Brick Calculator
Calculate how many bricks you need for a wall (including mortar, openings, and waste) or how much wall area your bricks will cover.
Calculation Steps
Practical Guide
Brick Calculator
This guide explains how the Brick Calculator works, what inputs matter most, and how to interpret the results for real walls. You’ll see the core equations, common layout patterns, waste rules, and worked examples so you can order confidently without over- or under-buying.
Quick Start
If you just want an accurate brick takeoff fast, follow these steps. They mirror the calculator’s logic and prevent the most common counting mistakes.
- 1 Select what you want to solve for (usually Bricks needed).
- 2 Enter your wall geometry: length and height. If you’re solving for area covered, enter bricks available instead.
- 3 Subtract openings. Add up all windows/doors and enter the total openings area. If you don’t subtract these, you can over-order by 5–20%.
- 4 Choose wall thickness (half-brick, one-brick, etc.). This sets the number of wythes in the wall and directly affects total bricks.
- 5 Confirm brick dimensions (length, width, height) and mortar joint thickness. The calculator uses the effective brick module (brick + joint).
- 6 Set waste/breakage allowance. Start with 8–10% for standard running bond and increase for complex bonds or many cuts.
- 7 Review the result and quick stats (net wall area, wall volume, bricks per area, cost). Compare against sanity checks below before ordering.
Tip: If your brick type is unknown, use a common modular size first, then re-run the calculator once the spec is fixed.
Watch your units: Keep walls and openings in consistent area units (ft² or m²). Brick sizes and joints must be in the same length units (in or mm).
Choosing Your Method
Brick takeoffs typically follow one of these approaches. The Brick Calculator supports the same reasoning, but does the unit conversion and volume-to-count steps for you.
Method A — Wall Dimensions (most common)
Use when you know wall length and height from drawings or field measurements.
- Best for new walls, veneers, and repeated wall segments.
- Easy to subtract openings and niches explicitly.
- Gives you wall volume, which matters for multi-wythe walls.
- Requires length/height per wall set if all walls vary.
- Curved walls need a careful length estimate.
Method B — Total Area Takeoff
Use when plans or bid docs already list brickable area.
- Fastest route for budgeting and early pricing.
- Great for large façades where area is tabulated.
- Openings are easy to miss if you trust gross area blindly.
- Less transparent for field checks.
Method C — Bricks Available → Area Covered
Use when you’re working from inventory or surplus bricks.
- Useful for temporary walls, garden projects, or re-use.
- Helps validate whether stock is enough before layout.
- Still needs accurate brick/joint sizes and thickness.
- Area output should be treated as net face only.
In practice, A and B should agree within a few percent if openings and joints are handled correctly. If they don’t, re-check openings, thickness, and brick module.
What Moves the Number
Brick counts are a volume-to-module problem. The calculator’s output is most sensitive to the variables below.
Doubling thickness (half-brick → one-brick) roughly doubles brick count because volume increases linearly with \(T\). Thickness presets correspond to typical wythes; use Custom if your wall is unusual.
Joints inflate the effective brick module in all directions: \(l_{eff}=l_b+j\), \(w_{eff}=w_b+j\), \(h_{eff}=h_b+j\). Thicker joints mean fewer bricks per area.
Smaller bricks increase bricks per ft²/m². Switching from modular to queen or utility sizes can change totals by 10–25%.
Every square foot of openings removes a full thickness of brick volume. If openings are dense, double-check window schedules and door sizes.
Waste captures chips, cuts, breakage, and attic stock. It often dominates the “final order” difference between two estimators.
Running bond tends to be low-waste. Herringbone, basket-weave, soldier courses, and diagonal layouts drive more cutting and higher waste.
Worked Examples
The Brick Calculator converts all inputs to a consistent internal unit system, computes wall volume, divides by effective brick volume, then applies waste and rounding. These examples show the same path step-by-step.
Example 1 — Bricks Needed for a Standard Veneer Wall
- Wall length: \(L=24\ \text{ft}\)
- Wall height: \(H=9\ \text{ft}\)
- Openings: \(A_o=18\ \text{ft}^2\)
- Thickness: half-brick \(T\approx 4\ \text{in}\)
- Brick size: modular \(l_b=8\ \text{in},\ w_b=3.625\ \text{in},\ h_b=2.25\ \text{in}\)
- Mortar joint: \(j=0.375\ \text{in}\)
- Waste: \(w=8\%\)
\[ A_{net}=L\,H-A_o =24\cdot 9-18 =198\ \text{ft}^2 \]
\[ V_{wall}=A_{net}\,T \approx 198\ \text{ft}^2 \cdot 4\ \text{in} \approx 0.187\ \text{m}^3 \] (calculator handles unit conversion)
\[ V_{eff}=(l_b+j)(w_b+j)(h_b+j) \] \[ =(8.375)(4.0)(2.625)\ \text{in}^3 \approx 88.0\ \text{in}^3 \approx 0.00144\ \text{m}^3 \]
\[ N_{raw}=\frac{V_{wall}}{V_{eff}} \approx \frac{0.187}{0.00144} \approx 130 \] \[ N=\lceil N_{raw}(1+w)\rceil =\lceil 130(1.08)\rceil =141\ \text{bricks} \]
Your calculator should return a value in this range (small differences come from exact conversion factors and rounding). If your result is far off, check that openings are in ft² and joints are in inches.
Example 2 — Total Cost for a One-Brick Landscape Wall
- Wall length: \(L=12\ \text{m}\)
- Wall height: \(H=1.2\ \text{m}\)
- Openings: none
- Thickness: one-brick \(T\approx 0.204\ \text{m}\)
- Brick size: 215×102.5×65 mm (common metric)
- Mortar joint: \(j=10\ \text{mm}\)
- Waste: \(w=12\%\) (many corners/caps)
- Cost per brick: \(c_{unit}=\$0.90\)
\[ A_{net}=L\,H=12\cdot 1.2=14.4\ \text{m}^2 \]
\[ V_{wall}=A_{net}\,T =14.4\cdot 0.204 =2.94\ \text{m}^3 \]
\[ V_{eff}=(0.215+0.010)(0.1025+0.010)(0.065+0.010) \approx 0.00189\ \text{m}^3 \]
\[ N=\left\lceil \frac{2.94}{0.00189}(1.12)\right\rceil \approx \lceil 1742\rceil =1742 \] \[ C=N\,c_{unit} =1742\cdot 0.90 \approx \$1568 \]
The cost result assumes uniform price per brick and does not include mortar, ties, labor, caps, or reinforcing. Treat it as a material-only brick budget line item.
Common Layouts & Variations
Brick type, bond, and wall role change both the count and the practical waste you should set. Use this table to pick a realistic configuration.
| Configuration | Typical Use | Effect on Count | Pros / Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-brick veneer (1 wythe) | Exterior cladding over backup wall | Baseline (lowest count) | + Light & economical; − not structural on its own |
| One-brick wall (2 wythes) | Free-standing garden & perimeter walls | ~2× veneer count | + More stable; − more material cost |
| Running bond (stretcher) | Standard façades | Low cutting, low waste | + Fast lay; − less visual variety |
| Stack bond | Modern architectural patterns | Minor count change, higher waste | + Clean grid look; − needs tighter alignment |
| Herringbone / diagonal panels | Accents, interior feature walls | Same theoretical count, +cuts | + High visual impact; − 12–15%+ waste typical |
| Soldier/sailor courses | Headers, lintels, parapets | Often increases cuts | + Strong detailing; − may require special shapes |
- Confirm bond selection before setting waste.
- Check course height vs. brick + joint.
- Include movement joints in takeoff length.
- Count corners and returns separately if detailed.
- Verify whether caps/coping use different units.
- Match brick orientation to drawing callouts.
Specs, Logistics & Sanity Checks
The Brick Calculator gives an engineering-correct count, but ordering is still a field-critical decision. These notes help you translate the number into a safe purchase.
Typical Waste Ranges
Simple running bond: 5–8%
Many openings/corners: 8–12%
Complex bonds/diagonals: 12–15%+
Repair/patch matching old work: add extra attic stock.
If crew experience is mixed or tolerances are tight, bias high. Under-ordering causes schedule hits and dye-lot mismatches.
Brick Specs to Verify
- Nominal size vs. actual size (manufacturers vary).
- Required joint thickness from spec.
- Exposure type (veneer vs. structural).
- Strength and absorption class for climate.
- Color/dye lot and blending requirements.
On-Site Sanity Checks
- Compare bricks/ft² or bricks/m² to similar jobs.
- Dry-lay a small sample to confirm coursing.
- Track pallets by lot—don’t mix randomly.
- Stage pallets near work zones to reduce breakage.
- Protect from mud and freeze–thaw if stored long-term.
Finally, remember what this calculator doesn’t include: mortar volume, reinforcement, ties, flashing, lintels, labor, scaffold, or waste from rework. Treat the brick count as the core material quantity and layer project-specific allowances on top.