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Brick Calculator

Construction

Calculate how many bricks you need to build a wall based on wall size, brick dimensions, mortar joint thickness, and wastage percentage for accurate ordering.

Reviewed by the thecalcu.com team · Last updated August 1, 2026

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Number of Bricks Needed

1,153
Wall Area
160

This calculator computes your Number of Bricks Needed, Wall Area from the values you enter.

Inputs
Wall LengthWall HeightBrick LengthBrick HeightMortar Joint ThicknessWastage
Outputs
Number of Bricks NeededWall Area

What is a Brick?

A Brick Calculator estimates how many standard bricks you need to build a wall of a given length and height, accounting for the mortar joints between bricks and a wastage allowance for cuts and breakage. Ordering the wrong quantity of brick is a common and costly mistake, too few means a delayed project waiting on a second delivery, and too many ties up budget in unused material.

This tool applies your wall dimensions, brick size, mortar joint thickness, and wastage percentage to calculate a precise brick order quantity. If your project also involves a concrete foundation or footing, the Concrete Calculator can help you plan that part of the build, and the Square Footage Calculator is useful for measuring irregular wall sections.

Why Use a Brick Calculator?

Manually estimating brick quantities often leads to rough guesses that either overshoot the budget or leave a project short of material mid-build. This calculator removes that uncertainty by factoring in the exact brick footprint, including the mortar joint, along with a wastage buffer for cuts and breakage.

A typical use case: a homeowner planning a 20-foot by 8-foot garden wall enters those dimensions along with standard 8-inch by 2.25-inch brick and a 10% wastage allowance, and instantly sees they need about 1,153 bricks, a number they can use directly when requesting a quote from a masonry supplier.

Who Should Use This Calculator?

  • DIY homeowners planning a brick garden wall, mailbox pillar, or accent feature who need an accurate material estimate before ordering.
  • Masonry contractors and bricklayers who want to quickly cross-check brick quantities for a project bid or material order.
  • General contractors coordinating brick veneer installation on a new build or renovation project.
  • Landscape designers specifying brick retaining walls or garden features who need quick estimates alongside tools like the Gravel Calculator for the surrounding hardscape.
  • Estimators and project managers comparing brick against other materials, such as Concrete Calculator block or poured wall options, for a construction budget.

What Insights Does the Brick Calculator Give You?

Number of Bricks Needed is the primary result, the total brick count required for your wall, including the wastage allowance you specified. This is the figure you'll use when placing an order with a brick supplier or comparing quotes.

Wall Area shows the total square footage of the wall being calculated, based on your entered length and height. This is a useful cross-check figure, you can compare it against your supplier's brick-per-square-foot coverage rate, or use it alongside other material calculators like the Paint Calculator if you're finishing an adjacent surface.

How to use this Brick calculator

  1. Enter your Wall Length in feet.
  2. Enter your Wall Height in feet.
  3. Enter the Brick Length in inches, 8 inches is the US standard modular brick default.
  4. Enter the Brick Height in inches, 2.25 inches is the standard default.
  5. Enter the Mortar Joint thickness in inches, 3/8 inch (0.375) is standard.
  6. Set your Wastage percentage to account for cuts, breakage, and corners, 10% is a reasonable default for most walls.
  7. Review the Number of Bricks Needed result, shown as the primary output, and check the Wall Area figure for a quick cross-check against supplier coverage rates.
Show formula & methodology ↓Show less ↑

Formula & Methodology

The calculator uses the following steps:

Wall Area (sq ft) = Wall Length × Wall Height

Brick Footprint (sq ft) = ((Brick Length + Mortar Joint) × (Brick Height + Mortar Joint)) ÷ 144

Number of Bricks = ceil((Wall Area ÷ Brick Footprint) × (1 + Wastage %))

Worked example: For a 20-foot by 8-foot wall, using 8-inch by 2.25-inch bricks with a 3/8-inch mortar joint and 10% wastage:
Wall Area = 20 × 8 = 160 sq ft
Brick Footprint = ((8 + 0.375) × (2.25 + 0.375)) ÷ 144 = (8.375 × 2.625) ÷ 144 ≈ 0.1527 sq ft
Number of Bricks = ceil((160 ÷ 0.1527) × 1.10) = ceil(1,152.8) = 1,153 bricks

This gives you a final order quantity of 1,153 bricks, enough to cover the full wall area with a 10% buffer for cuts and breakage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Brick Calculator work?
The calculator multiplies your wall length and height to get the total wall area, then divides that by the footprint of a single brick, including its mortar joint, to find how many bricks fit in that area. It then adds your specified wastage percentage to account for cuts, breakage, and offcuts, and rounds up to the nearest whole brick. This gives you a realistic number to use when ordering material.
What is the standard size of a brick in the US?
The most common modular brick size in the US is 8 inches long by 2.25 inches high (with the actual brick body typically closer to 7.625 x 2.25 inches, with the remainder made up by the mortar joint). This calculator defaults to those dimensions but lets you adjust Brick Length and Brick Height for other brick types, such as Norman, Roman, or oversized brick.
What is the formula for calculating how many bricks I need?
First calculate wall area as Length × Height in square feet. Then calculate the brick footprint (including mortar joint) in square feet, and divide wall area by brick footprint to get a base brick count. Finally, multiply by (1 + wastage percentage) and round up to get your final order quantity.
How much wastage should I add when ordering bricks?
A wastage allowance of 5 to 10 percent is standard for most brick projects, covering broken bricks, cuts around corners and openings, and general handling loss. Complex wall layouts with lots of corners, arches, or openings may need a higher allowance of 10 to 15 percent. This calculator lets you adjust the Wastage input to match your specific project's complexity.
What is the standard mortar joint thickness for brickwork?
The standard mortar joint thickness in US residential and commercial construction is 3/8 inch (0.375 inches), which this calculator uses as its default. Some specialty brick styles or design preferences call for thinner or thicker joints, ranging anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. Adjusting the Mortar Joint input changes both the brick footprint and, in turn, the total brick count.
Does this calculator account for door and window openings?
No, this calculator estimates bricks for a solid wall area based on the length and height you enter. If your wall has door or window openings, you should subtract their combined area from your Wall Length × Wall Height total before running the numbers, or simply reduce your effective wall dimensions to account for the openings. Alternatively, increase your wastage percentage slightly to compensate for smaller, uncalculated openings.
How many bricks do I need for a 20 by 8 foot wall?
For a 20-foot by 8-foot wall using standard 8-inch by 2.25-inch bricks with a 3/8-inch mortar joint and 10% wastage, the calculator returns approximately 1,153 bricks. You can verify this yourself by entering those values into the calculator above. Your specific result will vary based on your exact wall dimensions and brick size.
What is the difference between brick veneer and full brick construction?
Brick veneer is a single layer of brick attached to a wood or steel-framed wall for appearance, while full brick (or solid masonry) construction uses structural brick walls, sometimes multiple wythes thick, to bear the building's load. This calculator estimates brick quantity for a single-layer wall face in either case, for multi-wythe walls, you would need to multiply the result by the number of brick layers.
Can I use this calculator for a brick patio or walkway instead of a wall?
This calculator is designed for vertical wall applications where wall length and height define the area. For a horizontal surface like a patio or walkway, you'd want to use a general area-based brick estimate with the paving surface's length and width instead of height, since paving bricks are typically laid flat rather than in mortar-jointed courses.
How does brick size affect the total brick count?
Larger bricks cover more wall area per unit, which reduces the total brick count needed, while smaller or thinner bricks require more pieces to fill the same wall area. This is why it's important to enter your specific brick's actual length and height rather than assuming a standard size, since even a small difference in dimensions can shift your final order by dozens or hundreds of bricks on a large wall.
Should I order extra bricks beyond the calculator's result for future repairs?
Many contractors recommend ordering a small additional buffer, often an extra box or pallet, beyond the calculated amount to have matching bricks on hand for future repairs or touch-ups. Brick color and texture can vary between production batches, so keeping a few spares from the same batch as your original order helps ensure any future patch work blends in seamlessly.
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