Jake Morrison, Licensed General Contractor · Last reviewed April 29, 2026

Brick Calculator

Calculate how many bricks, bags of mortar, and courses you need — for any bond pattern across up to five walls. Subtract doors and windows. Printable mason's list, no signup, no email.

Brick calculator: enter wall dimensions, brick size, and bond pattern

One brick thick. Standard for veneer over wood/block, garden walls under 4 ft.

Standard joint for modern residential brickwork. The default in BIA specs.

Wall 1

ft
ft
sq ft

The most common modern US brick. Used for most residential veneer and structural applications.

Stretchers offset by half a brick each course. Easiest to lay, fewest cuts. Default for most veneer walls.

Enter wall dimensions and pick a brick size to see how many bricks, mortar bags, and courses you need.

Estimates only. This calculator gives you a strong starting point for a masonry order, but every job has surprises — out-of-square corners, brick breakage during cutting, soldier courses at openings, and the dye-lot variation that makes you want to keep an extra bundle for repair stock five years from now. Always order a full extra bundle when you can; talk to your masonry supplier about pallet-rounding and return policy before you commit.

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How to use this calculator

  1. Pick wall thickness first — single wythe (one brick deep) or double wythe (two bricks with a collar joint). Most modern veneer-over-wood is single wythe; freestanding garden walls over 4 ft and load-bearing solid masonry are usually double. The wythe count multiplies your brick order, so it's the most expensive wrong assumption you can make.
  2. Pick your mortar joint width. 3/8" is the BIA-default for modern residential brickwork. 1/2" is common in commercial and restoration work. 5/8" is for historic restoration where you're trying to match a 1920s-era look — and it uses about 65% more mortar than 3/8". The little visual on the right shows the joint to scale.
  3. Measure each wall. Length and height in feet. If you've got a front + two side walls + a chimney, that's four walls. The calculator supports up to five at once and adds them up. Round irregular shapes to the rectangle that contains them; the bond-pattern waste % buffers small differences.
  4. Subtract openings. Add up the square footage of doors and windows on that wall and put the total in the openings field. A 3×7 ft door is 21 sq ft. A 4×4 ft window is 16 sq ft. Don't subtract wood trim — it's already in the brick edge cuts.
  5. Pick the brick size. Modular is the default — it's what you'll find at every Home Depot and masonry supplier. The label under each preset shows the actual brick dimensions in inches. If you're matching an existing wall, a tape measure on the brick face tells you which preset you need.
  6. Pick the bond pattern. Running bond is the standard residential default (+5% waste). Stack bond is also +5%. English and Flemish bonds use more headers and have +12 to +15% waste. Herringbone (+18%) is for walkways and accent panels — heavy cuts at every edge.
  7. Print or copy the mason's list. The PDF is branded, dated, and lists bricks, mortar bags (Quikrete Mortar Mix Type N, 80-lb), wall ties for veneer, plus a tool checklist. Hand it to whoever's running to the masonry supplier.

Why this brick calculator is different

After running the top SERP through the same project (10×8 ft veneer wall in modular brick, English bond, single wythe), here's what's typical online versus what this calculator adds:

  • Most calculators don't change the waste % when you pick a bond pattern. Omnicalculator, Glen-Gery, and Inchcalculator either don't ask about bond at all or list the bond as a label without changing the math. English and Flemish bonds use more headers (full-width bricks turned 90°) than running bond — that's +7 to +10% in real cut waste. This calculator wires the bond picker directly to waste %.
  • Most don't sum multiple walls. Real masonry has multiple walls — front + sides + chimney + planter. Every result on the SERP top 10 is single-wall. Best Tile has multi-area for tile but not for brick. None of the brick calculators support summing.
  • Most don't subtract openings. Doors and windows take real wall area. A typical house veneer has 60–100 sq ft of openings, which is 400–700 fewer modular bricks. None of the SERP top 10 subtracts openings.
  • Most don't return mortar bag count. Glen-Gery cites "7 bags per 1,000 brick" in their FAQ but doesn't auto-calculate. Inchcalculator gives mortar volume in cubic feet, not bag count. Nobody gives "X bags of Quikrete Mortar Mix Type N at 80 lb each" — which is what people actually buy at the home center.
  • Nobody offers a printable mason's list. The PDF that comes out of this calculator is dated, branded, and includes a wall-tie reminder for veneer walls plus a tool checklist. Take it to Lowe's, hand it to your mason, or attach it to your contractor email.
  • Nobody offers an embed. If you write about masonry (mason blog, /r/masonry, restoration forum) the iframe at the bottom of this page lets you host the same calculator with attribution. Free.

How it works (the math behind the numbers)

The core calculation has three pieces. Each one is dead simple — the trick is knowing what numbers to plug in. 

wall_sqft     = (length × height) − openings
bricks_needed = ceil(wall_sqft × bricks_per_sqft × wythes × (1 + waste_pct))
mortar_bags   = ceil(bricks / effective_bricks_per_bag)

Bricks per square foot comes from the Brick Industry Association Technical Notes 10 table — modular brick is 6.75 per sq ft at 3/8" joint, queen is 5.76, king is 4.61, utility is 3.0, etc. Those numbers assume the BIA-standard 3/8" mortar joint. When you pick a thicker joint (1/2" or 5/8"), the calculator scales the per-sqft count down because each brick takes up more wall area with a fatter joint around it.

Bond-pattern waste percentages come from BIA Technical Notes 30 plus 14 years of throwing broken bricks in a bucket. Running bond is +5% (mostly perimeter cuts), English and Flemish bonds add +12 to +15% (more headers means more full-width cuts), herringbone is +18% (every wall edge gets a triangular fill).

Mortar bag count uses the Quikrete Mortar Mix Type N #1102 data sheet as the baseline: one 80-lb bag covers approximately 50 modular bricks at a 3/8" joint. The calculator scales that base by two factors — brick perimeter (larger bricks have more linear feet of joint per brick) and joint width (a 5/8" joint uses about 1.7× the mortar of a 3/8" joint). Cross-validates against Glen-Gery's "7 bags per 1,000 modular brick" pro figure for sanity.

Every fixture in the test file at sites/diy/src/data/tools/brick-calculator/fixtures.json runs in CI before each deploy. If the math drifts, the build fails.

Three real-world examples

Garden privacy wall — 20×6 ft, modular, double wythe

Privacy walls over 4 ft tall need to be double wythe (two bricks thick, with a collar joint between) for stability against wind load and frost heave. 20 ft × 6 ft = 120 sq ft. Modular at 3/8" joint, running bond, +5% waste, double wythe. The calculator returns: 1,701 bricks, 35 bags of Quikrete Mortar Mix Type N (80 lb), 27 courses tall. Order this on a single 4,000-brick palletized delivery from your masonry supplier — it'll arrive on a flatbed and they'll forklift it to your site. The 35 mortar bags are heavy but they stack tight on a single skid.

House veneer — 30×8 ft front wall, modular, with windows

Veneer-over-OSB on a typical residential front wall: 30 ft long × 8 ft tall = 240 sq ft gross. Subtract a 36 sq ft picture window + 24 sq ft of two smaller windows = 60 sq ft openings. Net 180 sq ft of brick. Modular at 3/8", running bond, +5%, single wythe. The calculator returns: 1,276 bricks, 26 bags mortar, 36 courses tall. Plus you'll need wall ties — at one tie per ~24 bricks for veneer (per BIA Tech Notes 28), that's about 53 ties. Plan on lintels for every opening, weep holes at the base course every 24", and 1" of air gap between veneer and sheathing. A "veneer wall" is more carpentry than masonry on the prep side.

Herringbone walkway accent — 8×3 ft, modular

Accent panel beside a front entry. 8 ft × 3 ft = 24 sq ft. Modular at 3/8" joint, herringbone bond (+18% waste), single layer. The calculator returns: 192 bricks, 4 bags mortar. Herringbone is the bond pattern with the most cut waste — every wall edge gets a triangular fill brick. The 18% waste isn't a buffer for breakage; it's the actual cut tax. If you're new to herringbone, build the pattern dry on the driveway first, then mortar in once you know the cut spacing. Three trips to the wet saw beat one wrong commitment to mortar.

What affects how many bricks you actually need

The calculator gives you a strong starting point, but a real install has variables it can't see:

  • Squareness of the structure. No residential foundation is perfectly square. Walls drift up to 1/2" over 10 feet. The longer wall determines your starting line, and the cut bricks on the short wall get progressively wider or narrower. If your structure is significantly out of square, plan for an extra 5% waste on top of bond-pattern waste.
  • Cuts at openings. Doors, windows, soldier courses, and rowlock sills all eat full bricks during cutting. A typical house with eight openings can eat 30–50 extra bricks beyond what the openings-subtraction accounts for.
  • Brick breakage. Even with a wet saw, modular brick chips at the cut about 8% of the time. With score-and-snap on softer brick, breakage runs 15%. The +5% running-bond waste covers cut waste but is thin on breakage budget; if you're new to a wet saw, give yourself a 4–5 brick practice budget before committing.
  • Soldier courses, rowlocks, and sailors. Vertical-orientation courses around openings, doors, and soffit returns count as full bricks at the same waste rate, but they're often cut to fit specific dimensions. Plan an extra 10–15 bricks per opening for soldier-course detail work.
  • Dye lot variation. Brick pallets are stamped with a dye lot. If your supplier sells you bricks from two lots, the color variation can be visible across a long run. Always order a single dye lot, even if it costs an extra delivery fee.
  • Future repair stock. When the install's done, save 50–100 surplus bricks in the basement or shop. Five years from now, when a section gets damaged by a falling tree limb or a vehicle, the dye lot will be gone and a single replacement brick will be a visible patch. The bond-pattern waste % covers install plus a small repair cache.

For the masonry tool kit itself — the wet saw, the masonry bits, the drills that actually hold up to mortar mixing — see Jake's writeups on cordless drills (for veneer-tie installation and mortar mixing with a paddle attachment). Mortar dust and brick chips ruin household vacuums, so a dedicated shop vac is non-negotiable. Working under a porch or in low-light conditions? Bond-line waver shows up under raking shop-light before anyone notices in daylight. And if you're carrying tools to a remote build site for a multi-day mason job, a portable tool chest keeps trowels and levels off the dirt. The full starter list lives in essential tools for new homeowners.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate how many bricks I need?

Multiply wall length and height in feet to get the area in square feet. Subtract any openings (doors and windows). Multiply that area by the bricks-per-sqft figure for your brick size: 6.75 for modular at 3/8" joint, 5.76 for queen, 4.61 for king, 3.0 for utility. Then multiply by 1 (single wythe) or 2 (double wythe). Add 5–18% waste depending on your bond pattern. The shortcut: use this calculator. The reason this math goes wrong by hand is the joint-width adjustment — at 5/8" joint, a modular brick covers 17% more wall face than at 3/8", so you need 17% fewer bricks. Most people miss that.

How many bricks do I need per 100 square feet?

It depends on brick size and joint width. At the BIA-standard 3/8" joint, you need: 675 modular bricks, 655 standard, 576 queen, 461 king, 600 Roman, 450 Norman, 300 utility per 100 sq ft. Add 5–18% on top of those numbers depending on your bond pattern. Single wythe gives those counts directly; double wythe doubles them. A 100 sq ft running-bond modular wall = 675 × 1.05 = 709 bricks plus repair stock.

What is the right bond pattern for a beginner?

Running bond. Every other course is offset by half a brick — same as a subway-tile pattern. It's structurally strong, has the lowest cut waste (+5%), and tolerates small layout drift better than other bonds. English and Flemish bonds look more traditional but require constant header-stretcher rhythm and a lot more thinking at corners and openings. Stack bond looks modern and cuts the same as running bond but is structurally weaker — only use it for non-load-bearing veneer or accent panels.

How many bricks does one bag of mortar lay?

Approximately 50 modular bricks per 80-lb bag of Quikrete Mortar Mix Type N at 3/8" mortar joint. Glen-Gery's pro figure is "7 bags per 1,000 brick" using larger commercial-spec bags, which works out to ~143 bricks per bag — that's the figure pro masons use. For homeowner-grade Quikrete bags, 50 is the conservative number we use here. Larger bricks (utility, king) lay fewer per bag because they have more linear feet of joint per brick. Thicker mortar joints (1/2", 5/8") use more mortar per brick, so the per-bag count drops linearly.

Can I embed this brick calculator on my site?

Yes — copy the iframe snippet at the bottom of this page. The embedded version is a stripped-down variant designed for masonry-supply blogs, /r/masonry, restoration / historic-brick forums, and brick-supplier sites. Required attribution is built in. Free, no signup, no analytics attached to the embed.

Brick work has a tighter required-tool list than most renovation jobs. Beyond the trowel, level, and story pole, here's what's on every Morrison-Construction masonry job:

  • Best Cordless Drills — for masonry-bit pilot holes through veneer ties, mixing mortar with a paddle attachment, and pre-drilling Tapcons through brick into block.
  • Best Shop Vacs — mortar dust and brick chips ruin household vacuums. A dedicated shop vac handles trowel-board cleanup, chasing weep holes after pointing, and final cleanup before tooling joints.
  • Best LED Shop Lights — bond-line waver, lippage, and color drift only show up under raking light. A bright, even shop light at wall height catches problems while you can still fix them.
  • Best Tool Chests — multi-day masonry jobs need lockable on-site tool storage. Trowels, levels, jointers, and the line-and-block kit live there between work sessions.
  • Essential Tools for New Homeowners — the 12-tool starter kit Jake recommends before any DIY masonry project.

Sources & methodology

This calculator is reviewed annually for source currency. About Jake · Last reviewed April 29, 2026.

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Free for masonry-supply blogs, /r/masonry mods, restoration forums, brick-supplier sites, and personal renovation logs. Required attribution is included in the snippet. No fee, no account, no analytics attached to the embed. 

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