Brick Wall Calculator — ft to bricks, mortar, cost
How to use this calculator
Type wall length and height in feet, inches and ⅛″ fractions, pick a brick (Standard, Modular, King, Queen, or Custom), wall thickness, joint size, and bond — the page returns brick count, 60 lb mortar bags, and wall weight you can hand to a supplier. Pick a preset below to fill realistic numbers for common jobs.
Cost — enter price per brick and per 60-lb mortar bag to get a material total.
Labor — rate per ft², per brick, or a flat price. Grand total sums all active sections.
Saved Calculations
| Time | Size | Wall ft² | Bricks | Mortar | Material $ | Labor | Total |
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How to Calculate Bricks for a Wall
Coursing follows TMS 402/602 modular brick practice with a ⅜" bed and head joint. A standard 8×3⅝×2¼" brick laid in running bond yields about 6.55 face bricks per ft² per wythe; modular brick runs roughly 6.86/ft². Set wall thickness to single, 1.5, or double wythe, then deduct door and window openings so the brick and mortar counts reflect net laid area, not gross elevation.
Brick Count Formula
Bricks per ft² = 144 / ((brick_length + joint) × (brick_height + joint)). For a standard brick with a ⅜" joint: 144 / (8.375 × 2.625) ≈ 6.55 bricks/ft² per wythe. The 1.5-wythe option multiplies by 1.5 and double wythe doubles it; Flemish and English bonds add header courses, so they are clamped to at least one full wythe of brick. A 5% allowance suits a plain rectangular wall, 7% is typical, and 10% covers heavy cutting around openings and returns.
Mortar & Cost Basis
A 60 lb bag of Type S or N mortar lays roughly 35 standard bricks at ⅜" joints — about 42 at ¼" and 28 at ½". Multi-wythe walls add collar-joint mortar. Material cost multiplies waste-inclusive brick count by unit price plus bags × bag price; labor can be priced per ft², per brick, or as a flat rate, and the grand total only appears when both material and labor are active. For mortar-only takeoffs use the mortar & grout calculator, and for concrete masonry units switch to the block wall calculator. Veneer projects are covered by the stone veneer calculator, and a bond beam or lintel can be sized with the concrete beam calculator.
FAQ
Does this include the foundation? No — it estimates the brick wall above grade only; size footings separately with the retaining wall calculator or a concrete footing bag calculator. Working in metres? Use the metric brick wall calculator. Are estimates exact? They are planning quantities; order full pallets and consult a licensed mason for structural or load-bearing walls.
On install day
Three numbers masons watch. Bricks per pallet — standard pallets ship 500–534 modular bricks, so order in pallet multiples (~$0.55–$1.10 per brick face brick, $1.20–$2.50 thin brick) to avoid loose-brick fees. Mortar shelf life — Type N/S mortar costs $8–$11 per 60 lb bag in 2025; once mixed it must be tooled within ~2.5 hours, so a single mason buttering ~80–100 bricks/hour will burn one bag every 25–35 minutes. The #1 estimator mistake is forgetting that Flemish and English bonds use 12–20% more bricks than running bond because of the visible header courses — this calculator applies that uplift automatically. Per TMS 402 §5.4, unreinforced brick walls over 6 ft tall need a designed cap or coping and may require vertical control joints every 20–25 ft.
