Ordering the right number of bricks or blocks comes down to wall face area divided by the coverage of one unit — but that coverage has to include the mortar joint around each unit, and the order needs to account for waste. This calculator handles all of that for common US brick sizes and standard CMU blocks, then rounds up to whole pallets so your order matches supplier quantities.
Brick sizes built into the tool
The four common US modular brick formats have different face heights, which changes how many courses per foot and therefore how many units per square foot:
| Brick type | Face dimensions (L × H) | Joint | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular | 8 × 2.25 in | 3/8 in | ~6.86 / sq ft |
| Queen | 8 × 2.75 in | 3/8 in | ~5.76 / sq ft |
| King | 9.625 × 2.75 in | 3/8 in | ~4.80 / sq ft |
| Jumbo | 8 × 2.75 in | 3/8 in | ~5.76 / sq ft |
| CMU 8×16 | 16 × 8 in | 3/8 in | ~1.13 / sq ft |
The king brick’s longer face reduces the count significantly compared with modular; CMU blocks cover nearly six times the area of a single modular brick.
How it works
Each unit covers its nominal face plus one mortar joint in each direction, because every course shares a bed joint and every unit shares a head joint:
effective unit width = nominal length + joint
effective unit height = nominal height + joint
unit face area = effective width × effective height (sq in)
units per sq ft = 144 ÷ unit face area
bare count = wall area (sq ft) × units per sq ft
with waste = bare count × (1 + waste% ÷ 100)
pallets = ceil(with waste ÷ units per pallet)The tool rounds the bare count down to the nearest whole number (you cannot order a fraction of a unit) then applies waste, and rounds pallet count up.
Worked examples
Example 1: Long garden wall, modular brick Wall: 40 ft long × 6 ft high = 240 sq ft. Modular brick at 3/8 in joint = ~6.86 per sq ft. Bare count: 240 × 6.86 = 1,646. With 8% waste: 1,778 bricks. At 500 per pallet: 4 pallets (rounding up from 3.56).
Example 2: Garage foundation wall, CMU block Wall: 24 ft × 8 ft = 192 sq ft. CMU 16×8 in block at 3/8 in joint = ~1.13 per sq ft. Bare count: 192 × 1.13 = 217. With 5% waste: 228 blocks. At 120 per pallet: 2 pallets.
Choosing the right waste percentage
The waste allowance covers two things: breakage during delivery and handling, and cut bricks at openings, corners, and wall ends. As a practical guide:
- 5% — long straight walls with few openings, careful handling
- 8% — typical residential wall with some openings
- 10% — complex layouts with many corners, curves, or multiple openings
For decorative brickwork or herringbone patterns, increase the waste allowance to 12–15% because cuts are more frequent and less of each cut piece can be reused.
Notes for multi-wythe walls
This calculator counts a single wythe (one brick thick). For a double-wythe (cavity) wall, run the calculation twice — once for the inner leaf and once for the outer — using the correct brick size for each. Allow for the collar joint and any wall ties between the wythes separately. If using different brick types for the two faces, the unit counts will differ.