Brick Calculator — Bricks and Mortar for a Wall
Enter the wall area and get the brick count plus the mortar to lay them. Brick is sold by the piece and mortar by the bag, so both have to come out of the same measurement.
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We'll email the quantities above, what you typed in, and a link that reopens this calculator already filled in — so you can adjust it on your phone in the aisle.
How to work it out
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Measure the wall face
Length times height, in feet. Measure the face you are going to see — not the thickness. If the wall has more than one section, add a section for each rectangle and the calculator totals them.
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Take off the openings
Subtract doors and windows. A 3 × 5 ft window is 15 sq ft, a standard door about 21 sq ft. On a small wall it is safer to leave them in and keep the cut-offs — you will want them for closures at the corners.
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Pick the brick size
This matters more than anything else on the page. A modular brick covers about 21 square inches of wall including its mortar joint, so it takes just under seven of them to cover a square foot. A utility brick is more than twice the size, so the same wall takes less than half as many.
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Add waste, then order whole bricks
Ten per cent covers breakage, cuts and the odd cull that comes out of the pack unusable. Brick is delivered on a cube or a strap and you cannot return the loose remainder, so round to whole packs when you order and keep a few spare for repairs.
Bricks per square foot by size
Face size including a 3/8 in. mortar joint.
| Brick | Face size | With joint | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 7 5/8 × 2 1/4 in. | 8 × 2 5/8 in. — 21 sq in. | 6.86 |
| Standard | 8 × 2 1/4 in. | 8 3/8 × 2 5/8 in. — 22 sq in. | 6.55 |
| Queen | 7 5/8 × 2 3/4 in. | 8 × 3 1/8 in. — 25 sq in. | 5.76 |
| King | 9 5/8 × 2 5/8 in. | 10 × 3 in. — 30 sq in. | 4.80 |
| Utility | 11 5/8 × 3 5/8 in. | 12 × 4 in. — 48 sq in. | 3.00 |
Divide 144 by the face area in square inches to get the figure in the last column. Modular: 144 ÷ 21 = 6.86.
Bricks and mortar by wall size
Modular brick, single wythe, 10% waste, no openings deducted.
| Wall | Area | Bricks | 80 lb bags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 6 ft | 60 sq ft | 453 | 14 |
| 20 × 6 ft | 120 sq ft | 906 | 28 |
| 20 × 8 ft | 160 sq ft | 1,208 | 37 |
| 30 × 8 ft | 240 sq ft | 1,812 | 55 |
| 40 × 8 ft | 320 sq ft | 2,415 | 74 |
| 50 × 10 ft | 500 sq ft | 3,773 | 115 |
One 80 lb bag of mortar mix lays about 33 modular bricks.
How many bricks in a square foot?
Just under seven for a modular brick — 6.86, to be exact. The brick itself is 7 5/8 by 2 1/4 inches, but it does not sit on its own: add the 3/8 inch mortar joint on one long side and one short side and each brick occupies 8 by 2 5/8 inches of wall, which is 21 square inches. A square foot is 144 square inches, and 144 divided by 21 is 6.86.
That is why every brick calculator you will find quotes either 6.75 or 7. They are the same number rounded differently. Order to seven and you will have a handful spare, which is what you want.
How much mortar per 1,000 bricks?
About thirty 80 lb bags of pre-mixed mortar for 1,000 modular bricks — one bag lays roughly 33 of them. The bag count above is for pre-mixed mortar, which already has its sand in it — you do not buy sand as well. If you are mixing from scratch instead, it works out at roughly seven bags of masonry cement per thousand brick plus about 20 cubic feet of mason sand.
The figure moves with brick size, and not in the direction people expect. Bigger bricks mean fewer joints per square foot of wall, so a wall built from utility brick takes less mortar than the same wall in modular — even though each individual joint is longer.
Single wythe or double?
A wythe is one brick thickness. A single-wythe wall is one brick thick and is what almost every garden wall, planter and veneer is. A double-wythe wall is two, bonded together, and takes exactly twice the brick.
If you are building anything free-standing above about three feet, the thickness is a structural question and not one a calculator should answer for you. Height, wind load and footing all come into it. Get it looked at.
Do not forget the footing
Brick is heavy — a single-wythe wall runs about 40 lb per square foot of face — and it needs something solid underneath. A garden wall usually sits on a concrete strip footing below the frost line, twice the width of the wall and at least as deep as it is wide.
The footing calculator will tell you the concrete for that part. Work it out before you order brick, because the footing has to cure first.
Wall ties for a veneer
Brick veneer is not holding the house up — it hangs on the outside of a framed wall with an air gap behind it, tied back with corrugated metal ties. Code generally wants one tie per 2.67 square feet of wall, which works out at roughly every 16 inches vertically and 24 inches horizontally.
Tick the veneer box above and the calculator gives you the count. Buy more than it says; they cost pennies and running out mid-course is miserable.
How this is worked out
No black box — here is the arithmetic the calculator runs, so you can check it against your own numbers.
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wall area = length × height, summed over every sectionThe face you will see, not the thickness. -
net area = wall area − openingsDoors and windows are not bricked. -
face area = net area × number of wythesA double-thickness wall is two faces of brick. -
bricks = face area × (1 + waste) × bricks per sq ftBricks per sq ft is 144 ÷ the face area of one brick in square inches, joint included. -
mortar bags = bricks ÷ 33, adjusted for brick sizeOne 80 lb bag lays about 33 modular brick. Bigger brick, fewer joints, more bricks per bag. -
wall ties = net area ÷ 2.67Veneer only. One tie per 2.67 sq ft is the usual code maximum.
Common questions
How many bricks do I need per square foot?
6.86 for a modular brick, the most common US size. That is 144 square inches in a square foot divided by the 21 square inches one brick occupies with its mortar joint. Most people round it to seven.
How many bags of mortar for 1,000 bricks?
About 30 bags of 80 lb pre-mixed mortar. One bag lays roughly 33 modular bricks. If you mix your own it is about seven bags of masonry cement plus sand.
What size is a standard brick?
There are two answers, which is the confusing part. A modular brick is 7 5/8 × 2 1/4 × 3 5/8 in. and is designed so that brick plus joint comes to a round 8 inches. A brick actually called standard is 8 × 2 1/4 × 3 5/8 in. and does not course out to round numbers. Modular is far more common.
Should I deduct windows and doors?
On a large wall, yes — a few windows is a lot of brick. On a small one, leave them in. You need cut-offs for the closures at every corner and opening, and brick you have to go back for costs more than brick you did not use.
How much does a brick wall weigh?
Roughly 40 lb per square foot of face for a single wythe, double that for two. A 20 × 8 ft single-wythe wall is about 6,400 lb — which is why the footing matters and why you should not build one on top of anything you have not thought about.
How many bricks on a pallet?
Usually 500 or so for modular brick, though it varies by manufacturer and whether it comes strapped or cubed. Ask before you order: you generally cannot return part of a pallet, so it is worth knowing where the round numbers fall.
Can I use this for a brick veneer?
Yes — set the wall thickness to single wythe and tick the veneer box, which adds the wall ties. The brick count is the same as any single-wythe wall; a veneer is one brick thick with an air gap behind it.
What is the difference between mortar and concrete?
Mortar is cement, lime and fine sand, mixed sticky so it grips the brick and stays where you put it. Concrete has gravel in it and is made to be strong in a mass. They are not interchangeable — concrete makes a terrible mortar and mortar makes a weak footing.
Where these figures come from
Every figure below is traceable. How we check the numbers explains how they are verified, and the coverage reference collects them all in one place.
- Brick Industry Association — brick sizes, modular coursing and wall tie spacing
- Manufacturer product data — mortar bag yields per brick count
- International Residential Code, Chapter 7 — masonry veneer attachment
Think a number here is wrong? Tell us — we check every report, correct the page, and date the change. Last checked September 15, 2026.