Brick Calculator – Estimate Bricks and Mortar
Calculate how many bricks and bags of mortar you’ll need for a wall or masonry project by entering the wall dimensions and selecting a brick size. Optionally, estimate the cost of materials by adding the price per brick.
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Joe is the creator of Inch Calculator and has over 20 years of experience in engineering and construction. He holds several degrees and certifications.
How Many Bricks do you Need?
Bricks are a versatile building material that are relatively small and best suited for exterior walls, chimneys, and fireplaces. Many bricks have three or more holes in the center to reduce the weight, raw materials, and cost.
Bricks are commonly made of clay or shale and are kiln-baked. They are often laid in courses or rows and are held in position by laying them in a bed of mortar and filling all the joints with mortar.
The type of brick you choose will determine how many you need for a wall because every kind of brick is a slightly different size. The thickness of the mortar bed you use can also vary your material needs.
This calculator assumes a 3⁄8” mortar bed.
Calculate how many bricks you need using the calculator above. You’ll also get a cost estimate for materials.
You can also refer to the coverage table below or keep reading to learn how to perform the calculations yourself.
How to Calculate How Many Bricks You Need
A wall built with a standard modular brick will require seven bricks per square foot to complete the project. Projects using different sizes may need more or less.
Follow the steps below for an accurate estimate.
Step One: Find Square Footage of the Wall
The first thing you need to do to estimate the number of bricks you’ll need is to determine how much area you need to cover in square feet. To do this, measure the width and height of your wall or surface.
Once you’ve measured the wall’s width and height, you can find the area in square footage by multiplying the wall’s width in feet times the wall’s height in feet.
For example, let’s find the area of a 10′ wide wall that is 8′ high.
area = 10′ × 8′ = 80 sq. ft.
Step Two: Find Square Footage of Each Brick
After you know the surface area that you need to brick, you need to find the area that each brick will cover.
The easiest way to do that is to find each brick’s area in square inches and then divide by 144 to convert square inches to square feet. Keep in mind that there will also be a 3⁄8” mortar joint between each brick.
For example, let’s find the area of a modular brick measuring 7 5⁄8” wide x 2 1⁄4” high
To get the square footage of a modular brick, add 3⁄8” to each dimension to account for the mortar joint, then use the formula (length × width) ÷ 144 = sq. ft. of the brick.
brick & mortar width = 7 5⁄8 + 3⁄8 = 8
brick & mortar height = 2 1⁄4 + 3⁄8 = 2 5⁄8
brick ft2 = (8 × 2 5⁄8) ÷ 144
brick ft2 = 21 ÷ 144 = .1458
You can also use a square feet calculator to easily find the square footage of your brick.
Step Three: Find How Many Bricks Fill the Wall
You can determine the number of bricks needed to cover your area by dividing the square footage of the area to be covered by the brick’s square footage (wall ft2 ÷ brick ft2).
For example, now let’s find the number of modular bricks needed to cover the 80 ft2 wall from the earlier examples. Use the following formula:
80 ÷ .1458 = 549 bricks
We strongly recommend adding 10% additional material to cover any waste and account for any broken blocks or cuts.
The brick calculator above accounts for partial bricks and cutoffs automatically, and may return a different number for your project.
Check out our concrete block calculator to find the number of concrete blocks needed for a project. Concrete blocks, or cinder blocks, are larger than bricks, but the strategy to find the number of bricks cover a surface can be used to find the number of concrete blocks to cover a surface.
How Much Mortar do you Need?
You can estimate mortar by referring to the coverage rate for the specific mortar used on the project. Most mortar products require one bag of cement per 100-142 bricks, depending on the size.
One bag of cement is needed for every 142 modular, 125 queen, or 100 utility bricks. This estimate assumes using a mortar that needs to be mixed with three parts sand. A 1:3 cement to sand mix will require one yd3 of sand for every seven bags of mortar.
Pre-mixed bags of mortar are also readily available, and an 80-pound bag of mix will often yield 30-36 bricks. Divide the total number of bricks by 36 to calculate the bags needed. Try our mortar calculator to calculate mortar needs more accurately.
Brick Coverage Table
It is important to note that there are many types of bricks and many sizes as well. See some of the most common brick types and sizes below, along with an estimate of how many you’ll need per square foot (or square meter).
| Brick Style | Size (D x H x W) | Weight | Coverage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | Millimeters | Pounds | Kilograms | Bricks per Ft² | Bricks per M² | |
| Modular | 3 5⁄8” x 2 1⁄4” x 7 5⁄8“ | 92mm x 57mm x 194mm | 4.2 lbs | 1.9 kg | 7 | 73 |
| Queen | 3 1⁄8” x 2 3⁄4” x 7 5⁄8“ | 79mm x 70mm x 194mm | 4.1 lbs | 1.86 kg | 6 | 73 |
| Closure | 3 5⁄8” x 3 5⁄8” x 7 5⁄8“ | 92mm x 92mm x 194mm | 6.8 lbs | 3.1 kg | 4.5 | 48 |
| Standard | 3 5⁄8” x 2 1⁄4” x 8″ | 92mm x 57mm x 203mm | 4.5 lbs | 2 kg | 6.5 | 70 |
| Jumbo Standard | 3 5⁄8” x 2 3⁄4” x 8″ | 92mm x 70mm x 203mm | 5.9 lbs | 2.7 kg | 6 | 61 |
| King | 2 3⁄4” x 2 5⁄8” x 9 5⁄8“ | 79mm x 70mm x 244mm | 5.6 lbs | 2.5 kg | 4.5 | 49 |
| Roman | 3 5⁄8” x 1 5⁄8” x 11 5⁄8“ | 92mm x 41mm x 295mm | 4.7 lbs | 2.1 kg | 6 | 64 |
| Norman | 3 5⁄8” x 2 1⁄4” x 11 5⁄8“ | 92mm x 57mm x 295mm | 6.4 lbs | 2.9 kg | 4.5 | 49 |
| Utility | 3 5⁄8” x 3 5⁄8” x 11 5⁄8“ | 92mm x 92mm x 295mm | 10.2 lbs | 4.6 kg | 3 | 32 |
