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The height of brick veneer resting on this shelf angle before the next angle below.
Typically one floor-to-floor height in a multi-story building with shelf angles at each floor line.
The nominal thickness of the brick veneer.
Standard brick veneer with an air space is commonly about 3.5-4 in (90-100mm) thick.
The density of the brick material.
1,900 kg/m³ is a reasonable estimate for standard clay brick veneer.
Load on shelf angle
396 lbf/ft
This is the veneer dead load only — the shelf angle and its anchor bolts must also be checked for the angle's own weight, any eccentricity from the veneer's offset from the angle's support point, and deflection limits, all outside this calculator's scope.
- Equivalent in lb/ft
- 395.51 lb/ft
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Masonry Veneer Shelf Angle Load Calculator: 396 lbf/ft — 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)
- Load per linear meter = supported veneer height x veneer thickness x brick density x gravitational acceleration
Inputs used
- Supported Veneer Height
- 10 ft
- Veneer Thickness
- 4 in
- Brick Density
- 118.61 pcf
Intermediate steps
- Equivalent in lb/ft
- 395.51 lb/ft
Confidence note: This is the veneer dead load only — the shelf angle and its anchor bolts must also be checked for the angle's own weight, any eccentricity from the veneer's offset from the angle's support point, and deflection limits, all outside this calculator's scope.
What this calculation does not cover
- This is the weight of the veneer only. The shelf angle's own weight, its anchors and flashing, and anything else bearing on the same run — a lintel over an opening, a sill course, a parapet or coping — are not in the figure. Where an opening interrupts the wall, the tributary height above the angle is not simply the floor-to-floor height either.
- It is a service load, not a design. Nothing here sizes the angle, its anchor bolts or the connection back to the frame, applies a load factor, or accounts for the moment and torsion from the veneer bearing outboard of the angle's support point, or for the angle's deflection limit. Those are engineering checks and this number is only the starting input to them.
- The veneer is modelled as a solid wythe at one bulk density. Enter the thickness of the brick alone — not brick plus air space, sheathing or insulation — and expect the real weight to move with coring, mortar joint size and how saturated the brickwork is.
- The density field stops at 2,400 kg/m³ (about 150 pcf), which covers clay and concrete brick. Dense natural stone veneer sits above that ceiling — granite and marble run roughly 2,600-2,750 kg/m³ — and a density typed above the maximum is capped back to it, so the load comes back low.
- None of the lateral side is covered: wind and seismic pressure on the veneer, the tie spacing that carries it back to the backup wall, and the soft compressible joint that must sit under the angle so the veneer below is not loaded are all separate calculations.
Add the equipment this sizes
This result is a specification — 396 lbf/ft — not a quantity. Put the thing it sizes into your project: how many, what you call it, and your supplier’s price.
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 2026-09-02 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.1.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Load per linear meter = supported veneer height x veneer thickness x brick density x gravitational acceleration
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