Brick Calculator: How Many Bricks Do I Need?

Bricks are small, which makes counting them by eye impossible — and being even 5% short on a bricklaying job means stopping mid-wall to wait for a delivery. This free brick calculator counts them properly: enter your wall's length and height, choose your brick type, and the tool figures the bricks per square foot including mortar joints, adds the standard waste allowance for cuts and breakage, and shows the total count and cost.

How to Use This Brick Calculator

Measure the wall's length and height in feet. For a wall with openings, you can measure around them in sections, or enter the full wall and order a little extra — for most garden and small walls, the openings make little difference.

Choose your brick type. The modular brick is the standard US size; queen bricks are larger and laid faster, so they use fewer bricks per square foot. The waste allowance starts at 5% — enough for cuts and breakage on a simple wall; raise it for arches, piers or intricate bond patterns. Enter a price per brick for the cost estimate, then click Calculate.

The Brick Calculation Formula

First, wall area = length × height. Then the brick count per square foot includes the mortar joint: a modular brick face is 7⅝ × 2¼ inches, and with a 3/8-inch joint the occupied area per brick is (7.625 + 0.375) × (2.25 + 0.375) = 21 square inches. There are 144 square inches in a square foot, so bricks per square foot = 144 ÷ 21 ≈ 6.55. Finally, total bricks = area × bricks per square foot × (1 + waste ÷ 100), rounded up.

Worked example: a 10 × 10-foot wall is 100 square feet. At 6.55 modular bricks per square foot that is 655 bricks, and with 5% waste: 655 × 1.05 = 687.75 — so you buy 688 bricks. Those 33 extra bricks cover cut bricks at corners and the inevitable breakage of handling.

Pro Tips for Ordering Bricks

Order every brick from the same production batch. Brick color varies subtly between firings, and mixing pallets from different batches can leave a patchwork wall that no amount of pointing will hide. For the same reason, keep a dozen spares after the job — future repairs need a perfect color match.

Think about the mortar too. A 3/8-inch joint is standard, but wider joints are more forgiving for beginners and change the brick count slightly. For load-bearing or retaining walls, consult an engineer — a freestanding brick wall over about 3 feet tall needs proper footings and possibly reinforcement, and retaining walls need drainage behind them.

Frequently Asked Questions