Brick Calculator
A 10 m by 3 m single-leaf wall of 190 × 90 × 90 mm bricks with a 10 mm joint is 1,500.00 bricks, or 1,575 with 5 percent brick waste. The joints at 1:6, with 10 percent mortar wastage, are 0.12 tonnes of cement, 3 bags of 50 kg, and 0.49 m³ of sand.
Last updated . One leaf, 90 mm thick, with no joint through the wall. Face joint 10 mm. Mortar wastage 10 percent, then dry factor 1.33. Cement 1,440 kg/m³. Sand 1,600 kg/m³. Bags are 50 kg. Brick waste is separate from mortar wastage.
Count how many bricks a wall needs, then the cement bags and sand in the joints. Sizes include the India modular brick, the traditional 9 × 4.5 × 3 in brick used in Pakistan and India, the UK 215 mm brick, and the US modular brick. Length and height accept meters, feet, yards, centimeters, and inches. The face with no joint, and the US 3/8 inch joint next to a 10 mm joint, is the brick sizes guide.
If you already have a mix volume, use the cement calculator. If the spec is a percent of wall volume, use the mortar calculator. Block walls belong on the concrete block calculator. A 9-inch or 4.5-inch wall in cubic feet is the Pakistan brick calculator. Four walls are the room calculator.
Bricks, cement, and sand
Doors and windows. Leave 0 if the wall is solid.
Thickness = leaves × brick width + (leaves − 1) × joint. One leaf has no joint through the wall. Two leaves add one collar joint.
Added only to the brick order. It does not change the mortar.
Covers frog filling, droppings, and uneven joints. Applied to the wet mortar before the dry factor. Separate from brick waste.
Bricks = net wall area ÷ (brick length + joint) ÷ (brick height + joint) × leaves. Thickness = leaves × brick width + (leaves − 1) × joint. Wet mortar = net area × thickness − bricks × brick volume. Dry mortar = wet × (1 + mortar wastage) × 1.33 when the dry factor is on. Cement density 1440 kg/m³. Sand density 1600 kg/m³.
Results
How many bricks do you need?
The face of one brick plus its joint is the module the wall is built on. Net area is length times height, minus doors and windows. Divide that area by the module and multiply by the number of leaves. One leaf is a half-brick wall: the wall is as thick as the brick’s width. Two leaves is the usual one-brick, about 9 inch, wall.
Bricks in the wall = net area ÷ (length + joint) ÷ (height + joint) × leaves. The order quantity is that count times (1 + waste) , snapped, then rounded up. Five percent on 1,500.00 bricks is 1,575.
Cement and sand in the joints
Each clay brick is treated as solid. Wet mortar is the wall volume minus those bricks. Thickness is leaves times the brick width, plus a collar joint only between leaves. One leaf of this modular brick is 90 mm, not 100 mm. Thirty square meters times 0.09 m is 2.70 m³. The 1,500.00 bricks are 2.31 m³. Wet mortar is 0.39 m³.
The usual Indian figure of 500 bricks per cubic meter of brickwork uses a 200 × 100 × 100 mm module. That module puts a 10 mm joint through the thickness, which a half-brick wall does not have. The same 1,500 bricks in the real 2.70 m³ are 555.56 per cubic meter, and the mortar is the 0.39 m³ above rather than the larger volume that shortcut implies.
Mortar wastage starts at 10 percent. It covers frog filling, droppings, and uneven joints, and it is not the 5 percent brick waste. Dry mortar is wet times 1.10 times 1.33, unless you turn the dry factor off. A 1:6 mix means cement is 1/7 of that dry volume and sand is 6/7. Cement mass uses 1,440 kg/m³. Sand mass uses 1,600 kg/m³. Bags round up from a 50 kg bag, the size sold in India and Pakistan. This wall is 0.39 m³ wet, 0.57 m³ dry, 0.12 tonnes of cement, and 3 bags.
Bricks per square meter
Single leaf, no waste. The joint is 10 mm except the US row, which uses a 3/8 in (9.525 mm) joint.
| Brick | Size | Per m² | Per ft² |
|---|---|---|---|
| India modular | 190 × 90 × 90 mm | 50.00 | 4.65 |
| India non-modular | 230 × 110 × 70 mm | 52.08 | 4.84 |
| Pakistan / India traditional | 9 × 4.5 × 3 in | 48.62 | 4.52 |
| UK | 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm | 59.26 | 5.51 |
| US modular | 7 5/8 × 3 5/8 × 2 1/4 in | 73.81 | 6.86 |
Cement for 1,000 traditional bricks
One thousand 9 × 4.5 × 3 in bricks, one leaf, 10 mm joint on the face only, 10 percent mortar wastage, dry factor 1.33, 50 kg bags. Wet mortar is 0.36 m³ and dry mortar is 0.53 m³ for every row.
| Ratio | Cement | 50 kg bags | Sand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:4 | 0.15 t | 4 | 0.42 m³ |
| 1:5 | 0.13 t | 3 | 0.44 m³ |
| 1:6 | 0.11 t | 3 | 0.45 m³ |
Worked example
Leave the wall at 10 m by 3 m, the brick on India modular, the joint at 10 mm, one leaf, brick waste at 5 percent, mortar wastage at 10 percent, and the ratio on 1:6. The wall line reads 1,500.00. The order line reads 1,575. Per square meter reads 50.00 and per square foot reads 4.65. Wet mortar reads 0.39 m³, dry mortar reads 0.57 m³, cement reads 0.12 t, bags read 3, and sand reads 0.49 m³.
Cement for a brick wall
The bag line is the cement for this wall. There is not a separate cement-for-a-brick-wall page, because this calculator already starts from the wall and the brick. The 10 m by 3 m modular wall is 0.12 tonnes, 3 bags of 50 kg. The same sand, 0.49 m³, is 17.34 CFT. One cubic foot is 0.028316846592 m³, and 17.34 is the unrounded sand volume, not 0.49 × 35.31.
The cement calculator splits a mix volume you type. It does not count a wall. The mortar calculator’s “bags for a brick wall” answer uses a percentage of the wall volume, which is a different method. A 9 × 4.5 × 3 in brick, a 9-inch or 4.5-inch wall, and a per-100-square-foot CFT schedule are on the Pakistan page. That page uses this same single-leaf and collar-joint mortar.
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks do I need for a wall?
Divide the net wall area by the face of one brick plus the joint, then multiply by the number of leaves. A 10 m by 3 m single-leaf wall of 190 × 90 × 90 mm modular bricks with a 10 mm joint is 1,500.00 bricks. Add 5 percent and the order line reads 1,575.
How many bricks are in 1 cubic meter?
The common Indian shortcut is 500 modular bricks per cubic meter of brickwork. That uses a 200 × 100 × 100 mm module, so it assumes a 10 mm joint through the wall as well as on the face. A single-leaf wall has no joint through its thickness: this 10 m by 3 m wall is 2.70 m³ at 90 mm, and 1,500 bricks in that volume is 555.56 per cubic meter. The face count is still 50.00 per square meter. The extra joint in the 500 figure is why that shortcut orders more mortar than a half-brick wall needs.
How many bricks per square foot?
The modular India size at a 10 mm joint is 4.65 bricks per square foot on one leaf. A US modular brick, 7 5/8 by 2 1/4 in with a 3/8 in joint, is 6.86 per square foot. A Pakistan or India traditional 9 × 4.5 × 3 in brick with a 10 mm joint is 4.52 per square foot.
How many cement bags for 1000 bricks?
One thousand traditional 9 × 4.5 × 3 in bricks in a single leaf, with a 10 mm joint on the face only, need 0.36 m³ of wet mortar. There is no joint through the 4.5 in thickness. With 10 percent mortar wastage and the 1.33 dry factor, a 1:6 mix is 0.11 tonnes of cement, 3 bags of 50 kg, and 0.45 m³ of sand. The same thousand bricks at 1:4 are 0.15 tonnes, 4 bags, and 0.42 m³ of sand. Cement is 1,440 kg/m³ and sand is 1,600 kg/m³.
How much sand do I need for brickwork?
Sand is the larger share of the dry mortar. The 10 m by 3 m modular wall at 1:6 uses 0.49 m³ of sand, 0.79 tonnes at 1,600 kg/m³, against 0.12 tonnes of cement. Switch the ratio to 1:4 and the sand line reads 0.46 m³, because cement takes more of the same 0.57 m³ of dry mortar. This is joint sand, not a floor screed.
What brick size is used in Pakistan and India?
The modular unit in IS 1077 is 190 × 90 × 90 mm. With a 10 mm joint the face module is 200 × 100 mm, and one leaf stays 90 mm thick. It is not a 100 mm wall. The traditional brick still sold in both countries is about 9 × 4.5 × 3 in (228.6 × 114.3 × 76.2 mm). Pick the size on the menu. A one-brick (9 in) wall is 2 leaves, not 1.
How many bricks for a 10 by 8 foot wall?
Set the wall to 10 ft by 8 ft, choose the US modular brick, and set the joint to 0.375 in. One leaf is 548.57 bricks, 6.86 per square foot. Five percent brick waste makes the order 576. At 1:6, with 10 percent mortar wastage, the joints on those 548.57 bricks are 0.04 tonnes of cement and 1 bag of 50 kg.
Is this the same as the cement or mortar calculator?
No. This page starts from the wall and the brick. The cement calculator splits a mix volume you already know, and it does not count bricks. The mortar calculator takes a percentage of the wall volume, often 20 to 25 percent, when you do not know the brick size. Use that page if the spec is a percent, not a brick module.