Brick Calculator

The short answer most people are looking for: a standard modular brick laid with a normal mortar joint covers roughly 1/7 of a square foot, so you need about 7 bricks per square foot of wall. A wall that is 20 feet long and 8 feet tall is 160 square feet, which works out to about 1,080 bricks before waste - and around 1,188 bricks once you add a sensible 10% allowance for cuts and breakage. This brick calculator does that math for any wall size and brick type, and it also tells you how many bags of mortar to pick up.

The formula

Estimating bricks is pure geometry: divide the area you want to cover by the area each brick takes up on the wall face. Because mortar fills the gaps between bricks, the joint is counted as part of each brick's footprint:

In US units it is often easier to think in bricks per square foot. One square foot is 144 square inches, so:

A modular brick with a 3/8-inch joint has a face of about 8 in × 2 2/3 in = 21.3 sq in, and 144 ÷ 21.3 ≈ 6.75, which rounds to the familiar "7 bricks per square foot." Multiply that by your net wall area and add the waste percentage to get the number to order.

A worked example with real numbers

Suppose you are building a single-layer (single-wythe) garden wall 20 ft long and 8 ft tall from modular brick, with one 3 ft × 7 ft (21 sq ft) gate opening:

• Gross area: 20 × 8 = 160 sq ft.
• Subtract the opening: 160 − 21 = 139 sq ft of actual brick face.
• Bricks per sq ft: about 6.75 for modular brick.
• Base bricks: 139 × 6.75 ≈ 938.
• Add 10% waste: 938 × 1.10 ≈ 1,032 bricks to order.
• Mortar: 1,032 ÷ 125 ≈ 9 bags of mortar mix.

That last step - the waste allowance - is the difference between one delivery and an awkward second trip mid-build, so it is built into the calculator by default.

How to measure your wall

Accurate inputs matter more than the exact brick math. If you are unsure of the wall area, work it out first with the Square Footage Calculator, then drop the result straight into the "I know the area" field here. Work through these steps:

1. Measure length and height of each wall in feet. For an L-shaped or multi-wall project, measure each straight run separately and add the areas.
2. Multiply length × height for the gross square footage of each wall.
3. Measure every opening - doors, windows, vents - in feet, multiply to get its area, and total them up.
4. Subtract openings from the gross area to get the net brick face area.
5. Pick your brick size and keep the 10% waste default unless your layout is unusually simple or complex.

Then enter the numbers above. You can type the length and height, or switch to "I know the area" and enter the square footage directly if you have already done the math.

How to use this calculator

The tool is built to go from rough idea to a shopping list in under a minute:

• Choose an input mode: "Length & height" for raw measurements, or "I know the area" if you already have square footage.
• Subtract openings: enter the total square footage of doors and windows so you are not paying for bricks you will never lay.
• Select a brick type: modular, standard, queen, king, jumbo/engineer, utility, or a fully custom size.
• Tune the joint and waste under the optional panel - 3/8-inch joints and 10% waste suit most jobs.
• Press Calculate to see the total bricks, the bricks-per-square-foot figure, and the mortar bag count.

Who this calculator is for

Anyone turning a wall idea into a material order benefits from a quick, reliable count:

• DIY homeowners building a garden wall, raised bed, fire pit, or brick veneer accent.
• Landscapers estimating brick edging, planters, or low retaining walls.
• Contractors and masons producing a fast first-pass quantity before a detailed takeoff.
• Renovators matching an existing wall and needing repair bricks from the same batch.
• Budget planners who want a brick and mortar count to price a project before committing.

Key terms explained

• Face area: the side of the brick you see on a finished wall (its height × length). This is what determines coverage, and it includes the mortar joint.
• Mortar joint: the band of mortar between bricks, usually 3/8 inch. It is counted in the face area because it occupies wall space.
• Wythe: a single continuous vertical layer of brick. A single-wythe wall is one brick thick on the face; a double-wythe wall needs twice the bricks.
• Waste factor: the extra percentage ordered to cover breakage and cuts - typically 10%.
• Cubic yard: a volume unit (27 cubic feet) you will meet on sister tools for poured materials like concrete, gravel, and mulch; bricks are counted by piece, not by volume.
• Course: a single horizontal row of bricks. Wall height divided by brick height (plus joint) gives the number of courses.

Three common scenarios

To show how brick size and layout move the count, here are three projects sized with the same method:

• Small garden wall (10 ft × 3 ft = 30 sq ft), modular brick: about 203 base bricks, ~223 with 10% waste, and 2 bags of mortar.
• House gable accent (200 sq ft), queen-size brick: queen bricks cover more area (~4.6 per sq ft), so about 922 base bricks, ~1,014 with waste, and 9 bags of mortar - fewer pieces than modular for the same wall.
• Two-car garage facade (400 sq ft) with a 7 ft × 16 ft door (112 sq ft), modular brick: net area 288 sq ft, about 1,944 base bricks, ~2,139 with waste, and 18 bags of mortar.

Notice how a larger brick can cut your piece count significantly for the same wall - useful if labor or handling is your bottleneck.

What changes the result the most

A few inputs dominate the final number; fine-tuning the rest barely moves it:

• Wall area: the single biggest driver - double the wall, double the bricks.
• Brick size: switching from modular to queen or utility brick can drop the count by a third for the same area.
• Openings: a large garage door or picture window can remove a quarter of the wall - never forget to subtract them.
• Waste factor: moving from 10% to 15% adds real bricks on a big job, so match it to how many cuts your layout needs.
• Wythes: a double-thick wall doubles the brick count - this calculator assumes a single layer.

Estimating mortar

Mortar use depends on brick size, joint thickness, and how cleanly the crew works, but a dependable planning rule is about one 80 lb bag of mortar mix per 125 bricks for standard or modular sizes with 3/8-inch joints. Larger bricks have fewer joints per square foot and may stretch a bag further; thicker joints or sloppy mixing use more. If you are mixing your own with portland cement and sand rather than buying pre-blended bags, plan on roughly half a cubic foot of sand per bag-equivalent and confirm the mix ratio your project calls for.

Practical tips

• Always order about 10% extra - and keep the spares. Future repairs are far easier when the replacement bricks come from the same batch and match in color.
• Order full units. Bricks are often sold by the pallet or cube (commonly 500 modular bricks per cube); round your order up to the next full unit.
• Buy mortar in one go so the color and blend are consistent across the wall.
• Account for corners and returns: L-shapes and pillars add bricks and cuts the flat-wall math does not capture - lean toward the higher waste percentage.
• Store bricks dry and covered; saturated bricks weaken the mortar bond when you lay them.

Limitations and assumptions

This is a planning estimate, not a mason's detailed takeoff. Keep these assumptions in mind:

• It assumes a single-wythe wall with bricks standing on their side face; double-wythe walls or veneers need separate counting.
• It uses nominal face areas with a standard joint; exotic bond patterns (herringbone, basket weave) and lots of cuts increase the count.
• It does not size foundations, footings, lintels, ties, or reinforcement - those are structural and brick-count independent.
• Mortar is a rule-of-thumb figure; brand coverage and joint size vary, so read the bag.
• For paving or flat-laid bricks, use the top (bed) face dimensions, not the side face.

Brick sizes compared

The brick "size" you pick is the second-biggest lever after wall area, because it sets how many pieces cover each square foot. US bricks are sold by nominal dimensions (the actual brick plus a 3/8-inch mortar joint), so a nominal 8-inch length is really a 7 5/8-inch brick. Here is roughly how the common types stack up per square foot of wall face:

• Modular (nominal 8 × 2 2/3 in): about 6.75 per sq ft - the default in this calculator and the most common face brick in the US.
• Standard (8 × 2 1/4 in): about 6.5 per sq ft - close to the classic "seven bricks" figure.
• Queen (9 5/8 × 2 3/4 in, wider): about 4.5-5 per sq ft - a popular money-saver because it covers more wall.
• King (9 5/8 × 2 5/8 in): about 4.5-5 per sq ft.
• Utility (12 × 4 in): about 3 per sq ft - fewer pieces and joints, faster to lay.
• Jumbo / engineer: between modular and utility depending on the exact dimensions.

Switching from modular to a larger brick can cut your piece count by 30-50% for the same wall, which lowers both material handling and the number of mortar joints to tool. If your wall must match an existing one, though, the brick size is fixed for you - measure a few courses of the original (the Square Footage Calculator helps with the wall area, and counting bricks in a known patch confirms the per-square-foot rate).

Brick weight, pallets, and delivery

Once you have a brick count, plan the logistics. A single modular clay face brick weighs roughly 4 to 5 pounds, so a 1,000-brick order is around 4,000-5,000 lb - over two tons. Bricks usually ship strapped on pallets or in "cubes" of about 500 modular bricks, and a loaded cube can weigh close to a ton on its own. That matters for three reasons:

• Access: a forklift or boom truck needs room to set pallets near the work, ideally on firm, level ground.
• Rounding: because bricks sell by the cube or pallet, your order rounds up to the next full unit - one more reason the 10% waste allowance rarely goes to waste.
• Sequencing: for a big facade, stage pallets along the wall so masons are not wheelbarrowing bricks the length of the site all day.

If you are also pouring a footing for the wall, schedule the concrete first and let it cure before the brick pallets arrive, so the heavy loads are not sitting on fresh concrete.

Courses and coursing height

Brick counts answer "how many," but masons also think in courses - the horizontal rows. The number of courses is the wall height divided by one brick height plus a joint. For modular brick, three courses with their joints stack to almost exactly 8 inches, which is why brick coursing lines up neatly with 8-inch concrete block and standard window and door heights. Knowing your course count helps you avoid a thin sliver course at the top: if the math leaves you a half-course short, you can adjust the joint thickness slightly across the wall or tweak the wall height in the design rather than cutting every brick in the final row.

Related materials and tools

Bricks are one piece of most builds. For the rest of the project, a sister tool fits better:

• For the footing or slab the wall sits on, use the Concrete Calculator to get cubic yards.
• To measure the wall or floor area first, use the Square Footage Calculator.
• For base material under a brick patio, use the Gravel Calculator.
• To dress garden beds beside a brick wall, use the Mulch Calculator.
• For any poured material by volume, use the Cubic Yard Calculator.
• To finish or seal a brick surface, use the Paint Calculator for coverage.

Sources

• Brick Industry Association (BIA) - Technical Notes on Brick Construction (brick sizes, coursing, and estimating).
• ASTM International - ASTM C216, Standard Specification for Facing Brick (dimensions and tolerances for US face brick).
• Brick Industry Association - Technical Note 10, Dimensioning and Estimating Brick Masonry.