Bricks Needed Calculator
Counting bricks is an area problem. Work out how much wall there is, subtract the holes, and divide by the area one brick occupies once the mortar joint is included.
Bricks needed
956
- Gross wall area
- 160
- Area after openings
- 139
- Bricks per square foot
- 6.5501
- Courses of brick
- 37
- Bricks per course
- 29
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
bricks = (wall area - openings) x 144 / ((brick length + joint) x (brick height + joint)) x (1 + waste)
- wall area
- Length times height of the wall
- openings
- Doors, windows and any other gaps
- joint
- The mortar thickness added to both brick dimensions
- waste
- Extra allowance for cuts, breakage and specials
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Measure the wall and subtract the openings
A 20 foot wall that is 8 feet high covers 160 square feet. A door and a window take out 21 square feet, leaving 139 square feet to be bricked.
- 2
Add the mortar joint to the brick
Three eighths of an inch on each dimension turns an 8 by 2.25 inch brick into an 8.375 by 2.625 inch unit, which is 21.98 square inches of wall per brick.
- 3
Convert to bricks per square foot
144 divided by 21.98 is 6.5501, so every square foot of wall takes about six and a half bricks plus the odd cut one.
- 4
Multiply up and add waste
139 times 6.5501 is 910.5, and adding 5 percent for cuts and breakage gives 956 bricks to order. Rounded up, because you cannot buy half a brick.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate Bricks Needed page.