Brick Mortar Calculator
Find how many bricks and bags of mortar you need for a brick wall.
Tell us about your wall
Your answer
To lay 567 modular bricks, with 15% extra mortar.
Or mix your own
5 bags of masonry cement (70 lb) and 1,200 lb of mason sand. That is about 105 shovels, if damp, loose sand weighs 80 lb a cubic foot (CMHA).
This answer is a guide. For walls that hold weight or hold back soil, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
What it costs
Type N: $10.80, the middle of only 3 stores. Type S: $9.59, the middle of 7 stores (Oct 2026). An 8 in block: $2.84, the middle of 4 stores. We found too few brick prices to give one.
Quick answers
- 1,000 modular bricks
- Plan 27 bags of 80 lb mix by Quikrete's count. With 15% for waste, buy 32.
- Bricks per sq ft
- 6.75 modular bricks, says BIA. That is 675 per 100 sq ft.
- One bag lays
- Up to 37 modular bricks, says Quikrete. Sakrete says 35.
- How much extra?
- 5% more bricks for breaks and cuts. 15–25% more mortar, says BIA.
- Brick price
- We found only 2 stores, at $0.74–$1.30 a brick. Too few for a default.
How to work it out
- Find the wall area: length × height, in feet.
- Look up bricks per sq ft for your brick size in the table below. Multiply.
- Add 5% more bricks for breaks and cuts, rounding up.
- Divide by how many bricks one bag lays.
- Add 15% for mortar waste if the count has none. Round up to a whole bag.
Utility bricks: 20 × 4 = 80 sq ft
80 × 3 = 240 bricks
240 + 5% = 252 bricks
252 ÷ 22 = 11.45 bags
+ 0% (SPEC MIX's count has waste in) → 12 bags
Brick sizes and bricks per square foot
For mortar types, water and mixing your own, see the mortar calculator.
Bricks are sold by name, like modular or queen. The table gives each real size in inches: thick × high × long.
| Brick | Real size (in) | Per sq ft (BIA) | Per sq ft (Glen-Gery) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 3⅝ × 2¼ × 7⅝ | 6.75 | 6.86 |
| Standard | 3⅝ × 2¼ × 8 | 6.55 | 6.55 |
| Queen (see below) | 3 × 2¾ × 7⅝ | 5.5 | 5.76 |
| King | 2¾ × 2⅝ × 9⅝ | 4.55 | — |
| Norman | 3⅝ × 2¼ × 11⅝ | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Utility | 3⅝ × 3⅝ × 11⅝ | 3 | 3 |
| Roman | 3⅝ × 1⅝ × 11⅝ | 6 | 6 |
Real sizes are Glen-Gery's, but King is BIA's. Glen-Gery's counts assume ⅜ in joints. No extra is added.
BIA (the Brick Industry Association) and the brick maker Glen-Gery differ a little. For modular brick, BIA says 6.75 and Glen-Gery says 6.86. BIA counts 3 rows of modular brick to every 8 in. Glen-Gery adds a joint to the real brick height.
Queen bricks differ too. Glen-Gery's queen is 3 in thick. BIA's is 2¾ in, and the calculator uses BIA's counts.
Bags per 1,000 bricks: who says what
Each bag maker prints a brick count for one 80 lb bag. The counts don't match.
| Who says | Bricks per bag | Bags per 1,000 | Waste in the count? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quikrete | up to 37 | 27 | Not stated |
| Sakrete | 35 | 28.6 | No |
| SPEC MIX | 37–39 | 25.6–27 | Yes |
| Amerimix | 40–50 | 20–25 | No |
| CMHA | 50 | 20 | Some |
CMHA stands for the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association. It counts brick-sized units.
Some counts allow for waste. SPEC MIX counts waste in. Sakrete leaves it out.
The calculator uses Quikrete's 37 for modular bricks, plus 15% for waste. Queen, king and utility counts are SPEC MIX's low end. They have waste in, so the calculator starts those at 0% extra.
BIA's figure: about 11 bags per 1,000
BIA works it out another way. It gives the mortar in the joints, in cubic feet. For 1,000 modular bricks with ⅜ in joints, that is 8.1 cubic feet.
At about 0.75 cubic feet a bag, BIA's figure fills only about 10.8 bags.
| Brick | Bag makers | BIA, ⅜ in joints | BIA, ½ in joints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular brick | 27 | 10.8 | 13.7 |
| Queen brick | 32.3 | 16.3 | 18 |
| King brick | 40 | 18.9 | 21.3 |
| Utility brick | 45.5 | 16.4 | 20.9 |
BIA's figures have no waste in them. The queen, king and utility counts (SPEC MIX) do. We divided by 0.75 cubic feet per bag.
Why is BIA's so much lower? Partly because it leaves out waste. But even with 25% waste, it is about 13.5 bags. That is only about 50% of the bag makers' count.
Nothing we read explains the rest of the gap. So we use the bag makers' counts. They give the bigger order, so you are less likely to run short.
Before you buy bricks
- Pick your brick size in step 1. The count changes a lot by size.
- Keep at least 5% extra bricks for breaks and cuts, as BIA says.
- Ask the yard for a price per brick or per 1,000. We found prices from only 2 stores (Oct 2026).
If the wall holds weight or soil, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
Questions people ask
How many bags of mortar per 1,000 bricks?
About 27 for modular bricks, from Quikrete's count. Sakrete's count gives 28.6. CMHA's gives 20, with some waste already in.
How much mortar for 100 bricks?
About 2.7 bags of 80 lb mix for modular bricks. With 15% extra that is just over 3, so buy 4 whole bags.
How much mortar for 500 bricks?
About 13.5 bags of 80 lb mix for modular bricks. With 15% extra, buy 16 bags.
How many bricks does one bag of mortar lay?
Up to 37 modular bricks, says Quikrete. Bigger bricks take more mortar. SPEC MIX says 22–24 utility bricks per bag.
How many bricks per square foot?
BIA says 6.75 modular, 5.5 queen, 4.55 king and 3 utility bricks.
How thick is the mortar between bricks?
BIA's and Glen-Gery's main figures assume ⅜ in joints. A ½ in joint takes more mortar. BIA says 10.3 cubic feet per 1,000 modular bricks, not 8.1.
How much masonry cement for 1,000 bricks?
With 15% extra, the calculator says 9 bags of 70 lb. Quikrete's count of 144 bricks a bag gives 6.9. BIA's rule of thumb is 8, with no bag size given.
Where our numbers come from
- Bricks per square foot and mortar waste: Brick Industry Association (TN 10)
- Brick sizes: Glen-Gery brick size guide
- Mortar bags per pallet: Quikrete Mortar Mix product page (80 lb: 42)
- Mortar per block: Quikrete Mortar Mix data sheet
- Mortar per block: Sakrete Type S bag (about 12 blocks per 80 lb bag)
- Type N mortar: Sakrete data sheet (above ground only)
- Bricks and blocks per bag by size: SPEC MIX data sheet (counts include waste)
- Mortar per bag: Amerimix AMX 500 data sheet (80 lb makes about 0.78 cubic feet)
- Mortar per bag: Mutual Materials DesignMix data sheet (about 0.74 cubic feet)
- Mortar per bag: TCC Materials Tech-Mix Type S data sheet (about ¾ cubic foot)
- Blocks, mortar, sand and core fill: Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (TEK 04-02A)
- Mix your own mortar: Quikrete Masonry Cement data sheet (1 bag + 240 lb sand)
- Which mortar type: Brick Industry Association (Technical Note 8B)
- Type N mortar price: the middle of 3 stores, 80 lb bag (Oct 2026)
- Block and mortar prices: the middle of 4 stores (blocks) and 7 stores (mortar), Oct 2026
- Brick prices seen: 2 US stores, $0.74–1.30 a brick (Oct 2026; too few for a default)
Made by BuildersCount. Last checked 3 Oct 2026.
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