Brick Wall Calculator — Bricks, Cement & Sand

How this brick wall calculator works

Estimating brickwork means counting two things: the bricks, and the mortar that binds them. This calculator starts with your wall's volume in cubic metres, then applies two standard thumb rules — 500 bricks per cubic metre of brickwork, and 0.30 m³ of wet mortar per cubic metre — to give you both figures in one go.

The formula

• Wall volume (m³) = length × height × thickness
• Bricks = wall volume × 500, rounded up
• Wet mortar = wall volume × 0.30 m³; dry mortar = wet × 1.33
• Cement bags = (dry mortar × 1/7) ÷ 0.0347, rounded up — for 1:6 mortar
• Sand (cft) = dry mortar × 6/7 × 35.3147

Worked example

Say your wall is 10 ft × 10 ft, 9 inches (0.2286 m) thick. That’s 3.048 × 3.048 × 0.2286 = 2.12 m³ of brickwork — multiply by 500 and you get 1,062 bricks. For mortar: 2.12 × 0.30 × 1.33 = 0.85 m³ dry. Cement = 0.85 × 1/7 ÷ 0.0347 = 3.5 → round up to 4 bags. Sand = 0.85 × 6/7 × 35.31 = 26 cft.

Notes for Indian sites

Go with 9-inch (230 mm) walls wherever the wall is external or carries load above it — and keep 4.5-inch (115 mm) walls for internal partitions only. Many regions still use traditional 230 × 110 × 70 mm bricks, which drink a little more mortar: if yours are non-modular, add about 10% to the mortar figures. On big walls, subtract door and window openings from the wall area; for a single small room it barely matters. Add 5–10% wastage to the brick count for breakage in transport and cutting. Buy sand from a supplier you trust — sand with too much silt makes weak mortar. And cure the wall with water for at least 7 days after building so the mortar reaches full strength.