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Concrete, Masonry & Stone

Brick Calculator

Estimate brick, mortar and sand for a wall from its dimensions, brick size and bond pattern.

Your measurements

Openings are subtracted from the wall area before the brick count.

Wall
Total area of doors and windows. A standard door is about 21 ft².
Brick and bond
English and Flemish bonds use header courses, which raises the brick count for the same wall.

Your result

Sample values

1,072

Bricks

139

Net wall area, ft²

13

Bags of mortar

0.65

Tons of sand

Includes a 5% waste allowance.

What to order

Item Quantity
Modular brick 1,072
Brick, by the cube (500) 3 cubes
Mortar, 80 lb bags 13 bags
Masonry sand 0.65 tons

How to use this calculator

Enter the length and height of the wall face, then deduct the total area of any doors and windows. Work in the finished face dimensions rather than the footprint — a brick wall is measured by what you see.

Pick the brick size and bond before reading the count. Bond matters more than people expect: a running bond shows only stretchers, while English and Flemish bonds turn bricks to show their ends, which uses noticeably more brick for the same wall.

Formula

Net area = (Length × Height) − Openings

Bricks per ft² = 144 ÷ ((Brick length + Joint) × (Brick height + Joint))

Bricks = Net area × Bricks per ft² × (1 + Waste)

Joint
mortar joint thickness, added to both brick dimensions
144
square inches in a square foot

Header courses in English and Flemish bonds are counted separately and added on top.

Worked example

A 20 ft by 8 ft wall in modular brick, running bond, one door deducted, 5% waste.

  1. 20 ft × 8 ft = 160 ft² gross
  2. 160 ft² − 21 ft² door = 139 ft² net
  3. Brick with joint: 8.0 in × 2.625 in = 21.0 in²
  4. 144 ÷ 21.0 = 6.86 bricks per ft²
  5. 139 ft² × 6.86 = 954 bricks
  6. 954 × 1.05 = 1,072 bricks with waste

1,072 modular bricks, about 3 cubes

Understanding your results

The brick count already includes the mortar joint, which is why the figure is lower than dividing the wall area by the bare face of a brick. A ⅜ in joint adds roughly a tenth of an inch to the height of every course and the length of every brick, and across a wall that adds up.

Mortar and sand are the softer numbers. How much you use depends on joint profile, how wet the mix is and how much falls off the board. The bag count assumes standard ⅜ in joints and a tidy crew; order a spare bag rather than stopping mid-wall.

Questions

About this calculator

Ask something else

Usually around 500 for modular brick, though it varies by manufacturer and brick size — some cubes are 480 or 512. Ordering by the cube is normally cheaper than loose brick, so it is worth rounding up to a full cube if you are close.

Five percent covers a straightforward rectangular wall. Go to ten if the wall has several openings, angled returns or a soldier course, because each of those generates cut brick that cannot be reused elsewhere.

A modular brick is 7⅝ in long so that brick plus a ⅜ in joint comes to exactly 8 in, which makes layout arithmetic clean. A standard brick is a full 8 in, so courses do not land on tidy dimensions. Modular is the more common of the two in new work.

Not directly. For a two wythe wall, run the calculation for the face area and double the brick count, then check the bond — English and Flemish bonds tie the wythes together with headers and already account for some of that brick.

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All Concrete, Masonry & Stone tools
Estimates, not specifications. Results are based on the values you enter and on typical material properties. Densities, coverage rates and product sizes vary between suppliers, so confirm quantities against your supplier's data before ordering. Structural work must be signed off by a qualified professional and meet your local building code.