course, + 1/2 for English bond and + 1/3 for Flemish bond. BIA's own example is standard brick in common bond with headers every fifth course: 655 + 655 ÷ 5 = 786 per 100 sq ft of face.
In a two-wythe wall each header spans both wythes and replaces backup brick, so the total stays at twice the plain count, and the calculator shows how many of those must be face brick. A mortar-filled collar joint adds its own volume: ⅜ in over 100 sq ft is 3.13 cu ft.
Worked examples.
House wall with a door and a window
A 30 × 8 ft wall in modular brick with ⅜ in joints, minus a 21 sq ft door and a 15 sq ft window, 5% brick waste and 20% mortar waste.
1,446 bricks, about 13.4 cu ft of mortar.
Load this exampleTwo-wythe garden wall
A 40 ft long, 3 ft high freestanding wall two modular brick thick, with an unfilled cavity and 5% waste.
1,701 bricks.
Load this exampleMetric wall in UK bricks
A 10 × 2.5 m wall in 215 × 65 mm bricks with 10 mm joints, 2 m² of openings, 10% waste.
1,500 bricks, about 0.49 m³ of mortar.
Load this exampleNorman brick veneer for a house
1,400 sq ft of exterior wall with 200 sq ft of windows and doors, in Norman brick (11⅝ × 2¼ in).
5,670 bricks, about 72.9 cu ft of mortar.
Load this exampleCustom brick with a ½ in joint
300 sq ft of a 9 × 2¾ × 4 in brick laid with ½ in joints, 10% waste.
1,540 bricks at 4.66 per sq ft.
Load this examplePricing the brick
The 30 × 8 ft wall again, with brick at $0.75 each.
1,446 bricks for $1,084.50.
Load this exampleWhat this calculator
does not do.
- Corners, piers, sills, arches and soldier courses use cut or extra brick. The waste allowance covers ordinary cutting; detailed work needs a takeoff by course.
- Mortar is the theoretical full-joint volume for solid brick. Hollow brick laid with face-shell bedding use less (BIA puts the reduction at 25% to 35%), and mortar dropped or mixed in excess is only covered by the waste allowance.
- Brick sizes and names vary by maker and region. Check the specified size on the product data sheet, or enter it as a custom size.
- It does not size foundations, ties, lintels or reinforcement, and it is not a structural design.
Common questions.
How many bricks are in 100 square feet?
675 modular brick with ⅜ in joints, before waste, according to BIA Technical Note 10. Standard 8 in brick take 655, Norman 450 and utility 300.
How many bricks do I need for a 10 × 10 ft wall?
100 sq ft × 6.75 = 675 modular brick, or 709 with 5% waste, if there are no openings.
How much waste should I add for bricks?
The Brick Industry Association says to add at least 5% to the net brick for breakage and waste, and 15% to 25% to the net mortar. Job conditions can call for more.
Does a thicker mortar joint mean fewer bricks?
For non-modular brick, yes. For modular brick, no: the brick is made smaller to keep the same 8 in module, so the count stays at 675 per 100 sq ft but the mortar goes up.
How many bricks are in a square metre?
About 60 for standard UK bricks (215 × 65 mm with 10 mm joints): exactly 59.26. Modular US brick come to 72.66 per m².
- Brick Industry Association: Technical Note 10, Dimensioning and Estimating Brick Masonry (February 2009) — modular sizes, wall-area method, Table 4 brick and mortar quantities, Table 5 collar joints, Table 6 bond factors, waste allowances
- Designing Buildings Wiki: Brick sizes — 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm UK brick, 225 × 112.5 × 75 mm coordinating size with 10 mm joints, 60 per m²
Brick per unit area come from the brick face plus joint (for modular sizes, the nominal module), applied to the net wall area with BIA bond factors and waste, rounded up to a whole brick. Mortar is the theoretical joint volume. Tests reproduce BIA Table 4 counts (675, 450, 300, 655) and modular mortar volumes (5.5 and 6.9 cu ft per 100 sq ft), BIA's 786-brick common-bond example and its collar-joint table, the 59.26 per m² metric figure, and check across 300 random walls that feet and meters agree, counts scale with area and thicker joints mean fewer non-modular brick.
Built and reviewed by CalculatorLab against the sources above; every worked example on this page is re-checked by our automated test suite before each release. How we build and check calculators. Found a problem? Tell us.