CalculatorEnter your measurements below and it works the answer out.
6.86 modular bricks, or 1.125 standard blocks, to the square foot of wall face. Both figures come from the unit size plus its mortar joint.
The arithmetic. Work out the area, divide by what one unit covers, add 5% waste, round up. Nothing more than that — the value of the page is the coverage figures and the waste allowance, both of which are stated here rather than hidden inside the tool.
Why the waste allowance is 5%. A modular brick with a 3/8 inch mortar joint occupies 8 by 2 5/8 inches of wall face, which is 21 square inches, or 0.1458 square feet — so 6.86 bricks to the square foot. A standard 8 by 8 by 16 block occupies 8 by 16 inches of face, which is 0.889 square feet, so 1.125 blocks. Both figures are the joint size and the face size, nothing more.
How it is sold. Brick is sold by the cube, usually 500 or so, and block by the pallet. Five per cent covers breakage, which is real with brick and unavoidable with cuts.
Count the wall face, and allow for breakage. The count follows the face area of the wall, not its volume — a single-wythe wall and a cavity wall of the same size take the same number of units per face. Cuts at openings and corners break units, which is what the allowance covers.
Round up to how it is sold. The result below shows three numbers: the raw quantity, the quantity after the 5% allowance, and the whole units to buy. You can see exactly where the rounding happened rather than being handed one figure.
Divide your area in square feet by the coverage of one unit, then add 5% and round up. At 0.1458 sq ft each, a 200 sq ft job needs 1441.
5% is what this calculator adds. A modular brick with a 3/8 inch mortar joint occupies 8 by 2 5/8 inches of wall face, which is 21 square inches, or 0.1458 square feet — so 6.86 bricks to the square foot. A standard 8 by 8 by 16 block occupies 8 by 16 inches of face, which is 0.889 square feet, so 1.125 blocks. Both figures are the joint size and the face size, nothing more.
6.86 modular bricks with a 3/8 inch joint. The number comes straight from the face size: a modular brick plus its joint occupies 8 by 2 5/8 inches — 21 square inches — and there are 144 square inches in a square foot.
1.125 for a standard 8 × 8 × 16 in block, because each one covers 8 by 16 inches of wall face. A 100 square foot wall takes 113 blocks before breakage. For courses, mortar and pallet counts see the concrete block calculator.
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