Masonry Calculators

How masonry estimating works

Brick quantities come from the face area of the wall and the face size of one brick plus its mortar joint. Standard brick sizes differ by country — US modular bricks are 7⅝ × 2¼ in with ⅜ in joints (about 7 per sq ft), UK/EU bricks are 215 × 65 mm with 10 mm joints (about 60 per m²), and Australian bricks are 230 × 76 mm. A double-skin (one-brick) wall doubles the count.

Mortar is the space between bricks: the wall volume minus the brick volume, plus waste. Bagged ready-mixed mortar is convenient for small jobs; for larger walls, mixing sand and cement on site is cheaper. Garden and retaining walls above about 1 m (3–4 ft) need piers, reinforcement or engineering — check local guidance.

Glossary

Skin / leaf / wythe

one layer of brick

Stretcher bond

bricks laid lengthwise, joints offset by half

Frog

indent in the top of some bricks

Coping

capping on top of a wall

Updated 2026-10-18 by the DIYCalcLab Editorial Team · How we calculate