Brick Calculator
Count modular brick for a wall or veneer: enter length and height, deduct openings, set a waste factor, and get the brick count and mortar bags — then print it as a material order sheet. Coverage uses the geometric 6.75 brick per square foot (the exact modular-module value, with waste applied separately, not baked in); the mortar yield is a planning figure to round up on. Free, no login.
Wall (modular brick)
Materials
6.75 modular brick/ft² with 3/8" joints; ≈7 bags per 1,000 brick — planning figures; confirm against the spec & product data.
Brick Calculator — Material Order Sheet
Prepared with NORDIX — nordixhq.com/tools/brick-calculator
| Wall: 20 × 8 ft (160 ft² net) | Openings: 0 ft² | Waste: 10% |
| Material | Qty | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular brick | 1188 | brick | waste included |
| Mortar | 9 | 70 lb bags | ≈7 bags / 1,000 brick |
Method: 6.75 modular brick/ft² with 3/8" joints, waste included; ≈7 bags mortar per 1,000 brick. Empirical planning figures — confirm against the project spec and product data; excludes ties, lintels, and flashing.
How this calculator works
A modular brick plus its 3/8" joints occupies an 8" × 2-2/3" face module — 21.33 in² — which makes coverage pure geometry:
brick = net area × 6.75 × (1 + waste%) · 6.75 = 144 ÷ (8 × 2.667)
Some older tables print 6.86 or 7 brick per square foot because they bake a waste allowance into the coverage; this calculator uses the exact geometric 6.75 and applies your waste percentage as its own visible input, so the two effects never hide inside one number. Mortar is carried at roughly seven 70 lb bags per 1,000 brick at 3/8" joints — a planning figure, not a spec value: joint size, frogged versus cored brick, and crew habits all move it. The count covers a single wythe (standard veneer); a double-wythe solid wall needs twice the brick plus collar-joint mortar.
Worked example
A 20 ft long × 8 ft high veneer panel, no openings, 10% waste:
- Area: 20 × 8 = 160 ft².
- Brick: 160 × 6.75 × 1.10 = 1,188 → 1,188 brick.
- Mortar: 1,188 ÷ 1,000 × 7 = 8.3 → 9 bags (70 lb), rounded up.
Enter the same wall above (20 × 8 ft, 10% waste) to reproduce it, then print the order sheet.
Reference: brick and mortar per wall area (planning figures)
Modular brick at the geometric 6.75 brick/ft², before waste, with mortar at the ≈7-bags-per-1,000 planning yield. Add waste on top; queen, king, and utility brick cover more wall per unit, so re-figure coverage from their face module.
| Net wall area | Brick (before waste) | Mortar (70 lb bags) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 ft² | 675 | 5 |
| 200 ft² | 1,350 | 10 |
| 500 ft² | 3,375 | 24 |
| 1,000 ft² | 6,750 | 48 |
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks per square foot of wall?
6.75 modular brick per square foot with 3/8-in. joints. A modular brick plus its joints occupies an 8 x 2-2/3 in. face module — 21.33 square inches — and 144 / 21.33 = 6.75. Some older tables show 6.8 to 7 per square foot because they bake a waste allowance into the coverage; this calculator uses the geometric 6.75 and applies your waste percentage separately, so you can see both numbers.
How many bricks do I need for a 1000 square foot wall?
About 6,750 before waste — 6.75 brick per square foot times the net wall area. At the calculator's 10% default waste that becomes 7,425. Deduct door and window area first: a single 3 x 7 ft door opening removes roughly 140 brick.
How much mortar per 1000 brick?
Roughly seven 70 lb bags of masonry cement mortar per 1,000 modular brick at 3/8-in. joints — the yield this calculator uses. It is a rule of thumb: joint size, frogged versus cored brick, and crew habits all move the number, so round up when ordering.
Does this work for queen, king, or utility brick?
No — the coverage here is fixed at modular size. Larger units cover more wall per brick, so the count drops. To re-figure it, divide 144 by your unit's face module in square inches (length plus joint, times height plus joint) to get bricks per square foot, then multiply by net wall area. Mortar yield shifts with unit size too, so pull that from the supplier's data.
Does the brick count cover one wythe or two?
One. The calculator counts a single wythe — a standard brick veneer. A double-wythe solid masonry wall needs twice the brick plus collar-joint mortar, and ties, flashing, and weeps are not included in either case — take those off the wall details.
Method: coverage of 6.75 brick/ft² is exact geometry for modular brick with 3/8" joints (144 ÷ 21.33 in² face module) — legacy tables showing ≈6.86 fold waste into the coverage instead. The mortar yield of ≈7 bags (70 lb) per 1,000 brick is an empirical planning figure, not a standard. The count is one wythe and excludes ties, lintels, flashing, weeps, and shaped or cut units at returns and openings — take those off the wall details and the spec.
Pair with the Block / CMU Calculator for the backup wall, the Mortar & Grout Calculator for cell fill, or the Construction Calculator for concrete volume and unit conversions.