How many bricks per square metre (and per square foot)?
A standard UK or EU brick (215 x 65 mm) laid with a 10 mm joint gives about 59.3 bricks per square metre of wall face, which is why "60 per square metre" is the rule of thumb. A US modular brick with a 3/8 inch joint comes to about 6.9 per square foot (73.8 per square metre). Blocks, joint sizes and what to order for a real wall are below.
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Bricks and blocks per square metre
Each unit occupies its own face area plus one mortar joint along its length and one along its height. Divide one square metre by that area and you get the count. The presets below are the ones in the brick calculator. The 73 mm bricks, with counts for walls of 1 to 10 m² and their mortar, have their own page: how many 73mm bricks per m2.
| Format | Unit size | Joint | Per m² | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US modular brick | 7 5/8 x 2 1/4 x 3 5/8 in | 3/8 in | 73.8 | 6.86 |
| UK / EU standard brick | 215 x 65 x 102.5 mm | 10 mm | 59.3 | 5.51 |
| UK 73 mm brick (Scottish) | 215 x 73 x 102.5 mm | 10 mm | 53.5 | 4.97 |
| UK imperial 73 mm brick | 228 x 73 x 108 mm | 10 mm | 50.6 | 4.7 |
| Concrete block (CMU) 8 x 8 x 16 | 15 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 7 5/8 in | 3/8 in | 12.1 | 1.13 |
| Concrete block 440 x 215 | 440 x 215 x 100 mm | 10 mm | 9.9 | 0.92 |
What to order for a 10 m² wall
Multiply the count by the net wall area (after doors and windows), then add waste: 5% is usual for a simple wall, 10% if there are many corners, piers or cut bricks. The mortar column is the geometric volume of the joints.
| Format | Exact | Order (with waste) | Mortar (m³) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US modular brick | 739 | 776 | 0.169 |
| UK / EU standard brick | 593 | 623 | 0.176 |
| UK 73 mm brick (Scottish) | 536 | 563 | 0.164 |
| UK imperial 73 mm brick | 507 | 532 | 0.17 |
| Concrete block (CMU) 8 x 8 x 16 | 122 | 128 | 0.134 |
| Concrete block 440 x 215 | 99 | 104 | 0.066 |
The joint size matters
A thinner joint packs more bricks into the same wall. The standard is 10 mm in the UK and 3/8 inch in the US; older walls and some facing bricks use other sizes. Match the joint of the wall you are repairing or extending.
| Joint | Bricks per m² |
|---|---|
| 8 mm | 61.4 |
| 10 mm | 59.3 |
| 12 mm | 57.2 |
Single skin or one brick thick?
- The counts above are for a single-skin (half-brick, 102.5 mm) wall in stretcher bond, which is what garden walls, cavity leaves and most cladding use.
- A one-brick-thick solid wall (215 mm) shows the same face area but uses twice the bricks; multiply by two.
- A cavity wall has two leaves. Count the outer leaf in bricks and the inner leaf in blocks, each from its own row of the table; the blocks per m² guide has the block leaf with waste and mortar.
Frequently asked questions
- How many bricks per square foot?
- About 6.9 US modular bricks per square foot with a 3/8 inch joint, or 5.5 UK standard bricks per square foot with a 10 mm joint. The counts are per face of a single-skin wall.
- How many bricks for a 10 x 10 ft wall?
- A 100 sq ft single-skin wall in US modular bricks needs 686 bricks before waste; order about 720 with 5% for cuts and breakages. Subtract any door or window area first.
- Does the mortar joint change the count?
- Yes, more than people expect. Going from an 8 mm to a 12 mm joint on a UK brick drops the count from 61.4 to 57.2 per square metre, because every brick "grows" by the joint on two sides.
- How much mortar do I need per square metre?
- Geometrically, a single-skin wall of UK bricks uses about 0.018 m³ of mortar per square metre. On site the real figure is higher because of frogs, perforations and waste, so treat it as a lower bound when ordering sand and cement.
More guides
- How many bricks per square foot? Walls, patios and floors
Modular bricks per square foot of wall (about 7) and laid flat on a patio (4.5 to 5), bricks for 100 to 500 sq ft with 5% waste, mortar, and the UK brick per sq ft.
- How many bricks do I need for a fire pit? Fire pit brick calculator for 30 to 48 inch pits
A 36 in round fire pit takes 16 modular bricks a course, 84 for 5 courses with 5% waste, and 14 fire bricks a course to line it. 30 to 48 in, square pits.
- How many blocks for a retaining wall? (12x4, 16x6 and 18x8 in)
Retaining wall blocks for 10 to 50 ft walls at 1, 2 and 3 ft high in the three common sizes, plus the gravel base and the drainage stone behind the wall, and metric.
- How many bags of mortar per 100 bricks (and per 100 blocks)?
80 lb and 60 lb mortar bags per 100, 500 and 1,000 bricks or 8x8x16 blocks from the label yields, mortar volume per square metre of wall, and 25 kg bags for UK bricks.
Last updated 2026-09-11. Figures are planning estimates from typical product data: check the yield, size or coverage printed on what you buy and round up.