Brick Calculator
Estimate how many bricks you need for a wall — including mortar volume, a waste allowance, pallet count, and deductions for door and window openings. Works with standard, modular, and queen-size brick.
How to Use
- Enter the wall length and height in feet to set the gross face area.
- Pick your brick size — standard, modular, or queen — to set how many bricks cover each square foot of wall.
- Subtract the total area of any doors and windows in square feet so you are not paying for brick you will never lay.
- Set a waste percentage (10% is typical) to cover breakage, cuts, and color culling.
- Read the bricks needed, mortar volume, and pallet count, and check the step-by-step Show Work below.
Show Work
Notes
About the Brick Calculator
The Brick Calculator is a free tool for building, materials estimation and site work. It runs right in your web browser, so there is nothing to download. Estimate how many bricks you need for a wall — including mortar volume, a waste allowance, pallet count, and deductions for door and window openings. Works with standard, modular, and queen-size brick.
How it works
Type your numbers into the boxes. The answer shows up right away — you do not have to press a button. If you change a number, the answer changes too. So you can try different numbers and watch what happens, or check an answer you worked out yourself. Just make sure each box has the right kind of number in it.
Want the deeper story? The Knowledge Base explains the ideas behind the tools in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bricks are in a square foot of wall?
It depends on the brick size and the mortar joint. A standard modular brick laid with a 3/8" joint works out to about 7 bricks per square foot of wall face. Larger units cover more: a modular brick is closer to 6.4 per square foot and a queen-size brick about 5.5. This calculator uses those rates, so just pick the size you are laying.
How much mortar will I need?
A rough rule for a standard brick wall with a 3/8" joint is about 1 cubic foot of mortar for every 200 bricks, which is roughly 7 bags of 60-lb mortar mix per 1,000 bricks. Thicker joints or larger units use more. The tool reports both the cubic-foot volume and an approximate 60-lb bag count.
Why should I subtract doors and windows?
Openings can be a big chunk of a wall — a single patio door is around 20 square feet, which is roughly 140 standard bricks you would otherwise over-order. Add up the area of every opening and enter the total so the brick, mortar, and pallet counts reflect the masonry you are actually building.
How much waste should I add?
Plan on about 5–10% extra for a clean, square wall and up to 15% for cuts around lots of openings, arches, or corners, plus culling bricks with chips or off-colors. Ordering a little long also leaves matching stock for future repairs from the same batch and dye lot.
What is the difference between modular, standard, and queen brick?
They are different face and bed sizes. A standard/modular brick has roughly a 8" × 2-1/4" face and is the most common. A queen-size brick is taller and longer, so fewer cover the same wall — handy for finishing a job faster with less mortar joint. Pick the one your supplier quoted so the per-square-foot rate matches.
How do I use the Brick Calculator?
Just type your numbers. The answer shows up right away — there is no button to press. Change anything and it updates by itself.
Is it free? Does it work without internet?
Yes to both. It is free with no sign-up, and once the page has loaded it keeps working even with no internet.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere — every calculation runs on your own device. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.
Common Use Cases
Ordering brick for a wall
Turn wall dimensions into an exact brick count plus a waste cushion so you buy once and avoid a second delivery fee.
Budgeting a facade or garden wall
Get bricks, mortar bags, and pallet count up front to price a job before committing to materials.
Planning a wall with openings
Subtract doors and windows so a garage or house facade estimate is not inflated by area you will never brick.
Scheduling deliveries
See how many pallets the job needs so you can plan crane or forklift access and where to stage them on site.
Estimating a repair patch
Size a small re-build or infill and order enough matching brick and mortar from a single batch.
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