Solve backwards
How much wall will my bricks build?
- 500 bricksThe example worked below
- Brick CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much bricks?
Worked by the Brick Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Wall Height
- 8 ft
- Waste Factor (%)
- 10
- Brick actual length
- 7.63 in
- Brick actual height
- 2.25 in
- Mortar joint width
- 0.38 in
- Brick depth (wall thickness)
- 3.63 in
What it will do
66.3 sq ft of wall face
6.16 m²
One brick wall. Enough for 8.3 ft of brick wall 8 ft high.
Or several. Less than one brick wall of the size the Brick Calculator opens on (19.5 ft of brick wall 8 ft high).
Check it forwards
- Wall Length
- 8.29 ft
- It asks for
- 500 bricks
- You have
- 500 bricks
The Brick Calculator asks for 500 bricks at that size, and 501 bricks one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the Brick Calculator at the same settings.
Half
250 bricks
33.1 sq ft
4.1 ft of brick wall 8 ft high
Yours
500 bricks
66.3 sq ft
8.3 ft of brick wall 8 ft high
Half as much again
750 bricks
99.4 sq ft
12.4 ft of brick wall 8 ft high
Double
1,000 bricks
133 sq ft
16.6 ft of brick wall 8 ft high
Common amounts
What each amount of bricks covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the Brick Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one brick wall | Average brick walls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 bricks | 33.1 sq ft(3.08 m²) | 4.1 ft of brick wall 8 ft high | under 1 |
| 500 bricks | 66.3 sq ft(6.16 m²) | 8.3 ft of brick wall 8 ft high | under 1 |
| 1,000 bricks | 133 sq ft(12.3 m²) | 16.6 ft of brick wall 8 ft high | under 1 |
| 2,000 bricks | 265 sq ft(24.6 m²) | 33.1 ft of brick wall 8 ft high | 1 |
The brick and the joint set the rate
The calculator derives bricks per square foot from the brick's actual face plus the mortar joint. A US modular brick, 7⅝ by 2¼ inches with a ⅜ inch joint, lays about 6.9 to the square foot; the UK standard 215 by 65 mm with a 10 mm joint lays about 60 to the square metre. Wider joints mean fewer bricks and more mortar.
One leaf, laid flat
The count is one wythe showing its long face. A second leaf or a cavity wall, header courses, rowlock bands and any bond that turns bricks to show their ends all put more bricks into the same wall — so a double-leaf garden wall is half the length shown here, from the same pallet.
Openings and corners are yours to take off
The wall is one plain rectangle, with nothing taken off for doors, windows or vents and nothing added for corners, returns or piers — so a wall with openings stretches further than shown. Ten per cent is carried for cuts, breakage and corners, and read backwards it comes off the pallet.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The Brick Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting brick wall in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
Brick Calculator
runs it forwardsEstimate how many bricks and how much mortar you need for a wall, calculated dynamically from your brick size and mortar joint width.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
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Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much wall face does 500 bricks of bricks cover?
- At the Brick Calculator's own settings, 66.3 sq ft (6.16 m²) — 8.3 ft of brick wall 8 ft high. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many bricks are in a square foot of wall?
- About 6.9 US modular bricks per square foot with a ⅜ inch joint, or about 60 UK standard bricks per square metre with a 10 mm joint — one leaf, before waste. Add about ten per cent for cuts and breakage when ordering.
- How much wall will 500 bricks build?
- About 66 square feet (6 m²) of single-leaf US modular brick wall once ten per cent is taken off for waste — a wall about 8 feet long and 8 feet high. With UK standard bricks, about 7.7 m². A double-leaf wall is half that.
- Does a garden wall need two layers of bricks?
- Often, yes — a single leaf of brick is only 3½ to 4 inches (about 100 mm) thick and suits low walls or veneer tied back to a structure. A freestanding wall of any height usually needs a double leaf or piers, and its thickness for the height is a matter for the building code, not the brick count.