How Thick Is The Wall?STEP 1
Wall & Brick0 SQ FT
= 10 ft 0 in
Type it the way your tape reads it. This box understands 12ft 6in, 12' 6", 12 6 and 6 1/2, and it echoes back what it understood. Building all four sides? Add the four lengths together and enter the total.
= 8 ft 0 in
A 3/8 in joint is the reference every published brick count uses. Go to 1/2 in and a 10 x 8 ft modular wall drops from 540 bricks to about 508, so the joint is worth setting before you order.
Doors and windows
Leave this on for brick. Unlike drywall you do not lay brick over an opening and cut it out afterwards, so the opening really is bricks you never buy. Keep the waste allowance up though, because every opening edge is a cut brick and a lintel.
no doors
no windows
Cubes, Mortar Yield & Ties
Cube counts are not standardized. Modular cubes commonly run somewhere around 500 pieces but other sizes and other plants differ, so type the number from your own supplier's ticket. Set it to 0 to hide the cube line.
Published figures for an 80 lb bag of preblended mortar genuinely disagree, running from roughly 25 to 40 modular bricks per bag depending on joint size, brick absorption, how much you temper and how much falls off the board. That is why this tool gives you a range instead of a single number. The bag you buy prints its own coverage figure. Use that one.
A brick veneer over wood framing, steel studs or a block backup is tied back to the structure. One tie per 2.67 sq ft is the common layout (16 in across by 24 in up). Your local code, the backup material and the wind zone govern the real spacing, so treat this as a planning number only.
Wall Elevation1:SCALE
Drawn to your real length and height, with your real coursing. Openings are placed for illustration, not to your actual layout.
Bricks To BuyLIVE
Bricks to buy
0 bricks
Waste allowance, shown as its own line
5% for a plain running bond wall with square corners. 10% once there are openings, returns or a soldier course. 15% or more for a pattern bond, an arch, a curve or a lot of cut bricks. Breakage in transit and on site is real, and a brick that does not match the rest is worse than a spare pallet.
Bricks & Courses#BRICK
Mortar & Ties#MORTAR
Materials Ticket#BRICK
Enter the wall size to build the ticket.
Order the whole wall in one delivery and ask for one blend or one run. Clay brick color shifts between kiln runs, and a patch bought later will read as a patch from across the street.
How This Is CalculatedSHOW WORK
Where 6.75 bricks per square foot comes from
A modular brick is sized so that the brick plus its mortar joint lands on a round number. With a 3/8 in joint the face a modular brick occupies in the wall is 8 in long by 2 2/3 in high. That is 21.33 square inches, and there are 144 square inches in a square foot, so 144 / 21.33 = 6.75 bricks per square foot for a single wythe in running bond. A 10 ft by 8 ft wall is 80 sq ft, which is 540 bricks before any waste allowance.
The 2 2/3 in figure is a coursing figure: three courses of modular brick make exactly 8 in of height. The brick itself is specified at 2 1/4 in high and 7 5/8 in long, and the mortar makes up the rest. That is also why changing the joint changes the count. This calculator adds the difference between your joint and the 3/8 in reference to both face dimensions, so a 1/2 in joint gives a face of 8.125 by 2.792 in and about 6.35 bricks per square foot.
Sizes vary by manufacturer, and the supplier's spec sheet wins
Modular, standard, Roman, Norman and utility are well settled sizes. Queen and king are not. They are marketing names for oversized bricks and the actual dimensions differ from plant to plant: a queen may be 7 5/8 or 7 3/4 in long and 2 3/4 in high, and a king may be 9 5/8 or 9 3/4 in long and 2 5/8 or 2 3/4 in high. The numbers in the size list are the common versions, which is enough for a budget, but before you place the order pull the spec sheet for the exact brick you are buying and type its face size into the custom option.
Single wythe versus double wythe
A wythe is one brick thickness. A single wythe wall is one brick thick, about 4 in nominal, and is what a veneer, a garden wall or a chimney chase usually is. A double wythe wall is two of them side by side, about 8 in nominal, and it needs twice the brick plus a collar joint of mortar between the two wythes. This calculator doubles the count and adds the collar joint volume when you switch to double wythe.
Anything structural, anything freestanding above a few feet, and anything retaining soil is an engineering and a permit question rather than a calculator question. Check with your local building department first.
Mortar: why this tool gives you a range
Two honest methods give two different answers and this page shows both.
The geometry. The mortar in the wall is the face area of the cell minus the face area of the brick, times the depth of the brick. For modular brick with 3/8 in joints that is about 15.1 cubic inches per brick, or roughly 8.8 cubic feet of mortar per 1,000 bricks. That is what ends up in the wall.
What masons actually buy. Field figures are much higher, commonly quoted somewhere between 25 and 40 bricks per 80 lb bag of preblended mortar. The gap is real material: mortar that falls off the board, mortar that stiffens past use, furrowed beds, over full head joints, and the batch you throw away at the end of the day. Neither number is wrong, and published sources genuinely disagree inside that range, so this tool gives you a low and a high and lets you edit both.
If you mix your own from masonry cement and sand rather than buying bags, the volume of damp loose sand you need is roughly equal to the volume of finished mortar, because the cement paste fills the voids between the sand grains. That line is shown as an approximation, not a spec.
Openings, lintels and the cut brick problem
Openings come straight out of the wall area, which is why the deduction is on by default. What the deduction does not do is make the job easier. Every opening edge is a line of cut brick, every opening needs a lintel or a brick arch above it carrying the load across, and the jamb has to keep the bond. Deduct the opening area, then push the waste allowance up to 10% or more to pay for the cutting.
Working out an odd shaped wall first? Use the square footage calculator, then come back and enter the total. Laying block behind the brick? See the concrete block calculator. Pouring the footing under it? See the concrete calculator.
Brick Quick ReferenceSCREENSHOT ME
Bricks per square foot, single wythe, 3/8 in joint
| Brick | Face with joint | Per sq ft | Per 100 sq ft | Specified size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 8 x 2 2/3 in | 6.75 | 675 | 7 5/8 x 2 1/4 in |
| Standard, non modular | 8 3/8 x 2 5/8 in | 6.55 | 655 | 8 x 2 1/4 in |
| Engineer modular | 8 x 3 1/5 in | 5.63 | 563 | 7 5/8 x 2 13/16 in |
| Queen | 8 x 3 1/8 in | 5.76 | 576 | 7 5/8 x 2 3/4 in |
| King | 10 x 3 in | 4.80 | 480 | 9 5/8 x 2 5/8 in |
| Economy or jumbo | 8 x 4 in | 4.50 | 450 | 7 5/8 x 3 5/8 in |
| Norman | 12 x 2 2/3 in | 4.50 | 450 | 11 5/8 x 2 1/4 in |
| Roman | 12 x 2 in | 6.00 | 600 | 11 5/8 x 1 5/8 in |
| Utility | 12 x 4 in | 3.00 | 300 | 11 5/8 x 3 5/8 in |
What the joint size does to the count
| Joint | Modular face | Per sq ft | 10 x 8 ft wall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 in | 7.875 x 2.542 in | 7.19 | 576 |
| 3/8 in, standard | 8.000 x 2.667 in | 6.75 | 540 |
| 1/2 in | 8.125 x 2.792 in | 6.35 | 508 |
| 5/8 in | 8.250 x 2.917 in | 5.98 | 479 |
Mortar per 1,000 bricks
| Figure | Modular, 3/8 in joint | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Mortar in the wall, geometry | 8.8 cu ft | Bed and head joints only, nothing wasted |
| Add 25% for site waste | 11.0 cu ft | Board loss, tempering, end of day batch |
| 80 lb bags, best case | 25 bags | At 40 bricks per bag |
| 80 lb bags, worst case | 40 bags | At 25 bricks per bag |
| Damp loose sand if mixing your own | about 11 cu ft | Roughly equal to the finished mortar volume |
Waste allowance by job
| Job | Waste | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Plain running bond, square corners | 5% | Cuts only at the ends |
| Wall with doors and windows | 10% | Every jamb and sill is a cut |
| Pattern bond, soldier or header courses | 10 to 15% | Cuts through the field, not just the edge |
| Curved wall, arches, corbels | 15 to 20% | Angled cuts waste most of the brick |
| Repair or match to existing | 20% or more | Sorting for color match rejects pieces |
Now Price The Job
- Concrete BlockCMU, courses, core fill
- Retaining WallBlocks, base, drainage
- ConcreteFootings and slabs
- Square FootageOdd shapes and curves
- GravelTons and yards of base
- Cubic YardAny depth of fill
- PaversPavers, sand, base
- SidingSquares of siding
- DrywallSheets, mud, tape
- InsulationBatts and blown R value
- PaintGallons per coat
- FencePosts, rails, pickets
Brick Calculator FAQ
How many bricks do I need for a 10 x 8 ft wall?
A 10 ft by 8 ft wall is 80 sq ft. With modular brick and a 3/8 in joint that is 6.75 bricks per square foot, so 540 bricks for a single wythe before waste, and 567 with a 5% allowance. Double wythe doubles it to 1,080 before waste.
Checked the other way round, the wall is 36 courses high at 2 2/3 in per course and 15 bricks long at 8 in per brick, and 36 x 15 is the same 540. If those two methods disagree in your own numbers it is because the wall height is not a whole number of courses.
How many bricks are in a square foot?
6.75 modular bricks per square foot for a single wythe in running bond with a 3/8 in mortar joint. That is 144 square inches divided by the 8 by 2 2/3 in face the brick plus its joint occupies.
Other sizes: standard 6.55, engineer modular 5.63, queen about 5.76, king about 4.80, Norman 4.50, Roman 6.00 and utility 3.00. Double all of these for a double wythe wall. Queen and king in particular vary between manufacturers, so confirm the face size on your supplier's spec sheet.
Does the mortar joint size change how many bricks I need?
Yes, and by more than people expect. The joint is part of the space each brick occupies. On a 10 by 8 ft modular wall a 3/8 in joint needs 540 bricks, a 1/2 in joint needs about 508 and a 1/4 in joint needs about 576. That is a swing of nearly 70 bricks on a small wall.
3/8 in is the standard and it is the joint behind every published bricks per square foot figure, so it is the default here. Change it if your mason works differently, and change it before you order rather than after.
How much mortar do I need per 1,000 bricks?
The mortar that ends up in the wall works out at about 8.8 cubic feet per 1,000 modular bricks with 3/8 in joints, which is pure geometry: the cell area minus the brick area, times the brick depth. Add about 25% for site waste and you are near 11 cubic feet.
Bagged mortar is quoted differently and the published figures disagree, running from roughly 25 to 40 bricks per 80 lb bag. That is why this calculator prints a range rather than one number. Both ends of the range are honest; where you land depends on joint size, brick absorption, how much you temper and how much falls on the ground. Buy the first pallet, lay 200 bricks, then measure your own rate.
What is the difference between single wythe and double wythe?
A wythe is one brick thickness. Single wythe is one brick thick, about 4 in nominal, and covers most veneers, garden walls and chimney chases. Double wythe is two of them face to face, about 8 in nominal, and needs exactly twice the brick plus the collar joint of mortar between the two wythes.
Thickness is a structural decision, not a preference. Anything freestanding above a few feet, anything holding back soil and anything carrying load is a question for your local building department and, above their trigger height, for an engineer.
Do I subtract doors and windows from a brick estimate?
Yes. Brick is laid around an opening rather than over it, so an opening is brick you genuinely never buy. That is why the deduction is on by default here, which is the opposite of the drywall rule where you sheet over the opening and cut the hole out afterwards.
What the deduction does not do is make the wall easier. Every jamb and sill is a line of cut brick and every opening needs a lintel or an arch over it. Deduct the area, then raise the waste allowance to 10% or more to pay for the cutting.
How many bricks are in a cube?
There is no standard number, which is why this calculator asks you for it rather than assuming one. Modular cubes commonly land somewhere near 500 pieces, but the count changes with the brick size, the plant, the strap pattern and the pallet, and larger units like utility brick come far fewer to a cube.
Get the figure off your own supplier's price list or delivery ticket and type it in. Cubes are sold whole, so the tool rounds up and tells you how many spare bricks the last cube leaves you. Keep them.