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The total wall face area.
The face area of the wall whose weight is wanted, measured over whatever actually bears on the support below. Self-weight is the load most often left out of a lintel, beam or footing check, because it is the one nobody delivers to site and nobody prices — and on a masonry wall it is routinely the largest single load present. Include the parapet if the support carries it.
The specific block product's weight per unit wall area, from its manufacturer data sheet.
130 kg/m² is a reasonable estimate for standard hollow 8 in CMU, ungrouted — fully grouted or solid CMU can be significantly heavier (250+ kg/m²).
Total wall self-weight
8,520 lb
Unit weight varies significantly between hollow, partially grouted, and fully grouted CMU — always use the specific value for your actual grouting pattern, not a generic assumption.
- Equivalent in kN
- 37.91 kN
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
CMU Wall Self-Weight Calculator: 8,520 lb — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Wall self-weight = wall area x unit weight per unit area, using the specific block product's published weight per square meter/foot (which already accounts for the block's hollow core geometry and any grout)
Inputs used
- Wall Area
- 320 sq ft
- Unit Weight
- 26.63 lb/sq ft
Intermediate steps
- Equivalent in kN
- 37.91 kN
Confidence note: Unit weight varies significantly between hollow, partially grouted, and fully grouted CMU — always use the specific value for your actual grouting pattern, not a generic assumption.
What this calculation does not cover
- The unit weight you type is the only thing carrying the wall's construction. Nothing here derives it from block size, aggregate class, percent solid or grout spacing, so entering a fully grouted figure for a partially grouted wall — or the reverse — is wrong by the whole difference between the two.
- Only the masonry and its grout. Parge coat, render, stucco, adhered or anchored veneer, insulation, furring, board finishes and attached steel are all additional dead load and none of it is in this total.
- The area you type is treated as solid wall. Openings are not deducted, and the lintels, jambs and bond beams around them are not added — those courses are grouted and reinforced, so they weigh more per unit area than the field of the wall.
- A total, not a distribution. It gives no load per unit length at the base, no split between what a lintel, beam or shelf angle picks up and what runs straight to the footing, and no eccentricity on the supporting element.
- This is a dead load quantity, not a design check. No load factors or load combinations are applied, and nothing here verifies that the wall, its supports, its footing or the bearing soil can carry the result.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-06 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.1.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Wall self-weight = wall area x unit weight per unit area, using the specific block product's published weight per square meter/foot (which already accounts for the block's hollow core geometry and any grout)
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