How Many Bricks for 2,500 Square Feet?
Brick to buy
18,000 brick
2,500 square feet of wall face in modular brick, 3/8 in joints, five percent waste.
When the figures look right, the brick material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Wall length312.5 ft
- Wall height8 ft
- Openings to deduct0 sq ft
- Brick sizeModular, 7 5/8 x 2 1/4
- Mortar joint0.375 in
- Waste allowance5 %
Brick to buy18,000 brick
| Net wall area | 2,500 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Brick per sq ft | 6.86 |
| Brick before waste | 17,143 |
| Courses | 37at 2.625 in per course |
| Mortar in the joints | 138.2 cu ft |
| Mortar to buy | 276.5 cu ftjoint volume doubled, see the assumptions |
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 46137 brick per bag |
| Wall ties | 937 |
| Weep holes | 114 |
The material list this produces
| Brick | 18,000 |
|---|---|
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 461 |
| Wall ties | 937 |
| Weep vents | 114 |
| Flashing, ft | 313 |
Brick size compared
The same wall in every brick size the calculator carries, at this page's area. Modular is the default because it is what most of the country builds with, but a wall specified in king or utility brick needs far fewer units and far less mortar, and the labor drops with the unit count.
| Brick size | Brick to buy | Brick per sq ft | Mortar mix, 80 lb bags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 18,000 brick | 6.86 | 461 |
| Standard | 17,195 brick | 6.55 | 457 |
| Queen | 15,120 brick | 5.76 | 308 |
| Engineer | 14,824 brick | 5.65 | 401 |
| King | 12,600 brick | 4.8 | 302 |
| Utility | 7,875 brick | 3 | 308 |
What else matters here
At 2,500 square feet the wall is long enough that it has to be allowed to move, and the joint that lets it is the one thing on this list the calculator cannot count for you.
Brick expands. It comes out of the kiln bone dry and takes up moisture from the air for years afterwards, growing slightly and permanently, and on top of that it moves with temperature every day. A long run with nothing to absorb that pushes against whatever is at the end of it, which is usually a corner, and the crack appears a few feet back from the corner in a stepped line through the joints.
An expansion joint is a deliberate vertical gap filled with a compressible backer and sealant instead of mortar, placed near corners and at changes of height. Where they go is a design decision that depends on the elevation and the climate, not a number off a calculator, and on a wall this length it is worth having someone put them on a drawing before the first course goes down.
What this calculator assumes
- Sizes are actual face dimensions, not nominal. A modular brick is 7 5/8 by 2 1/4, and it is the 3/8 joint around it that makes up the nominal 8 by 2 2/3 the coursing is laid out from.
- This is a single wythe, which is what a veneer is. A solid two wythe wall is twice the brick and twice the mortar.
- Mortar is the volume of the bed and head joints across the bed depth of the brick, doubled. The doubling is not a fudge, it lands the bag count on the figure printed on the bag: an 80 pound bag of mortar mix yields about 0.6 cubic feet and lays roughly 37 modular brick.
- Wall ties are one per 2.67 square feet, which is 16 inches horizontally by 24 vertically, the spacing in TMS 402 for anchored veneer.
- Weep holes are one every 33 inches along the base course, which is the usual reading of the 33 inch maximum.
Questions people ask
How many bricks do I need for 2,500 square feet?
18,000 modular brick, which is 17,143 for the wall plus five percent waste.
Do brick walls need expansion joints?
Long ones do. Brick takes up moisture after firing and grows permanently, and it moves with temperature on top of that. Without a joint the run pushes into a corner and cracks in a stepped line through the mortar.
Where do brick expansion joints go?
Typically near corners, at changes in wall height and at openings, but the spacing depends on the elevation and the climate. It is a design decision, so get it on a drawing rather than off a calculator.
The brick calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.