Brick Calculator
Brick count for walls, columns, and veneer projects
What is brick calculator?
Brick count is face area ÷ coverage-per-brick × (1 + waste factor), always rounded up. The key insight is that coverage tables — sourced from the Brick Industry Association Technical Note 10C — include the mortar joint in the unit face area. A modular brick covers 0.146 sqft, which already accounts for the standard 3/8 in mortar joint on all four sides. That puts the count at 6.86 bricks per sqft for modular, 5.76 for queen, 4.7 for king, and 3.81 for oversized. These numbers are stable across suppliers because they derive from the nominal (not actual) brick dimensions.
Brick type selection is mostly aesthetic, but size matters at corners. Modular brick is the industry default for residential projects — it’s widely available, easy to cut, and its 2.25 in nominal height stacks to a familiar 8-in module in three courses. Larger bricks (queen, king, oversized) make walls look more substantial and require fewer courses to reach a given height, but they’re heavier to set and waste more per cut. For walls with lots of corners and openings, stick to modular — fewer wasted partial bricks on each cut.
Wall thickness doubles the count. This tool outputs a single-wythe count — one brick deep. A standard 8 in residential wall is double-wythe; multiply the single-wythe count by 2. A 4 in veneer wall is single-wythe by definition. Retaining walls, columns, and fireplaces often run 12 in wide (triple-wythe), which means 3× the single-wythe count before adding corner overlaps. Figure mortar quantity at approximately 7 bags of Type S mortar per 1,000 bricks — a 600-brick garden wall needs about 4 bags plus a bag of mason’s sand for the mix.
Patterned brickwork — running bond, Flemish bond, English cross bond — changes the cut rate but not the coverage formula. Running bond (the default for most walls) wastes the least, around 10%. Flemish bond alternates headers and stretchers every course, creating more cuts at corners and openings — budget 12-15% waste. Stack bond (bricks stacked directly above each other) is structurally weak in unreinforced masonry but legal for veneer; it wastes 10% but requires extreme care in layout to keep the joints aligned vertically over the full wall height.
When to use a brick calculator
- Backyard garden wall — A 20 × 4 ft garden wall is 80 sqft of face area. With modular brick at 6.86 bricks per sqft (0.146 sqft each), a 10% waste factor yields 603 bricks. That's roughly 1.2 pallets of modular brick — order 2 pallets and return the unused ones if your supplier allows it.
- Brick column or pier — A 2 × 6 ft column face (12 sqft) in oversized brick (0.263 sqft each) at 10% waste requires 51 bricks per wythe. Columns are typically double-wythe on all four sides — multiply by 4 faces and 2 wythes, then deduct overlap at corners to get the final order.
- Brick veneer wall face — A 30 sqft veneer application with queen brick (0.174 sqft each) at 10% waste needs 190 bricks. Veneer is always single-wythe — it's a facing material tied to a structural backup wall, not a load-bearing course.
How to use the Brick Calculator
- Measure the wall — Wall length × wall height in feet — the tool uses Wall L×H labels for brick because most brick projects are vertical surfaces. Toggle Total area if you already know the sqft.
- Pick the brick type — Modular = standard residential brick at 6.86/sqft. Queen, King, and Oversized are progressively larger and cover more sqft each. Custom for non-standard.
- Apply a waste factor — 10% covers cuts at corners and the occasional broken brick. Patterned walls with lots of cut-in detail want 15%.
Worked examples
Garden wall: 20 × 4 ft, modular
Input: L 20, H 4, Modular brick
Output: 603 bricks (80 sqft + 10% waste)Veneer: 30 sqft, queen
Input: Total area 30, Queen brick
Output: 190 bricks (30 sqft + 10% waste)Small column: 2 × 6 ft face, oversized
Input: L 2, H 6, Oversized brick
Output: 51 bricks per face (12 sqft + 10% waste)