Brick Calculator
Enter wall dimensions, brick standard and bond pattern to get the brick count with joints and waste included, plus the mortar volume in bags.
Last updated: 2026-09-22
How the calculation works
- Bricks per square foot come from published counts for each standard and bond — joint spacing built in.
- US modular brick (7⅝ × 2¼ in actual) lays 6.9 per ft² in stretcher bond with 3/8 in joints.
- UK standard brick lays 60 per m² in stretcher bond; English and Flemish bonds roughly double or 1.45× that.
- The 5% allowance covers breakage and cuts; mortar follows the 0.7 ft³ per 1000 brick working average.
Formula
bricks = wall_ft² × bricks_per_ft² × 1.05 US modular stretcher: 6.9 /ft² (English 13.5, Flemish 10.0) UK standard stretcher: 60 /m² → × 0.0929 for ft² mortar_ft³ = bricks/1000 × 0.7 (stretcher) — bags = ft³ / 1.1
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
A | Wall face area | ft² |
per_ft² | Bricks per square foot by bond | 1/ft² |
1.05 | Waste and breakage allowance | — |
Worked example
Interpreting the result
Order the calculated count in full strap quantities (usually 500 US / 400 UK per strap). Stretcher bond is what most veneer and garden walls use; English bond doubles the count per area because headers span two wythes — it's a structural pattern, not a veneer one. Brick is heavy: a 30 ft wall at 8 ft is about 5,200 lb, which matters for column-supported canopies and lintel sizing.
Assumptions
- Single wythe (4 in veneer) wall — double wythe doubles the count.
- Standard 3/8 in (10 mm) joints.
- US modular brick 7⅝ × 2¼ in face; UK 215 × 65 mm face.
Limitations
- Special shapes (soldiers, rowlocks, sills, arches) priced and counted separately.
- Mortar estimates are working averages for moderate absorption brick.
- Efflorescence, tint variation and pallet-to-pallet color shifts are batch concerns, not count concerns.
Brick counts as a pricing tool
Brick is quoted per thousand, delivered. The count this calculator produces translates directly into a material budget: at $600–900 per thousand for common modular brick, a 240 ft² wall runs $1,000–1,600 in brick alone, plus mortar and labor. Masonry labor typically adds $8–15 per ft² of wall — three to five times the brick cost. That ratio is why the brick count matters most at estimating stage: it's the input to a quote that is dominated by the crew time, and being 10% off on bricks is noise while being 10% off on labor days is money.
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks per square foot?
About 6.9 for US modular brick in stretcher bond with 3/8 in joints. English bond needs ~13.5 per ft²; Flemish ~10. UK standard brick runs 60 per m² (5.6 per ft²) in stretcher.
How much waste should I add for bricks?
5% covers normal breakage and cuts — it's included in this calculator's count. Add 7–10% if the wall has many corners, pilasters or soldier courses, which force short cuts.
What is the difference between stretcher and English bond?
Stretcher bond shows only the long face of every brick — a single wythe veneer. English bond alternates courses of stretchers and headers (short face out), producing a two-brick-thick structural wall, which is why it needs about twice the bricks per area.