Home › Building Projects › Brick Calculator
Brick Calculator
Bricks and mortar bags for a wall, by brick type and wall size.
Bricks are ordered by the hundred or the pallet, and a garden wall eats them faster than intuition suggests — a modest wall can pass a thousand bricks. This calculator estimates brick count from wall area and brick type, with the standard mortar joint built into the coverage rate, plus the mortar bags to lay them.
Coverage differs by brick because the mortar joint is a fixed size while the brick is not: smaller bricks mean more joints and more bricks per square foot. The rates below include a standard 3/8 inch mortar joint, and the waste allowance covers cuts at ends and corners plus the occasional cracked brick in every pack.
Calculate
Enter your measurements — the estimate updates as you type.
Estimates for planning and buying only. Product coverage varies by brand — check the label of the exact product you buy.
How to use this calculator
- Measure the wall length and the height above ground; for a stepped wall on a slope, measure each step as its own rectangle and add them.
- Choose the brick type by its real name on the supplier's listing — rates differ by more than double between types.
- Decide single or double skin honestly: any freestanding wall over about two feet deserves double skin or piers.
- Add the waste allowance, then price the count by the pallet as well as per brick.
How brick quantities are calculated
Bricks = wall area (sq ft) x bricks per sq ft for the type x skins, plus waste. The per-square-foot rates assume a standard 3/8 inch mortar joint, so the joint is already counted — do not add it again. Mortar bags are estimated at one 80 lb bag of pre-mixed mortar per roughly 37 standard bricks laid.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Ordering brick by the wall's face area while building double skin — the wall silently needs twice the count.
- Ignoring the mortar joint when doing mental maths with bare brick sizes, which overstates how much wall each brick covers.
- Mixing bricks from only one pack at a time and ending with visible bands of slightly different colour; blend from at least three packs as you lay.
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks are in a square foot of wall?
With a standard 3/8 inch joint, modular brick needs about 6.55 bricks per square foot of single-skin wall. Larger brick formats need fewer; small and paving bricks need many more.
How much mortar does a brick wall need?
Roughly one 80 lb bag of pre-mixed mortar per 35 to 40 standard bricks for a single-skin wall with normal joints. Very deep or raked joints use more.
Does a double-skin wall need ties?
Yes. The two skins must be tied together with wall ties at regular intervals, and the calculator's brick count assumes straightforward double skin without piers — add extra bricks for piers if your design has them.
How many bricks come on a pallet?
Typically around 500 standard bricks per pallet, but it varies by brick size and supplier. Pallets are heavy — about a ton — so confirm where the delivery truck can set it down.
Related calculators
Concrete Bag Calculator
Cubic yards of concrete and 40, 60 and 80 lb bags for a slab or footing.
Open calculator →Deck Board Calculator
Deck boards, linear feet and a screw estimate for a rectangular deck.
Open calculator →Fence Calculator
Panels, posts, rails and concrete for a straight panel fence run.
Open calculator →