How Many Bricks for 3,000 Square Feet?
Brick to buy
21,600 brick
3,000 square feet of wall face in modular brick, 3/8 in joints, five percent waste.
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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 length375 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 buy21,600 brick
| Net wall area | 3,000 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Brick per sq ft | 6.86 |
| Brick before waste | 20,572 |
| Courses | 37at 2.625 in per course |
| Mortar in the joints | 165.9 cu ft |
| Mortar to buy | 331.8 cu ftjoint volume doubled, see the assumptions |
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 55337 brick per bag |
| Wall ties | 1,124 |
| Weep holes | 137 |
The material list this produces
| Brick | 21,600 |
|---|---|
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 553 |
| Wall ties | 1,124 |
| Weep vents | 137 |
| Flashing, ft | 375 |
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 | 21,600 brick | 6.86 | 553 |
| Standard | 20,633 brick | 6.55 | 548 |
| Queen | 18,144 brick | 5.76 | 370 |
| Engineer | 17,789 brick | 5.65 | 481 |
| King | 15,120 brick | 4.8 | 362 |
| Utility | 9,450 brick | 3 | 369 |
What else matters here
Three thousand square feet is a two story house in brick or a small commercial elevation, and above the first story the weather stops being a nuisance and starts setting the schedule.
Mortar will not cure below freezing, and it does not simply pause and resume. Water in a green joint expands as it freezes, breaks the bond it was forming, and the joint never reaches the strength it should have had, which shows up as a course that lets water through for the rest of its life. Cold weather masonry means heated materials, covers and sometimes an enclosure, and all of that is cost and time.
Hot and windy is the opposite problem and is underrated. A joint that dries before it cures has the same weak bond, and on an exposed elevation in summer sun the top of a wall can lose its water within the hour. The answer is the same either way: work the shaded side, cover what has just been laid, and do not let the wall dry out or freeze on the day it goes up.
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 3,000 square feet?
21,600 modular brick, which is 20,572 for the wall plus five percent waste.
Can you lay brick in freezing weather?
Only with heated materials, covers and often an enclosure. Water in a green joint expands as it freezes and breaks the bond permanently, and that course lets water through for the life of the wall.
Is hot weather a problem for brickwork?
Yes, and it is underrated. A joint that dries before it cures ends up just as weak. On an exposed wall in summer, work the shaded side and cover what has just been laid.
The brick calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.