Measure the wall face
Enter the total run of wall and its height, then add each door and window with its own size. For a house, add the length of every wall together and work with an average height, or calculate each elevation separately.
Brick calculator
Brick, mortar &
wall cost calculator
A free online brick calculator that turns wall dimensions and openings into an order-ready count of bricks or concrete blocks, plus mortar bags or cement and sand, wall ties, reinforcement and course heights. US, UK, Australian, Indian and South African unit sizes included. Then enter your price per brick to cost the wall.
Enter measurements ↓Optional
What will it cost?
Every material the calculator worked out gets its own price. Each field starts at a typical US figure so you have something to work from — change any of them to what your own supplier charges.
These prices are approximate. They are national US retail figures, and what you actually pay varies with your region, your supplier, the season and how much you buy at once. Treat them as a starting point, not a quote — always price the job from your own supplier's current figures before you order.
Your prices
More in this series
Pick the wall you are building
This page counts units and mortar. These tools take one kind of wall — block, pavers, retaining — and work it out with the maths that wall actually needs.
- Concrete Block Calculator Concrete blocks, pallets, mortar bags, grout fill and rebar
- Paver Calculator Pavers, gravel base, bedding sand, joint sand and edging
- Retaining Wall Calculator Wall blocks, caps, base stone, drainage backfill and geogrid
- Concrete Block Sizes and Weights Nominal and actual CMU dimensions, weights and course heights
- Brick Dimensions and Course Heights US brick sizes, bricks per square foot, course heights and wall ties
- Paver Sizes and Weights Paver sizes and thicknesses, weight each and what a pallet weighs
- Retaining Wall Block Sizes Garden, segmental and large block dimensions, weights and blocks per square foot
- Brick Weight and Bricks per Pallet What a brick weighs by size, how many bricks are on a pallet, what a pallet weighs and bricks per square foot
Metric and elsewhere
Wall ties, bricks per square metre and metric formats
The calculator runs on US formats and imperial units, but the same wall gets specified in metric almost everywhere else, and the two rarely line up. A UK or Australian standard brick is 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm, which lays at about 60 bricks per square metre in a single skin with a 10 mm joint, or 120 for a double skin. A South African imperial brick at 222 × 106 × 73 mm works out nearer 52 per square metre.
Wall ties are the other figure that has no US equivalent in the same form. A cavity wall takes ties at 900 mm horizontally and 450 mm vertically, which is 2.5 ties per square metre — roughly 25 ties per 1 000 bricks in a single skin, and double that across a cavity. Add an extra tie every 300 mm vertically down both sides of any opening, which on a typical window adds a dozen or so.
Switch the units in the form to see every figure in millimetres, square metres and litres. The brick count itself does not change — only what it is measured in.
Tools for the job
What makes this job easier
Tools and materials that suit this kind of job. These are affiliate links: if you buy through one, Renovimo may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the figures on this page.
Garvee
Two-wheel wheelbarrow
Stable on two wheels for bagged concrete, block and soil.
Check price
Garvee
Folding platform truck, 1300 lb
Moves stacks of bags, block and brick without a wheelbarrow tipping.
Check price
Garvee
20V cordless hammer drill
Drills masonry and concrete for anchors, and drives screws everywhere else.
Check price
Garvee
Telescoping work platform
Spans two ladders or steps for ceilings, upper walls and stairwells.
Check price
Garvee
Telescoping scaffold plank, 69–112 in
Spans two ladders for ceilings, crown and the top of the wall.
Check price
Garvee
Clear PVC tarp, 8 × 10 ft
Covers a fresh slab to cure, or keeps a lumber or drywall stack dry.
Check price
Not the tool you were after? Browse the whole range at Garvee — the store these picks come from.
Based on your result
What you'll need
Quantities update after every calculation. Order bricks and blocks from one production batch where possible, because colour and size vary between batches.
- Bricks or blocks
Selected unit size, including the waste allowance
- Calculate above
- Jamb closers
Half units cut for the reveals in running bond
- Calculate above
- Mortar
Pre-mixed bags, or cement for a site-mixed batch
- Calculate above
- Sand
Building sand for site-mixed mortar
- Calculate above
- Wall ties
Ties between wythes, or to the backing structure
- Calculate above
- Bed reinforcement
Ladder or mesh reinforcement laid in the bed joints
- Calculate above
- Lintels
One per opening, sized with the bearing at each end
- Calculate above
- Damp-proof course
DPC or flashing along the base of every leaf
- Calculate above
- Weep holes
Above the DPC and over every lintel or cavity tray
- Calculate above
- Movement joints
Vertical joints that let the wall expand and shrink
- Calculate above
- Core fill grout
Grout for filled block cores on retaining walls
- Calculate above
- Cavity trays and insulation
Trays over openings, cavity insulation and sealants
- As required
Foundations, structural reinforcement, lintel sizes, cavity insulation and movement-joint spacing are project-specific and are not included in these quantities.
Masonry guide
How this brick calculator estimates bricks and mortar
Masonry is counted per unit of wall face. The brick calculator adds the mortar joint to the unit length and height to get the module size, divides the net wall area by that module, and multiplies by the number of wythes in the wall.
Mortar follows from the joints rather than a flat rule of thumb: the bed and head joint around every unit, bedded full for solid brick and on the face shells for hollow block, plus the allowance for furrowing, squeeze-out and waste on the board.
Add the joint to the unit
A modular brick with a 3/8 in joint occupies 8 × 2⅔ in, which gives about 6.9 bricks per square foot. A UK brick with a 10 mm joint occupies 225 × 75 mm, or just under 60 bricks per square metre.
Count the leaves of the wall
A single-wythe garden or veneer wall uses one leaf. A full-brick or cavity wall uses two, which doubles the units and adds a collar joint or cavity plus wall ties between the leaves.
Allow for cuts and breakage
Ten percent suits most walls. Increase it where there are many returns, angles, arches or reveals, and where units are handled several times before they reach the wall.
Concrete block and retaining walls
Standard American concrete blocks have a 16 × 8 in nominal face, which works out at 1.125 blocks per square foot, or 112.5 blocks per 100 square feet. UK blocks at 440 × 215 mm give about 10 blocks per square metre. Only the thickness changes between a 4, 6, 8 and 12 in block, so the face count stays the same while the mortar volume and wall weight rise.
Both of those walls now have their own tool, because both need maths this page does not do. The concrete block calculator lays the wall out in courses and sizes the grout by how many cells you actually fill — solid, every 16 in or every 32 in are three very different pours. The retaining wall calculator adds the buried course, the setback, the levelling pad and the drainage stone behind the face.
A retaining wall above four feet of exposed height needs a stamped design and, in most US jurisdictions, a permit. Quantities from either page are for budgeting and ordering, not a structural design.
Mortar calculator for brick and blockwork
Mortar is quoted two ways. Pre-mixed bags are simplest: an 80 lb bag yields roughly 0.6 cubic feet of mortar, which lays roughly 60 modular bricks by the joint volume (bag labels quote 35 to 37 bricks for a generous mix) or about 12 concrete blocks. Site-mixed mortar is quoted as a cement to sand ratio, commonly 1:4 for general brickwork, 1:5 or 1:6 for internal blockwork.
This mortar calculator works from the joint geometry of the unit you selected, then adds the site allowance masons actually use: solid bricks take a full bed, hollow blocks are face-shell bedded, and a thicker joint or a second wythe raises the volume automatically. Sand and cement are shown as dry, loose volumes: a wet mortar volume needs roughly 30 percent more dry material, which is the standard dry-volume allowance in masonry estimating.
Mix only what can be laid before the mortar starts to stiffen, keep the mix consistent so the joint colour matches across the wall, and protect fresh work from rain, frost and direct sun.
Unit sizes
Bricks per square foot and per m²
Rates below include the standard joint for each format. Change the joint in the form and every rate updates with it.
- Modular brick
- 7⅝ × 2¼ in with a 3/8 in joint: about 6.9 bricks per square foot of wall face.
- UK standard brick
- 215 × 65 mm with a 10 mm joint: 59.3 bricks per square metre, the trade figure of 60, for a single skin.
- Concrete block
- 16 × 8 in nominal face: 1.125 blocks per square foot, whatever the block thickness.
- Australian brick
- 230 × 76 mm with a 10 mm joint: about 48.5 bricks per square metre.
The maths
From wall area to brick count
Each unit occupies its own size plus one mortar joint in both directions. Dividing the net wall area by that module gives the rate per square foot or square metre, and mortar is whatever volume of the wall the units do not fill.
net area = wall length × height − openings
module = (unit length + joint) × (unit height + joint)
units = net area ÷ module × wythes × waste
courses = wall height ÷ (unit height + joint)
mortar = (bed + head joint) × units × site allowance
module = (unit length + joint) × (unit height + joint)
units = net area ÷ module × wythes × waste
courses = wall height ÷ (unit height + joint)
mortar = (bed + head joint) × units × site allowance
- 01
Measure the wall face
Total run of wall by height, then subtract every door and window opening.
- 02
Pick the unit size
US, UK, Australian, Indian and South African formats, plus concrete blocks and custom sizes.
- 03
Set the joint
3/8 in is standard in the US, 10 mm across the UK, Australia, India and South Africa.
- 04
Choose the build-up
One wythe for a veneer or garden wall, two for a full-brick or cavity wall with ties.
- 05
Order whole packs
Units, mortar bags, cement, ties and reinforcement are each rounded up separately.
Before you order
Brick and block questions, answered
Sizes and weights for every named format are in brick dimensions and course heights and concrete block sizes and weights.
About 6.9 modular bricks per square foot of single-wythe wall with a 3/8 in joint, because each brick occupies 8 by 2 5/8 in with its joints. The often-quoted 6.75 comes from nominal 8 by 2 2/3 in coursing. A two-wythe wall needs twice that.
A UK standard brick with a 10 mm joint occupies 225 by 75 mm, so 59.3 bricks per square metre for a single skin, quoted in the trade as 60, and double that for a one-brick wall. Australian bricks give about 48.4 per square metre.
Standard 16 × 8 in blocks give 1.125 blocks per square foot, so a 24 by 8 ft wall without openings needs about 216 blocks before waste.
About 10 cubic feet for 1,000 modular bricks, which is roughly 17 pre-mixed 80 lb bags at a 0.6 cubic foot yield. That is the Brick Industry Association figure: 8.1 cubic feet of mortar in the joints of 1,000 modular bricks at a 3/8 in joint, plus 15 to 25 percent because mortar is furrowed, squeezed out and lost in the mixer (BIA Technical Note 10, Table 4). Blockwork works out at about three bags per 100 blocks.
1:4 is the general-purpose mix for brickwork, 1:3 where higher strength is specified, and 1:5 or 1:6 for internal blockwork. Follow the specification or engineer for structural work.
Yes, and every opening is entered on its own row with its own width and height, so a wide patio door and a small bathroom window are deducted separately. The total opening area is removed from the wall before the units are counted.
For a paved area, calculate the paving area and divide by the face area of one paver plus the joint. This page is set up for vertical walls, so pavers laid flat need the paver face dimensions entered as a custom unit.
Yes. In running bond each jamb finishes with a half brick on every second course, so a 6 ft 9 in door adds around 30 closers on a single-wythe wall. Each closer is cut from a whole brick, so the calculator counts them and adds the missing half on top of the area figure. Stack bond aligns the joints and needs none.
The calculator uses about one tie per 2.7 square feet for two-wythe and cavity walls, which matches the common 900 × 450 mm spacing. Local codes, wind exposure and cavity width can require more.
One lintel per opening, each as wide as the opening plus the bearing you set at both ends, which is normally 4 to 6 in in the US and 150 mm in the UK. DPC runs the full length of every leaf, and weep holes are counted along the DPC and over each lintel at the spacing you choose, up to the 33 in maximum.
No download is needed: the same page works as a brick calculator app and a block calculator app in the phone browser. Add it to the home screen from the browser menu and it opens with an icon while you are on site, with the 3D wall and every unit size available.
No. It estimates quantities only. Foundations, reinforcement, lintels, retaining-wall design, movement joints and code compliance need a qualified engineer or building professional.
Planning estimate only. Confirm unit sizes, joint thickness, mortar specification, tie spacing, reinforcement and structural requirements with your supplier, engineer or building control before ordering or starting work.