How many bricks do I need?

Convert net wall area into whole bricks and mortar packs using the rate for the actual brick, joint, bond, and bag.

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ToolBrick Calculator
Input
Output
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How it works

Gross length × height is reduced by measured openings, then multiplied by the selected single-leaf brick rate and doubled only for a two-leaf wall. The cutting allowance is applied before whole bricks round up, and mortar packs divide by the printed bricks-per-pack coverage.

Formula
bricks = net wall m² × selected bricks/m² × wall leaves × (1 + waste ÷ 100)
  • The BDA gives 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm for a modern UK metric brick but warns that older and special units vary.
  • No universal 60-brick rate or mortar yield is supplied because joint thickness, bond, brick size, and product all change the takeoff.

Worked example

A 6m by 2m single skin wall
No openings, 5% waste for breakages
Input
											Wall length m: 6
Wall height m: 2
Skin: single
Bricks per m2 single skin: 60
Mortar bag coverage bricks: 40
Waste percent: 5
Output
												Wall area m2: 12
Bricks exact: 720
Bricks needed: 756
Mortar bags needed: 19

When to use this

Stretcher-bond garden walls use one elevation rate, brick cavity walls count two leaves, and historic repairs measure the existing course before ordering matching units.

Edge cases

  • Openings equal to or larger than the gross elevation are rejected rather than producing zero or negative masonry.
  • Two leaves double the entered single-leaf rate before waste is applied; this represents two masonry faces, not merely a thicker one-leaf bond.
  • Reclaimed imperial or nonstandard bricks need a measured module and cannot reuse a modern metric bricks-per-square-metre figure safely.

References