Brick calculation: How many bricks do you need?

calculation of brick masonry

In this article you will learn all about the brick calculation. Here we will discuss everything about Brick wall calculation in UK & USA or in feet & meters.

What is brick work:

The art of laying bricks in proper manner is called brick masonry. There’s two main sizes, British & USA. In United kingdom brick size is (215 x 102.5 x 65mm) or (21.5 × 10.25 × 6.5 cm) length× width× depth. On other hand in United States brick size is (8″ × 3.625″ × 2.25″ in) l×w×d. The mortar joint is 10mm or 0.4″ standard.

Masonry is done with either bricks, blocks or stone, but for joinning, same kind of cement mortar is used. For brick masonry analysis one of standard measuring unit is adopted, which is used to calculate bricks and mortar.

In same manners, for brick masonry 100 cft bricks needs 30 cft of dry mortar, while 1 cum brick masonry needs 0.30 cum of dry mortar.

Brick calculation: (in feet USA)

  1. Brick wall calculation = 10’×10′ = 100 sq ft (for single brick wall).
  2. Standard brick size+1 joint thickness one side = (8″+0.4) × (2.25+0.4) = 22.26sq in/144 = 0.154 sq ft.
  3. Total bricks = 100/0.154 = 649 bricks.

Its 649 bricks for 100 square feet, just divide it and you will get that 1 sq feet needs 6.4 bricks. Just calculate your wall area length × height and multiply it with 6.4, you will get the answer how many bricks do you really need.

  1. Brick wall calculation = 14’×10’×7.25″ = 84.58 cft (for 2 bricks layer wall).
  2. Standard brick volume+1 joint one side= (8″+0.4) × (3.625″+0.4) × (2.25″+0.4) = 89.5 cu in/1728 = 0.052 cft.
  3. Total bricks = 84.58/0.052 = 1626 bricks.

Above we calculated the 1626 bricks for 84.58 cubic feet, just divide it and you will know 1 cubic feet needs 19.22 bricks. For further calculations just find the volume of your wall by l×w×h and then multiply it with 19.22, you will get the answer how many bricks require for the work.

Brick wall cost calculator:

Construction bricks price are generally between $0.35 to $0.90 per brick. A pallet of brick ranges between $140 to $470, while a pallet has 500-510 bricks. The cost varies regional wise. If you need 1000 bricks it will cost you, 1350×0.35 = $350 up to $900. If you purchase 2 pallets it will be 140+140 = $280.

Cement quantity calculation in mortar for brick masonry (cft):

As 100 cft brick work needs 30 cft of dry mortar for 84.58 we need (30÷100)×84.58=25.375 cft, so you can easily calculate cement quantity for 84.58 cft of brick wall. Commonly 1:4 mortar ratio is use for brick masonry work in US.

Formula: (Ratio of cement / sum of ratio) × Quantity of mortar

  1. (1/5)×25.375 = 5cft of mortar = 5/1.25 = 4 bags (50kg cement bag volume is 1.25 cft)

Sand quantity calculation in mortar for brick masonry:

Formula= (Ratio of sand / sum of ratio) × quantity of mortar

  1. (4/5)×25.375 = 20 cft

or you can do it simply by multiplying cft of cement with ratio of sand. Because sand is that much times more than cement.

TOTAL: BRICK= 1626, CEMENT= 4 bags, SAND= 20 cft

Read also calculation of steel.

Brick calculation UK: (in meters)

  1. Brick wall calculation = 4m × 3m = 12 sqm ( single brick wall)
  2. Standard UK brick size+1 joint thickness one side (cm) = (21.5+1) × (6.5+1) = 168.75 sq cm/10,000 = 0.0168 sqm
  3. Total bricks = 12/0.0168 = 714 bricks.
  1. Brick wall calculation = 4m × 3m × 0.205m = 2.46 cum (2 bricks layer wall)
  2. Std UK brick size+1 joint one side (cm)= (21.5+1) × (10.25+1) × (6.5+1) = 1898.4 sq cm/1000,000 = 0.00189 sqm.
  3. Total bricks = 2.46/0.00189 = 1302 nos.

Total quantity of dry mortar = 0.30 cum (std for 1cum brick work). For 2.46 cum you will need 0.738 by just multiplying 0.30×2 46. Mortar mix ratio use in UK is 1:3 & 1:4 commonly.

Cement quantity calculation in mortar for brick masonry (cum):

Formula: (Ratio of cement / sum of ratio) × quantity of mortar

  1. (1/5)×0.738 = 0.147 cu.m
  2. 0.147/0.035 = 4.2 cement bags (50kg bag of cement is 0.035 cu.m)

Sand quantity calculation in mortar for brick masonry:

Formula: (Ratio of sand / sum of ratio) × quantity of mortar

  1. (4/5) × 0.738 = 0.590 cu.m.

TOTAL; BRICKS= 1302, CEMENT= 4.2 BAGS, SAND= 0.590 cu.m

Read also calculation of concrete.

Paving bricks calculation:

Paving bricks are generally used on floor, garbage, car ramps and lawns etc. To calculate paving brick its simple rule to calculate area e.g. 10×12 floor area, you will need 120 cft of paving bricks.

Paving brick cost calculation:

Generally paving brick price is minimum $5 to $25 maximum. Depend on size and shape of paving brick you choose. According to this if you order 120 cft bricks, it will cost you 120×5 = $600 or $3000 maximum.