Brick Calculator
This brick calculator tells you how many bricks to buy for a wall, a garden wall or a veneer. Enter the wall's length and height, subtract doors and windows, and set the brick size and mortar joint. You'll get bricks per square foot, the net count and an order quantity with a waste allowance. Add a price per brick to estimate the cost of materials.
Updated
Results
- Net wall area
- Bricks per sq ft (or per m²)
- Bricks without waste
- Estimated costShown when you enter a price per brick.
Results are estimates. See the methodology below.
How to use the calculator
- Wall length and height in feet.
- Openings: the total area of doors and windows in square feet. A 3 × 7 ft door is 21 sq ft.
- Brick size: only the face you see in the wall counts, length × height. The default is a modular brick, 7⅝ × 2¼ in (enter 7.625 and 2.25).
- Mortar joint: ⅜ in (0.375) by default.
- Waste: extra for breakage and cuts, 5% by default.
- Price per brick (advanced options) if you want a cost estimate.
You can switch to metric to work in meters and centimeters.
How it works
First, the net wall area:
net area = length × height − openings
Then the number of bricks per square foot, adding one joint to each face dimension:
bricks per sq ft = 144 ÷ ((brick length + joint) × (brick height + joint))
A modular brick with a ⅜ in joint takes up 8 × 2⅝ in = 21 sq in, which works out to 6.86 bricks per sq ft (shown rounded as 6.9). The net count is rounded up, then the waste percentage is added and the total is rounded up again.
The calculator assumes a single wythe with bricks laid as stretchers. It doesn't count special shapes, headers in multi-wythe bonds or mortar. For mortar, use our mortar calculator.
Examples
A 20 × 8 ft wall with a 21 sq ft door
Net area is 139 sq ft. With modular brick and ⅜ in joints you need 954 bricks net and 1,001 with 5% waste. At $0.75 a brick, a price used only for illustration, materials come to $750.75. Without the door, the same wall needs 1,098 net and 1,152 with waste.
Different brick sizes
Same 139 sq ft, ⅜ in joints, 5% waste:
| Face size | Per sq ft | Net | To order |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7⅝ × 2¼ in (modular) | 6.86 | 954 | 1,001 |
| 7⅝ × 2¾ in | 5.76 | 801 | 841 |
| 11⅝ × 3⅝ in | 3.00 | 417 | 438 |
A 30 × 4 ft garden wall
120 sq ft with no openings and 10% waste for cuts: 823 modular bricks net, 906 to order.
Reading the result
The Brick Industry Association (BIA) lists a modular brick as 3⅝ × 2¼ × 7⅝ in with a nominal size of 4 × 2⅔ × 8 in, and its estimating table gives 6.75 bricks per sq ft (675 per 100 sq ft) for a ⅜ in joint. The small difference from this calculator's 6.86 comes from course height: the nominal 2⅔ in course (three courses in 8 in) is slightly taller than 2¼ in plus a ⅜ in joint. Both figures are reasonable for ordering, and the waste allowance covers the gap.
Always check the actual dimensions on your supplier's product sheet, since sizes vary by manufacturer. Bump up the waste for walls with many corners, cuts or a pattern bond.
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks are in a square foot?
About 6.86 modular bricks with ⅜ in joints, according to this calculator's face-size method; the BIA's table lists 6.75. Larger units need fewer: an 11⅝ × 3⅝ in face works out to 3.00 per sq ft.
How much extra brick should I order?
The BIA's estimating guide says at least 5% is added to the net brick quantity delivered to the jobsite, which is the calculator's default. Use more for complex walls or if matching a color later would be hard.
Do I subtract windows and doors?
Yes. Enter their combined area in the openings field. If openings equal or exceed the wall area, the calculator shows an error.
How much mortar will I need?
This calculator counts bricks only. Our mortar calculator estimates the mix for masonry. The BIA also recommends adding 15 to 25% to net mortar quantities to allow for waste.
What standards cover brick and mortar?
ASTM C216 is the standard specification for facing brick made from clay or shale, and ASTM C270 covers mortars for unit masonry. Your supplier can tell you which grade and type a product meets.
Sources
This is a materials estimate for a single-wythe wall, not a substitute for a contractor's takeoff. Check actual brick dimensions with your supplier before ordering.