Before building a wall you need to order bricks, cement and sand. Enter the wall's length and height, choose its thickness and mortar mix, and get the brick count and mortar materials.
Enter the wall length and height.
Choose the thickness and mortar mix.
Read the bricks and materials.
Bricks: Wall volume ÷ 0.002 m³ × (1 + wastage)
Dry mortar: Wet mortar × 1.33
The brick calculator estimates what you need to build a wall: the number of bricks, the cement bags and the sand for the mortar. You enter the wall's length and height, choose modular (190 × 90 × 90 mm) or traditional (230 × 110 × 70 mm) bricks and a half-brick or full-brick thickness, pick a mortar mix of 1 : 4, 1 : 5 or 1 : 6, and add a wastage allowance. Bricks are assumed to be laid with 10 mm joints.
Home builders, contractors and civil engineering students across India use this kind of estimate to order materials and check quotations. The answer depends mostly on the wall's volume, so the most important preparation is to measure carefully and subtract the doors, windows and ventilators from the wall area before entering it.
1. Measure the wall length and height in metres and subtract openings such as doors and windows.
2. Choose the thickness and compute the wall volume: length × height × thickness. The thickness follows the brick: 100 mm or 200 mm for modular bricks, 115 mm or 230 mm for traditional bricks.
3. Each modular brick with its share of mortar occupies 0.2 × 0.1 × 0.1 = 0.002 m³ (about 500 per m³); a traditional brick occupies 0.24 × 0.12 × 0.08 = 0.002304 m³ (about 434 per m³). Bricks = wall volume ÷ that unit volume.
4. Add wastage: bricks × (1 + wastage% ÷ 100), rounded up.
5. Find the wet mortar volume: wall volume − (number of bricks × the brick's own volume, 0.19 × 0.09 × 0.09 m³ for modular or 0.23 × 0.11 × 0.07 m³ for traditional). Multiply by 1.33 for the dry volume.
6. Split the dry mortar in the chosen ratio: cement = dry volume ÷ (1 + sand part), converted to bags at 1440 kg/m³ and 50 kg per bag; sand = dry volume × sand part ÷ (1 + sand part).
A modular brick measures 190 × 90 × 90 mm. Add a 10 mm mortar joint on each of three faces and it becomes a 200 × 100 × 100 mm block of brickwork, or 0.002 m³, about 500 bricks per cubic metre. A traditional brick of 230 × 110 × 70 mm becomes 240 × 120 × 80 mm with joints, 0.002304 m³, or about 434 per cubic metre. The wall thickness must match the brick: a full-brick wall is one brick length thick, 200 mm modular or 230 mm traditional. Bonding pattern does not change the count, because the total volume of brick and mortar stays the same.
The mortar volume is what is left of the wall after the bricks themselves, roughly 23% of the wall with modular bricks. That is the wet, compacted volume. Loose cement and sand shrink when mixed with water, as fine particles settle into voids, so you must buy more dry material than the wet volume. Site practice uses a factor of about 1.27 to 1.33, and this calculator uses 1.33. Frogs in the bricks and uneven joints can raise real mortar use further.
Richer mortars, with more cement, are stronger and more water-resistant but cost more and can crack if too stiff. A 1 : 6 mix is common for ordinary load-bearing full-brick walls, while thinner half-brick partition walls often use a richer 1 : 4 mix because they rely more on the mortar for strength and often carry reinforcement bars every few courses. Local building practice and the engineer's specification should decide; the calculator only works out quantities for the mix you choose.
Lakshmi is adding a half-brick partition wall 8 m long and 3 m high inside her new house in Mysuru, using traditional 230 × 110 × 70 mm bricks, 1 : 4 mortar and a 5% wastage allowance.
Wall volume: 8 × 3 × 0.115 m thick = 2.76 m³
Bricks (230×110×70 mm + 10 mm joints = 0.002304 m³ each): 2.76 ÷ 0.002304 = 1,198 + 5% wastage = 1,258 bricks
Mortar: Wet = 2.76 − bricks' own volume = 0.638 m³ Dry = × 1.33 = 0.849 m³
Mortar 1 : 4: Cement = 0.849 ÷ 5 = 0.1698 m³ → 4.89 bags Sand = 0.679 m³
Answer: Bricks needed 1,258; Cement for mortar 5 bags (50 kg); Sand for mortar 0.679 m³
Not deducting doors, windows and ventilators from the wall area.
Using the modular brick count for larger traditional or fly-ash bricks, which need fewer per cubic metre; pick the matching brick type.
Forgetting wastage from broken bricks during transport and cutting.
Ordering wet mortar volume without the dry-volume factor.
Measuring wall height to the ceiling when the wall stops at a beam or lintel.
Ordering bricks, cement and sand for new walls and extensions.
Checking contractor estimates and material bills.
Civil engineering and diploma coursework on quantity surveying.
Comparing the cost of half-brick and full-brick walls.
Planning boundary walls, compound walls and partitions.
Should I subtract doors and windows?
Yes, reduce the wall area by openings before entering it.
Are local bricks the same size?
Many traditional bricks are larger; the count will be somewhat lower.