How Many Bricks in a Square Foot? Charts for Walls and Mortar
A square foot of wall takes about 6.9 modular bricks with standard 3/8 inch mortar joints, so 100 sq ft needs about 686 bricks, or 720 with 5% extra. Bigger bricks need fewer: queen size about 5.8 per sq ft, king size 4.8. The brick calculator works out bricks and mortar for your exact wall.
How to work it out
bricks per sq ft = 144 ÷ ((brick length + 3/8) × (brick height + 3/8))
bricks = wall area (sq ft) × bricks per sq ft × (1 + waste)
Add the joint to each side of the brick because every brick takes up its own size plus one joint. Then subtract doors and windows from the wall area before you multiply.
Bricks per square foot by brick size
Sizes are actual dimensions in inches (length × height on the wall face).
| Brick | Size | Per sq ft | Per 100 sq ft | Bricks per 80 lb mortar bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 7 5/8 × 2 1/4 in | 6.86 | 686 | 35 |
| Standard | 8 × 2 1/4 in | 6.55 | 656 | 34 |
| Queen | 7 5/8 × 2 3/4 in | 5.76 | 576 | 33 |
| King | 9 5/8 × 2 5/8 in | 4.80 | 480 | 28 |
| Utility | 11 5/8 × 3 5/8 in | 3.00 | 300 | 23 |
Bricks for common wall sizes
Modular brick with 5% extra. "Double" is a solid wall two bricks thick. Mortar is for the single wall, in 80 lb bags of premixed mortar.
| Wall | Example | Sq ft | Single | Double | Mortar bags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 3 ft | Small planter | 12 | 87 | 173 | 3 |
| 10 × 3 ft | Garden wall | 30 | 216 | 432 | 6 |
| 10 × 8 ft | Wall section | 80 | 576 | 1,152 | 16 |
| 20 × 4 ft | Garden wall | 80 | 576 | 1,152 | 16 |
| 12 × 8 ft | Wall section | 96 | 692 | 1,383 | 19 |
| 40 × 8 ft | House wall, no openings | 320 | 2,304 | 4,608 | 63 |
How much mortar for bricks?
An 80 lb bag of premixed mortar lays roughly 30 to 40 modular bricks, and about 35 is a fair planning number. On a big job it's cheaper to mix your own: about 7 bags of masonry cement and half a ton of sand per 1,000 modular bricks. Thicker joints and beginner-level waste push mortar use up, so buy a bag or two extra.
How much extra to buy
- 5%: straight walls with few cuts.
- 10%: walls with corners, piers, arches or lots of cut bricks around windows.
Buy everything from one production run if you can, since color varies between batches, and blend bricks from several pallets as you lay them.