Enter your wall’s length and height to find out how many bricks you need — with mortar joints and a 10% waste allowance built in.
What Is a Brick Calculator?
A brick calculator estimates how many bricks a wall needs: wall area times the bricks-per-square-foot rate. The standard modular brick (7.625 × 2.25 inches) with 3/8-inch mortar joints lays about 6.55 bricks per square foot — the industry figure used here. Mortar joints are the key detail beginners miss: dry-stacked bricks need about 7.5 per square foot, but the mortar gaps in real work space them out to 6.55. A waste allowance (typically 10%) covers breakage, cuts around openings and sorting.
How to Use
- Enter the wall’s length and height in feet.
- Pick the brick type.
- Set the waste allowance (default 10%).
- Click “Calculate Bricks” and order the waste-inclusive total.
Formula
Wall area = length × height (sq ft). Bricks = area × 6.55 (standard with mortar). Order quantity = ceil(bricks × (1 + waste%)).
Worked Example
A 10 ft × 8 ft wall = 80 sq ft. Bricks = 80 × 6.55 = 524. With 10% waste: 524 × 1.10 = 576.4, rounded up to 577 bricks to order.
How It Works, In Plain Words
Everything starts with the wall’s face area. The tool multiplies your length by your height — 10 ft by 8 ft gives 80 sq ft — because bricks are laid across a surface, so the count scales with area rather than with length alone. It then multiplies that area by the bricks-per-square-foot rate for the brick type you picked. For the standard brick that rate is 6.55, and it already includes the 3/8-inch mortar joints: a standard brick measuring 7.625 × 2.25 inches covers more wall once the mortar around it is counted, which is why the rate is lower than the roughly 7.5 you would get by dry-stacking the bricks with no gaps. The jumbo option uses 4.5 per square foot, as an approximation for larger blocks. Finally, the waste allowance is applied: the raw count is increased by your chosen percentage — 10% by default — and the total is rounded up to the next whole brick, because you cannot order part of one. That rounding is why 524 bricks at 10% becomes 576.4 on paper but 577 bricks to order. Leave the waste box empty and the tool quietly uses 10%; enter a negative waste figure and it treats it as zero.
Real-World Uses
A garden or boundary wall. Measuring the run and the height and running this tool first turns a vague guess at the merchant’s counter into a firm order: the waste-inclusive total is the number to ask for, and the bricks-needed figure shows what the wall itself will actually use. A wall with a door or window in it. The FAQ method applies: work out the full wall, subtract each opening’s area, then run the reduced area through the same maths — the tool handles any rectangular wall, so the net area is all it needs. Budgeting before you commit. The Benefits list makes the point that the total can be multiplied by your local brick price: with 577 bricks to order for the example wall, one multiplication gives the brick cost of the job, and the mortar estimate — roughly one bag of mix per 30–40 standard bricks — sizes the other main material.
Benefits
- The industry-standard 6.55 rate with mortar joints
- Waste allowance built in — order once, order right
- Works for any rectangular wall
- Helps budget: multiply by your local brick price
Features of Our Tool
- Instant results in your browser
- No sign-up, no download, 100% free
- Works on mobile, tablet and desktop
- Clear step-by-step explanation below the tool
- Private — your entries never leave your device.
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting mortar joints and using the dry-stack 7.5 rate — you will over-order
- Not subtracting doors and windows: measure the wall, then subtract openings
- Skipping the waste allowance: cuts and breakage always happen
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The mistakes list above covers the rate, the openings and the waste allowance, and a few more habits are worth avoiding. The first is measuring in the wrong units: the boxes expect feet, so a wall measured in inches or metres must be converted before it is typed in, or the area — and therefore the whole order — will be wildly wrong. The second is ordering the bricks-needed figure instead of the waste-inclusive total: 524 is what the example wall uses, but 577 is what you should buy, because the difference is exactly the cuts and breakage the allowance exists for. The third is leaving the standard brick type selected when the job uses jumbo blocks: the rate drops to about 4.5 per square foot, so picking the right type matters as much as the measurements.
FAQ
How many bricks do I need for a 10 × 8 ft wall?
524 bricks, or 577 with a 10% waste allowance.
How many bricks per square foot?
About 6.55 for standard bricks with mortar joints.
Do I subtract windows and doors?
Yes — compute the wall, then subtract each opening’s area before multiplying by 6.55.
How much mortar do I need?
Roughly: one bag of mortar mix lays about 30–40 standard bricks, depending on joint size.
What waste percentage should I use?
10% is standard; use 15% for walls with many openings or complex cuts.
What does the tool do if I leave the waste box empty?
It uses the default 10% allowance, so the order total still includes cover for cuts and breakage. A negative waste figure is treated as zero.
Why is the order total rounded up instead of down?
Because bricks are sold whole. The 10% waste step turns 524 bricks into 576.4, and rounding down would leave you short on site — so the tool always rounds the order quantity up, to 577 in the worked example.