Brick Calculator – Complete Guide for Multiple Walls
The Brick Calculator on MyTimeCalculator makes it easy to estimate how many bricks you need for one or more walls. Instead of relying on rough rules of thumb, you can combine real wall dimensions, openings, brick size, mortar joints and wastage into a clear, project-wide estimate.
This is especially useful for small builders, contractors, and homeowners planning renovations, boundary walls, extensions or decorative brick features. With the multiple-wall mode, you can handle an entire project in a single calculation.
1. How the Brick Calculator Works
At a high level, the calculator follows a simple logic:
- Compute the gross wall area for each wall from its length and height.
- Subtract openings such as doors, windows and custom openings to get net brick area.
- Determine the effective brick area including mortar joints.
- Divide net wall area by brick area to get the number of bricks.
- Add a wastage percentage to cover cutting, breakage and on-site losses.
The result is a detailed breakdown per wall plus a total for the entire project, with optional cost estimation when you enter a cost per brick.
2. Brick Area with Mortar Joints
Instead of using only the bare brick size, the calculator uses the brick dimensions plus mortar joints to approximate how much wall area each brick occupies:
Effective brick height = Brick height + Vertical joint
Brick face area = Effective length × Effective height
This gives a more realistic bricks-per-area value than ignoring mortar completely. You can adjust joint thickness to match your local building practice or specific project details.
3. Wall Area and Openings
For each wall, the basic area formula is:
From this gross wall area, the calculator subtracts:
- The area of all doors on that wall, using a standard or customized door area.
- The area of all windows on that wall, again based on a configurable window area.
- Any extra opening area you enter manually, such as recesses, niches or large openings with irregular shape.
The result is the net area that will actually be filled with brickwork.
4. Wastage and Breakage Allowance
Real-world brickwork rarely uses exactly the theoretical number of bricks. Some bricks break during handling, others are cut into smaller pieces, and a small surplus is usually kept for adjustments and future repairs.
The Brick Calculator lets you set a wastage percentage:
A value between 5% and 10% is common for many projects, though more complex designs and heavy cutting may require a higher allowance.
5. Estimating Brickwork Cost
If you enter a cost per brick, the calculator multiplies the total number of bricks (including wastage) by that cost to give a simple material cost estimate:
This figure covers bricks only and does not include mortar, labor, scaffolding or other construction costs, but it provides a useful starting point for budgeting.
6. Step-by-Step: How to Use the Brick Calculator
- Choose your units. Select feet/gross area in sq ft or meters/gross area in m² to match your drawings and brick specifications.
- Enter brick dimensions and joints. Specify the brick length and height, plus the horizontal and vertical mortar joint thickness. The calculator will use these to compute the brick’s effective face area.
- Set door and window areas. Use the defaults or adjust if your doors and windows are larger or smaller than typical sizes.
- Choose a wastage percentage. A modest allowance (for example 5–10%) helps avoid running out of bricks partway through the project.
- Add walls. For each wall, enter length, height, the number of doors and windows, and any extra opening area. Use the “Add another wall” button to add as many walls as you need.
- Enter cost per brick (optional). If you know the price per brick, enter it along with a currency symbol to see a simple cost estimate.
- Click the calculate button. Review the per-wall table and the total bricks (with and without wastage), as well as the cost estimate if provided.
7. Practical Tips for Planning Brickwork
- Round up the final count: In practice, bricks are bought in packs or on pallets. Rounding up to a convenient number is usually better than cutting the estimate too close.
- Check brick and joint sizes with your supplier: Nominal sizes printed in catalogs can differ slightly from the actual sizes used on site, especially when mortar joints are considered.
- Consider different bonding patterns: Stretcher bond, English bond or Flemish bond can affect the apparent brick layout but usually not the basic area-based calculation for total bricks.
- Account for structural elements: Columns, beams or reinforced concrete sections reduce brickwork area and should either be excluded from wall length or treated as part of openings.
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Brick Calculator FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common questions about estimating bricks for walls, handling openings, wastage and cost in the Brick Calculator.
The calculator provides a practical estimate based on wall dimensions, openings, brick size and joints, which is usually accurate enough for planning material quantities. Actual usage can vary with on-site cutting, workmanship, irregular surfaces and design details, so it is wise to include a reasonable wastage allowance and to round up when ordering bricks.
Use the standard brick size specified by your supplier or building code (for example, a common modular brick size and standard joint thickness). The horizontal and vertical joint values should match the thickness of mortar you plan to use on site. If you are unsure, ask your brick supplier or contractor for typical dimensions used in your region.
Yes. Doors and windows reduce the area that requires brickwork. The calculator subtracts the combined area of all openings on each wall to avoid overestimating the number of bricks. You can adjust the default door and window areas to match your actual sizes, and you can add extra opening area if your design has other cut-outs or large gaps.
A wastage allowance of around 5–10% is common for many brickwork projects. Use the lower end for simple walls with minimal cutting and good handling conditions, and a higher value when working with complex details, curved walls, intricate patterns or when bricks are more fragile. Local contractors or suppliers can often recommend a typical range for your project type.
This calculator assumes a single brick size and joint thickness for the whole project. If you are using different brick sizes in different areas, run separate calculations for each brick type and then add the results. This keeps each estimate clear and helps you order the correct quantity of each brick size or style separately.
No. The cost estimate in this Brick Calculator is based only on the number of bricks multiplied by the cost per brick you enter. It does not include mortar, sand, cement, reinforcement, labor or other construction costs. For a complete project budget, you should add those items separately or consult with a contractor or quantity surveyor.