Brick calculator — number of bricks, cement and sand for a wall
Enter wall dimensions, brick size and mortar joint to get the brick count including wastage, plus the mortar cement and sand it consumes.
Wall
A single-brick 9 inch wall is 0.75 ft; a half-brick 4.5 inch wall is 0.375 ft.
Total door and window area in square feet.
Brick
Typically 10 mm; enter in the same unit as the other dimensions.
Mortar
Wastage is site-specific. Order allowance, breakage and cutting loss differ by material, supplier and workmanship; enter your own figure.
Result — calculated from your inputs
Working
Continue to a full site assessment
A calculator answers one question. A DevPartner assessment carries planning capacity, programme, cost, revenue, deal structure and cash flow through one deterministic model and freezes a versioned decision report.
Nothing from this calculator maps into the assessment intake, so you will start from a blank site. No opportunity is created until you save one.
How this calculator works
net wall area = length × height − openings wall volume = net wall area × thickness bricks = ( net area ÷ ((brick L + joint) × (brick H + joint)) ) × (thickness ÷ brick width) mortar volume = wall volume − (bricks × brick L × H × W) dry mortar = mortar volume × dry factor cement, sand = dry mortar split by the mortar ratio
- You enter
- A value you supply. Nothing is assumed for you.
- Calculated
- Arithmetic on your inputs, shown in the working.
- Assumption
- A factor or allowance you can change — mix ratios, wastage, dry-volume factors.
- Approximation
- Geometry or method that approximates reality; labelled wherever used.
- Verify locally
- Planning parameters, statutory rates and structural design must come from the authority or a qualified professional.
Brick counts depend on the joint, not just the brick
A standard modular Indian brick is 190 × 90 × 90 mm, which becomes 200 × 100 × 90 mm with a 10 mm mortar joint. Traditional non-modular bricks are commonly around 228 × 107 × 69 mm and vary by kiln. Because the joint is included in the module, a 10 mm joint versus a 15 mm joint changes the count by several percent across a large wall.
The default dimensions here are the modular brick expressed in feet. Measure a sample of the bricks actually being delivered and enter those dimensions — kiln-to-kiln variation in India is real and cumulative.
Mortar is the quantity people forget
Mortar typically accounts for a fifth to a quarter of the volume of a brick wall. Calculating bricks without calculating the cement and sand to bed them produces a materials schedule that runs short in the second week.
The dry factor for mortar is lower than for concrete, commonly taken around 1.30 to 1.35, because sand alone bulks less than a graded aggregate mix. As always, the figure here is yours to set.
Worked example
A 10 m × 3 m wall in 230 mm brickwork, using 190 × 90 × 90 mm bricks with a 10 mm joint, needs roughly 1,500 bricks before wastage, and about 1,575 at 5% breakage. Deduct a 2 m × 2.1 m door and a 1.5 m × 1.2 m window and the count falls by around 300.
The mortar quantity is derived from the gap between the wall volume and the solid brick volume, so it moves whenever the joint thickness changes.
Mistakes in masonry take-off
Using the nominal brick size with the joint already included, then adding the joint again — the fastest way to under-order by ten per cent.
Forgetting to deduct openings, or deducting the full opening where a lintel and jamb still consume masonry.
Assuming a single wastage figure covers both breakage in transit and cutting at junctions.
Limits and assumptions
Brick dimensions vary by region and kiln. Measure a sample from the actual supply rather than trusting a standard size.
This calculates quantity. It says nothing about bond, reinforcement, lintels, load-bearing capacity or where a wall may be built.
Frequently asked questions
- How many bricks are in one cubic metre of brickwork?
- With a 190 × 90 × 90 mm modular brick and a 10 mm joint, approximately 500 bricks per cubic metre. With traditional larger bricks the figure falls. This calculator derives the number from the brick size and joint you enter rather than assuming one.
- What is the standard brick size in India?
- The modular standard is 190 × 90 × 90 mm, becoming 200 × 100 × 90 mm with mortar. Traditional bricks in many regions are non-modular and larger, so always measure the bricks on site.
- What mortar ratio should I use for brickwork?
- That is a specification decision — 1:4 to 1:6 cement to sand appears in Indian practice depending on the wall's structural role, exposure and the brick's strength. Take the ratio from your engineer's specification and enter it here.
- Should I use the brick size with or without the mortar joint?
- Enter the brick's own dimensions and the joint thickness separately. The calculator adds one joint in each direction to form the laying module. Entering a nominal size that already includes the joint, and then adding the joint again, is the most common way a masonry order comes up short.