Brick Calculator
With wall length 20 ft, wall height 8 ft, waste factor 10 percent, brick comes to 1,188 bricks — bricks to order. It is reached in 4 steps, the last of which is ceil(160 * 6.75 * (1 + 10 / 100)), and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by Brick Industry Association, not an approximation fitted to it.
Bricks and mortar for a wall, by brick size — modular, queen, king or utility. Includes the mortar bags and the masonry sand, at about 125 bricks a bag.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Wall length 20 ft, Wall height 8 ft, Brick size Modular — 6.75 per sq ft, Waste factor 10
1,188 bricks
Bricks to order for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Wall area
20 * 8160 sq ft- Bricks to order
ceil(160 * 6.75 * (1 + 10 / 100))1,188 bricks- Mortar (70 lb bags, about 125 bricks each)
ceil(1188 / 125)10 bags- Masonry sand
10 * 0.05750.575 tons
Several at once
A job is rarely one of anything. Work out the first, add it, change the figures and add the next — the list keeps what each line was, and totals them.
Worked example
A 20 × 8 wall in modular brick is 160 sq ft and 1,188 bricks with 10% waste, taking about 10 bags of mortar. The per-square-foot rates already include a 3/8 in mortar joint — measuring the bare brick and dividing gives roughly 15% too many.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Measure the wall face in feet and multiply length by height for the area.
- 2.Multiply by the units per square foot for your brick size. These figures already include a 3/8 in mortar joint.
- 3.Add 10% for waste — more if there are corners, openings or a pattern other than running bond.
- 4.Allow one 70 lb bag of mortar per 125 bricks, plus masonry sand if you are mixing from lime and cement.
What does it cost?
Typical price is $0.5–$1.2 per brick. Materials only. Bricklaying labour typically costs several times the brick itself.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Modular face brick | $0.5–$1.2 per brick |
| Mortar, 70 lb bag | $8–$15 per bag |
| Installed brick veneer | $12–$30 per sq ft |
Price ranges as of 2026. Materials pricing moves — treat these as a sanity check on a quote, not as a quote.
The formula
- Wall area
20 * 8 - Bricks to order
ceil(160 * 6.75 * (1 + 10 / 100)) - Mortar (70 lb bags, about 125 bricks each)
ceil(1188 / 125) - Masonry sand
10 * 0.0575
Source: Brick Industry Association — technical notes on brick construction, National Concrete Masonry Association
Questions people actually ask
- Do these rates include the mortar joint?
- Yes. The standard figures assume a 3/8 in joint, which is what modular brick sizing is built around. A brick measuring 7 5/8 in occupies 8 in of wall once it is laid.
- Why is the waste factor so high for brick?
- Corners, openings and any pattern other than a running bond force cuts, and a cut brick usually yields one usable piece rather than two. Ten percent is the floor; arched or soldier-course work runs higher.
- What is the difference between the brick sizes?
- Face area, which is what drives cost. Modular is the 8 × 2 1/4 in standard; king and queen are taller and longer, so fewer cover the same wall and labour drops. Utility brick at 3 per sq ft is less than half the units of modular.
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