How Many Bricks for 800 Square Feet?
Brick to buy
5,760 brick
800 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 length100 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 buy5,760 brick
| Net wall area | 800 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Brick per sq ft | 6.86 |
| Brick before waste | 5,486 |
| Courses | 37at 2.625 in per course |
| Mortar in the joints | 44.2 cu ft |
| Mortar to buy | 88.5 cu ftjoint volume doubled, see the assumptions |
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 14837 brick per bag |
| Wall ties | 300 |
| Weep holes | 37 |
The material list this produces
| Brick | 5,760 |
|---|---|
| Mortar mix, 80 lb bags | 148 |
| Wall ties | 300 |
| Weep vents | 37 |
| Flashing, ft | 100 |
Brick size compared
The same wall in every brick size the calculator carries, at this page's area.
| Brick size | Brick to buy | Brick per sq ft | Mortar mix, 80 lb bags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 5,760 brick | 6.86 | 148 |
| Standard | 5,503 brick | 6.55 | 146 |
| Queen | 4,839 brick | 5.76 | 99 |
| Engineer | 4,744 brick | 5.65 | 129 |
| King | 4,032 brick | 4.8 | 97 |
| Utility | 2,520 brick | 3 | 99 |
What else matters here
Eight hundred square feet at 6.86 brick a square foot is 5,486 laid and 5,760 ordered, and all of it rests on the 3/8 in joint.
Three eighths is the default because it is what modular coursing is laid out around.
Seven courses of modular brick with a 3/8 joint rise exactly 18 3/8 inches, which is why brick ledges, sills and window heights land where they do. Run the joint at half an inch instead and each course gains an eighth, which over the 37 courses of an 8 foot wall is more than four and a half inches.
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 800 square feet?
5,760 modular brick, which is 5,486 for the wall plus five percent waste.
Why is a brick mortar joint 3/8 of an inch?
Because it is what makes the brick modular. A 7 5/8 brick with a 3/8 joint occupies exactly 8 inches of length, and seven courses of 2 1/4 brick with 3/8 joints rise exactly 18 3/8 inches, which is why brick ledges, sills and window heights land where they do.
Can I use a thicker joint to make up height?
An extra eighth of an inch across 37 courses is more than four inches at the top.
The brick calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.