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Brick Calculator

Estimate how many bricks and how much mortar you need for a wall, calculated dynamically from your brick size and mortar joint width.

Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Figures are presented for United States against IRC 2024, and every formula is cited under regulatory standards below.

Last verified 2026-08-26 · v2.0.0

Market
Imperial · sales tax
19.69 ft7.87 ft
Schematic, drawn to the proportions you entered — not to scale on screen.
Who is doing the work?

The standard allowance most suppliers and estimating guides assume for ordinary work.

Estimated brick needed

1170 bricks

High confidence
Wall area
155 sq ft
Coverage rate (from your dimensions)
6.86 bricks/sq ft
Base brick count (no waste)
1063 bricks
Mortar mix needed
13 80 lb bags

For the dimensions entered, expect a result of 1170 bricks. Of the working steps, base brick count (no waste) dominates at 1063 bricks. Set for United States against IRC 2024. The market selector changes both the units and the code cited.

Estimated cost — your price

This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.

Preliminary estimate, not certified engineering. This tool produces an indicative quantity calculation for planning purposes only — it is not a certified structural analysis, a guaranteed material takeoff, or a substitute for building department approval. Always verify measurements on-site and have a licensed contractor or structural engineer review any load-bearing, code-sensitive, or safety-critical work before purchasing materials or starting construction. Spotted an arithmetic or standards error? Report it to contact@craftquantities.com with your inputs — confirmed fixes become pinned regression tests.

[Schema Verified] Computed in alignment with American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19) formulas and International Residential Code (IRC 2024) spatial boundaries.

Regulatory standards & verification citations

  • Bricks per square foot is derived geometrically from nominal brick face dimensions (actual brick size + mortar joint width) rather than a single fixed rate, since brick products and joint widths vary
  • Mortar volume is derived from the gap between actual and nominal brick face dimensions across the wall's depth; one 80 lb bag of mortar mix yields approximately 0.66 cubic feet when mixed

Your workspace

Most jobs need more than one number. Add the calculators you need next and they open right here, underneath this one — your figures stay on screen and nothing is lost to a page change.

Frequently asked questions

Does this account for door and window openings?
No — subtract the area of any openings from your wall area before entering it here for a more precise count.
Why isn't the coverage rate a fixed '7 bricks per square foot' anymore?
That figure is a widely-quoted rounded rule of thumb for one specific brick size and joint width. This calculator derives the real coverage rate geometrically from your actual brick dimensions and mortar joint, so it stays accurate for larger format brick (Norman, Roman, Utility) or non-standard joint widths.
How is the mortar bag estimate calculated?
It's the volume of the gap between each brick's actual size and its 'nominal' size (actual size plus one mortar joint), multiplied by the brick's depth and the number of bricks, then converted using the typical yield of an 80 lb bag of pre-mixed mortar (about 0.66 cubic feet once mixed).