The Timeless Appeal of Brick
Brick is one of the oldest, most durable, and most aesthetically pleasing building materials known to humanity. Whether you are building a structural double-wythe brick wall, a decorative garden retaining wall, or installing a brick veneer on the front of a home, ordering the correct number of bricks is essential.
Because bricks are relatively small, a standard wall requires thousands of them. Miscalculating your brick order can leave you with mismatched dye-lots if you have to order a second batch, permanently ruining the aesthetic of the wall.
Understanding Standard Brick Dimensions
To calculate how many bricks you need, you must understand the dimensions of a "Standard Modular Brick."
In the United States, a standard modular brick physically measures 3-5/8" deep × 2-1/4" high × 7-5/8" long.
However, just like cinder blocks, bricks are laid with a mortar joint (usually 3/8 of an inch). When you add the mortar joint to the physical dimensions, the "nominal" (installed) size of the brick becomes exactly 2-5/8" high by 8" long.
How to Calculate Brick Quantities
Because the installed face of a standard modular brick is exactly 2.625 inches by 8 inches, calculating the number of bricks required per square foot of wall is highly standardized.
The Math
- Installed Height: 2.625 inches
- Installed Length: 8 inches
- Area of one brick face:
2.625 in × 8 in = 21 square inches - Bricks per Square Foot:
144 square inches ÷ 21 square inches = 6.857 bricks
Industry standard simplifies this: You need exactly 7 standard modular bricks per square foot of wall area.
The Formula
- Find the Total Square Footage of the wall by multiplying the Length (ft) × Height (ft).
- Multiply the total square footage by 7.
- Add a 5% waste factor to account for broken bricks and edge cuts.
Total Bricks = (Wall Length × Wall Height) × 7
Example Calculation
You are building a brick garden wall that is 20 feet long and 8 feet high.
- Calculate Square Footage:
20 ft × 8 ft = 160 sq ft - Multiply by 7:
160 × 7 = 1,120 bricks - Add 5% waste:
1,120 × 1.05 = 1,176 bricks
You will need to order 1,176 bricks. Since bricks are typically shipped in "cubes" of about 500, you would order 3 cubes.
Single vs. Double Wythe Walls
This calculation assumes you are building a single layer of brick (often called a brick veneer), which is standard for modern home exteriors where the brick is purely decorative and attached to a wooden frame.
If you are building an old-school, freestanding structural brick wall without concrete block backing, you must build a double-wythe wall (two layers of brick thick). If you are building a double-wythe wall, you must double your final brick count.