Brick Calculator
How many bricks and bags of mortar for your wall — from the wall area, with a waste allowance for cuts.
Your project
Total area: 0 sq ft
Estimates the brick and mortar for a wall face. It does NOT design footings, lintels over openings, wall ties, or reinforcement — those are structural and must follow your local code and, where required, a licensed engineer. Confirm quantities before buying.
What you need
What to buy
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Bricks to buy
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Mortar
— bags
Est. brick cost
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How we calculate it
bricks = round up( wall area × (1 + waste) × bricks-per-sq-ft ) • mortar bags = round up( bricks ÷ 1000 × bags-per-1000 )
Assumptions & sources
- Bricks per sq ft of wall face (⅜ in mortar joint): modular brick 6.75, standard brick 6.55 — source: Brick Industry Association Tech Note 10, Table 4
- Add at least 5% for waste and cut brick around openings and ends — source: BIA Tech Note 10
- Mortar uses the mason’s rule of thumb — about 8 bags of masonry cement per 1000 modular brick (waste included). Exact mortar varies by joint size, mix, and bag weight (70 lb Type N / 75 lb Type S) — source: BIA Tech Note 10
Formulas reviewed against manufacturer spec sheets and industry standards. Last verified 2026.
How to estimate brick and mortar
Bricks are figured from the wall’s face area: modular brick covers about 6.75 bricks per square foot with a standard 3/8-inch mortar joint. Multiply your wall area by that figure, add a waste allowance for cuts, and round up. Mortar is estimated by the mason’s rule of thumb — roughly 8 bags of masonry cement per 1,000 brick.
What to know
- It’s the wall face: Enter the wall’s area (length × height). For openings like doors and windows, you can subtract their area or let the waste allowance cover small ones.
- Mortar is a rule of thumb: Exact mortar depends on joint size, the mix, and the bag weight, so treat the bag count as an estimate and buy a little extra.
- Structure is separate: Footings, lintels over openings, and wall ties are structural — follow code and, where required, an engineer.
Common questions
How many bricks do I need for a 10×8 wall?
About 567 modular bricks (80 sq ft × 6.75 bricks/sq ft × 1.05 for waste). Standard brick would be about 551.
How many bricks are in a square foot?
For a wall face with a 3/8-inch joint, about 6.75 modular bricks or 6.55 standard bricks per square foot (Brick Industry Association).
How much mortar do I need?
A common rule of thumb is about 8 bags of masonry cement per 1,000 modular brick, with waste included. The exact amount varies with joint size and mix.