Use this brick calculator to estimate whole bricks for a wall from its face area, actual brick dimensions, joints and optional openings or allowance.
Estimate a wall from brick dimensions and joints
Measure the wall face and check the actual brick size on your supplier sheet. The repeating face module is brick length plus joint, multiplied by brick height plus joint. Divide the net wall area by that module area using consistent units. Imperial wall areas are converted to square inches and metric wall areas to square millimeters before division. The Brick Industry Association technical note distinguishes specified brick dimensions from nominal dimensions that include a joint. Linear feet measure length along one course. A square foot measures wall face area. Length alone cannot determine a wall quantity without its height and the chosen brick module. The module estimate also does not lay out corner bonds, returns or individual cut pieces.
Feet / inches uses feet for the wall and inches for bricks and joints. Meters / millimeters uses meters for the wall and millimeters for bricks and joints.
A blank joint uses ⅜ in in imperial or an illustrative 10 in metric. These are separate editable assumptions. Changing the measurement system changes that blank default; enter the specified joint explicitly. Switching measurement systems keeps separate entries; a new system starts with blank dimensions so prior measurements are not reinterpreted.
The price field multiplies your quoted price by the pack-rounded quantity. It includes no labor, delivery or market-price estimate. A quoted price per thousand must first be divided by the quoted quantity to obtain a price per brick.
Brick Calculator example
- A 20 × 8 wall has 160 sq ft of face area.
- Select modular bricks with a 7⅝ × 2¼ in actual face and enter ⅜ in joints, with no openings or extra allowance.
- The unrounded estimate is 1,097.14286 brick equivalents, so the result is 1,098 bricks.
- A pack size of 1 keeps individual-brick purchasing.
Account for openings, layers and purchase packs
Subtract the total door and window area inside the measured face. Identical layers multiply the resulting face quantity; that control does not describe a cavity wall, corners or a bond pattern. Enter a cut and breakage allowance appropriate to the project, then round the final order up. Supplier packs can raise the purchased total again.
The metric preset uses a 10 × 3 face with 4 of openings, 215 × 65 actual bricks and 10 joints. With an entered 5% extra allowance, its 26 m² net face gives 1,618 bricks before pack rounding. For a measured 100 sq ft face with the modular preset and ⅜ in joints, the known-area mode gives 686 bricks.
Square Footage Calculator can measure a complex face as nonoverlapping sections before you enter that area here. Keep deductions in the same area unit as the wall.
Check the specified-versus-nominal distinction in the BIA dimensioning technical note before using a supplier size name.
The primary answer is the number of bricks purchased in whole packs. Required whole bricks before packs and the pack count are shown beside it; the entered-price total uses the purchased count.
One entered joint thickness applies on both face axes. The specified modular preset with ⅜ in joints uses the face module actually entered, rather than a nominal three-course module. Use the supplier dimensions and coursing requirement that match your wall. With the modular preset and that joint, the unrounded rate is 6.85714286 bricks per sq ft; changing the actual size or joint changes the rate.
Brick quantity is not mortar quantity
A brick estimate does not establish mortar coverage. Mortar demand depends on the product, joint geometry and construction method; follow the actual manufacturer coverage rather than treating every brick or bag size as interchangeable. Extra bricks bought for cuts or spares also are not all laid into the wall.
For concrete masonry units, Concrete Block Calculator estimates block counts and optional core fill. A separate poured footing belongs in Concrete Calculator, where volume and concrete bags use their own inputs. Neither calculation establishes structural suitability.
Crushed brick used as loose aggregate needs a bulk-volume estimate and a product-specific bulk density. This tool counts laid whole bricks and cannot convert its face count into a loose-fill order.