Brick & Block Calculator
Enter your wall size and openings to get the number of bricks or concrete blocks, the mortar bags, veneer wall ties or CMU rebar and grout, and a cost estimate, shown as a real wall laid course by course.
- Units—
- Mortar—
- Wall ties—
- Estimated cost—
Drag to turn · scroll or pinch to zoom · "Cutaway" slices open the wall to show the veneer ties (brick) or the grouted, reinforced cores (block) · the 3D wall is wall 1
How this brick and block calculator works
Units: each unit plus its mortar joint covers a known area of wall. A modular brick with a 3/8 in joint covers 8 × 2-2/3 in, so there are 675 per 100 sq ft. The tool uses each unit's real size and your joint, subtracts openings, adds your waste percentage and rounds up. A standard 8 × 8 × 16 block with a 3/8 in joint covers 16 × 8 in, which is 112.5 per 100 sq ft.
Mortar: the QUIKRETE Mason Mix data sheet says an 80 lb bag lays up to 37 standard bricks or 13 standard blocks. For other brick sizes the tool scales that by the mortar volume per unit from BIA Technical Note 10 (8.1 cu ft per 1,000 modular brick, 12.2 queen, 14.2 king, 12.3 utility, all at 3/8 in). A wider joint takes more mortar. Different maker, different yield, so check your bag.
Veneer ties: IRC R703.8.4.1 and TMS 402 allow each tie to support no more than 2.67 sq ft of veneer, which works out to a tie about every 16 in across and 24 in up. No tie may be more than 32 in apart across or 24 in apart up under the IRC (25 in up under the IBC and TMS 402). The Brick Industry Association's Technical Notes 28 and 28B give the same numbers. Around any opening larger than 16 in, extra ties go within 12 in of the opening, at most 3 ft apart along its edge. Ties are embedded at least 1-1/2 in into the bed joint with 5/8 in of mortar cover and fastened to the studs. In earthquake categories D0 to D2, townhouses in category C, or where wind pressure is over 30 psf, the IRC allows only 2 sq ft per tie; choose that under "Veneer tie spacing" and the tool counts ties that way. High-wind commercial work under the IBC is tighter still (70% of the normal area, no more than 18 in apart), so use an engineer for it. An old Masonry Institute of America reprint (1976) shows the same idea in the old Uniform Building Code, which allowed 2 sq ft and 24 in across; the numbers have since moved to 2.67 sq ft and 32 in, so it is cited as history only.
Block steel and grout: vertical bars sit in cores that are filled solid with grout. The tool counts one bar at each spacing you pick, the wall height plus about 2 ft of lap, in 20 ft sticks. Grout volume comes from NCMA TEK 4-2A, Table 3: an 8 in wall takes 36.1 cu ft per 100 sq ft with every core filled and that number scales with the core spacing (18.1 at 16 in, 6.1 at 48 in); 6 in block is 25.6 and 12 in block 58.9 when every core is filled. The Masonry Institute of America's Design Aid 15 lists grout in cubic yards per 100 sq ft of wall and gives 0.65 for 8 in block at 16 in (17.6 cu ft), 0.50 at 24 in and 0.43 at 32 in, which is close to the NCMA values; its 48 in figure is higher because it assumes bond beams every 4 ft, and this tool does not count bond beams. Both tables include a 3% allowance for loss, so order a little extra grout.
What this tool leaves out
- Footings and foundations, bond beams, lintels, flashing, weeps, cavity insulation and control joints.
- Corners, special shapes and half blocks beyond the waste percentage.
- Structural design. A reinforced masonry wall or a retaining wall is engineered work. Rebar size and spacing, grout strength and footings must come from your plans or a structural engineer.
- Sand, if you mix your own mortar from cement and sand instead of buying pre-blended bags.
This tool is a planning aid, not a design. Ask your supplier to confirm quantities and your building department which code year and local rules apply.
Sources
- Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 10: Dimensioning and Estimating Brick Masonry (Table 4: brick per 100 sq ft and mortar per 1,000 brick)
- QUIKRETE Mason Mix data sheet (37 bricks or 13 blocks per 80 lb bag)
- International Residential Code, Chapter 7, R703.8 anchored masonry veneer (ICC)
- Masonry Institute of America, "Volume of Grout Required in Masonry Walls," Design Aid 15 (grout per 100 sq ft by core spacing, 6 to 12 in block; archived copy, because masonryinstitute.org was not reachable when checked, after the Institute merged into the California Masonry Council on May 1, 2026)
- Masonry Institute of America, "Anchor Tied Masonry Veneer," reprint from Masonry Industry magazine, September 1976 (historical tie rules under the 1976 Uniform Building Code; archived copy)
- California Masonry Council, Masonry Institute of America page (notice of the May 1, 2026 merger)
- Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 28B (April 2025): Brick Veneer/Cold-Formed Steel Framed Walls (2.67 sq ft per tie, 32 in and 25 in spacing, 12 in and 3 ft at openings)
- Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 28: Brick Veneer/Wood Stud Walls (IRC and IBC tie spacing, seismic and high-wind reductions)
- NCMA TEK 4-2A, Estimating Concrete Masonry Materials (2004), Table 3: grout per 100 sq ft by core spacing
- Pro Masonry Guide, code requirements for anchoring masonry veneers (tie spacing and embedment)
- NCMA / CMHA TEK 3-2A, Grouting Concrete Masonry Walls
- 8 × 8 × 16 in concrete block prices (Home Depot)
- Brick prices per piece and per 1,000 (HomeGuide)
- QUIKRETE 80 lb Type N mortar mix price (Ace Hardware)
Estimates only — not engineering, legal or code advice. Check requirements with your local building department and a licensed professional before you build.
Common questions
How many bricks do I need for a 24 × 8 ft wall?
With this tool's defaults (modular brick, 3/8 in joints, a 36 × 80 in door and two 36 × 48 in windows) the net wall area is 148 sq ft. Modular brick runs 675 per 100 sq ft, so you need about 999 brick, or 1,099 with 10% waste.
How many bricks are in a square foot?
Modular brick laid with 3/8 in joints is about 6.75 per sq ft, or 675 per 100 sq ft (BIA Technical Note 10). Queen brick is about 5.5 per sq ft, king brick about 4.55 and utility brick 3 per sq ft.
How many bags of mortar does a brick wall need?
The maker of QUIKRETE Mason Mix says an 80 lb bag lays up to 37 standard bricks or 13 standard 8 × 8 × 16 blocks. For the default 1,099 modular brick the tool adds 10% for waste and gets 33 bags. The old mason's rule of thumb is about 8 bags of masonry cement per 1,000 modular brick, which is also in BIA Technical Note 10.
How many wall ties does a brick veneer wall need?
The IRC and TMS 402 allow each veneer tie to support no more than 2.67 sq ft of wall, spaced no more than 32 in across and 24 in up (25 in up under the IBC and TMS 402), as the Brick Industry Association's Technical Notes 28 and 28B summarize. A 148 sq ft wall needs at least 56 ties, and the tool adds one tie per 3 ft around the openings, so the default wall gets 72. In earthquake categories D0 to D2 or where wind pressure is over 30 psf, the IRC cuts that to 2 sq ft per tie, which makes 90 ties for the same wall (pick that option in the tool). Check with your building department.
How many concrete blocks do I need for a wall?
A standard 8 × 8 × 16 in block (with 3/8 in joints) covers 8/9 sq ft, which is 112.5 blocks per 100 sq ft. A 148 sq ft wall takes about 167 blocks, or 184 with 10% waste.
How much grout does a reinforced CMU wall need?
It depends on how often the cores are filled. NCMA TEK 4-2A puts an 8 in wall at 18.1 cu ft per 100 sq ft with cores filled every 16 in, 9.1 at every 32 in and 6.1 at every 48 in, and 36.1 when every core is filled (3% waste included). The Masonry Institute of America's Design Aid 15 gives 0.65 cu yd (17.6 cu ft) per 100 sq ft at 16 in, which agrees within 3%. At wider spacings the Institute's figures run higher because they also count a bond beam every 4 ft, which this tool leaves out. For the default 24 × 8 ft wall (148 sq ft net) of 8 in block with bars every 32 in, the tool gives about 13 cu ft of grout. Your plans or building department set the real bar and grout spacing.