How Many Bricks for 450 Square Feet?
Brick to buy
3,240 brick
450 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 length56.25 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 buy3,240 brick
| Net wall area | 450 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Brick per sq ft | 6.86 |
| Brick before waste | 3,086 |
| Courses | 37at 2.625 in per course |
| Mortar in the joints | 24.9 cu ft |
| Mortar to buy | 49.8 cu ftjoint volume doubled, see the assumptions |
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 8337 brick per bag |
| Wall ties | 169 |
| Weep holes | 21 |
The material list this produces
| Brick | 3,240 |
|---|---|
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 83 |
| Wall ties | 169 |
| Weep vents | 21 |
| Flashing, ft | 57 |
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 | 3,240 brick | 6.86 | 83 |
| Standard | 3,095 brick | 6.55 | 83 |
| Queen | 2,722 brick | 5.76 | 56 |
| Engineer | 2,669 brick | 5.65 | 73 |
| King | 2,268 brick | 4.8 | 55 |
| Utility | 1,418 brick | 3 | 56 |
What else matters here
Four hundred and fifty square feet needs 3,086 brick laid, and the page orders 3,240, which is the five percent waste allowance and the part of a brick order most likely to be wrong in either direction.
Five percent is the right figure for a plain rectangular wall with few openings, where the only cutting is the closer at each end of alternate courses. It is not the right figure for a wall cut up with windows, because every opening means a cut down each jamb, and it is not right for anything with an angle or a soldier course over an opening.
The asymmetry is what should decide it. Ordering long leaves brick in the yard, which on a house is a genuine asset because a matching brick to repair a damaged one in ten years is very hard to buy. Ordering short means going back for a partial cube from a later batch, and the color will not match the wall you have already laid.
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 450 square feet?
3,240 modular brick, which is 3,086 for the wall plus five percent waste.
What waste allowance should I use for brick?
Five percent for a plain wall with few openings. Ten for a wall with several windows, angles or soldier courses, where every opening adds cuts down both jambs.
Is it better to order too much brick or too little?
Too much. Spare brick from the same batch is the only reliable way to match the wall for a repair years later, and a short order means a partial cube from a different firing that will not match.
The brick calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.