Brick Calculator — Bricks, Cement & Sand

Work out how many bricks, and how much cement and sand for mortar, a wall needs — modular or traditional brick, any wall thickness.

Wall Details

Material Cost (optional)

Material Required

Bricks Needed
0
Wall Area (net)
0 m²
0
Cement Bags
0 cft
Sand
0 m³
Wall Volume
₹0
Est. Material Cost
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How Brick and Mortar Quantity is Calculated

Brickwork estimation in India comes down to two numbers: how many bricks fill the wall's volume once mortar joints are accounted for, and how much cement and sand fill the gaps between those bricks.

Step 1: Net wall volume

Wall Volume = (Length × Height − Opening Area) × Thickness

Door, window and ventilator openings are subtracted from the gross wall area first, since no bricks or mortar go into them.

Step 2: Brick count

Each brick effectively occupies a larger "brick + mortar joint" cuboid once it's laid — for example a 190x90x90mm modular brick with a 10mm joint on each side effectively takes up 200x100x100mm of wall volume. Dividing wall volume by this larger volume, then adding wastage, gives the number of bricks to buy.

Step 3: Mortar quantity

The actual volume of all the bricks (without the joint allowance) is subtracted from the wall volume to get the mortar volume. Like concrete, that wet mortar volume is increased by about 33% to account for dry-material bulking, then split by the chosen cement:sand ratio — 1:6 for general work, 1:4 where more strength is needed.

Wall typeThicknessTypical use
Half brick115mm (4.5in)Internal partitions, boundary/compound walls
One brick230mm (9in)External and load-bearing walls

What this calculator doesn't include

For example, a 6m × 3m wall (18 m² gross) at 230mm thickness, with modular bricks and a 10mm joint, no openings and 5% wastage, needs about 2,174 bricks, roughly 6 bags of cement and about 38 cft of sand for a 1:6 mortar. Enter these same figures into the calculator above to reproduce this result.

Written and reviewed by Last updated

Frequently Asked Questions

For a standard 230mm (one-brick) wall using modular bricks (190x90x90mm) with a 10mm mortar joint, roughly 100-105 bricks are needed per square metre. This varies by brick size and wall thickness, which is why this calculator asks for both rather than using one fixed number.

The IS-recommended modular brick size is 190mm x 90mm x 90mm, which becomes 200mm x 100mm x 100mm once a standard 10mm mortar joint is included on each side. Many parts of India still use the older traditional/non-modular brick at 230mm x 110mm x 75mm, so this calculator lets you choose either or enter a custom size.

Mortar volume is the wall volume minus the actual (non-mortar) volume of all the bricks used. That mortar volume is then increased by about 33% for dry-material bulking, and split by your chosen cement:sand ratio (commonly 1:4 or 1:6) — the same wet-to-dry logic used for concrete, just with a smaller bulking factor since mortar contains no coarse aggregate.

A half-brick wall (about 115mm/4.5in thick) is laid with the brick's length running along the wall face, and is typically used for internal partitions, boundary walls or non-load-bearing walls. A one-brick wall (about 230mm/9in thick) is laid with the brick's width along the wall face and is used for external and load-bearing walls, offering roughly double the material use and strength.

5% is a typical wastage allowance for bricks, covering breakage during transport, handling and cutting at corners and openings. Sites with more intricate brickwork (jaali patterns, curved walls) may need a higher allowance.

1:6 (cement:sand) is common for general brickwork in non-critical, internal walls, while 1:4 is used where more strength is needed, such as load-bearing external walls or the first few courses above the plinth. Your structural engineer's specification should always override a general default.

Yes — this calculator has a field for total opening area (doors, windows, ventilators) which is subtracted from the gross wall area before working out bricks and mortar. Skipping this will overestimate your material requirement, sometimes significantly on walls with large window openings.

Modular bricks (190x90x90mm) follow the IS-recommended dimension co-ordinated with standard door/window sizes and mortar joints, which can reduce cutting and wastage. Traditional bricks (230x110x75mm) remain widely available and cheaper in many regions. Neither is structurally superior — the choice usually comes down to local availability and mason familiarity.