How to Calculate Bricks and Blocks in a Wall?
The bricks & blocks are the most used material in construction work. They are mostly used for pavement & wall construction. In order to do brickwork in your own house or on a construction site, one must need to know how to calculate the bricks & blocks required for its construction. An estimate of such calculation gives a brief idea of how much construction material is required before starting the construction.
Here in this articles, we are going to show you how to calculate bricks & blocks required in a wall.
Table of Contents
Brick
It is a building material used in walls, pavement, and masonry construction. Brick is prepared using clay-bearing soil, sand, lime, or concrete materials. Bricks have different classes, types, materials, and sizes. There are two basic categories of bricks i.e. fire and non-fired bricks. In building construction, about 70 % of the construction has been done using brickwork, that’s why it is very important to learn brick calculation.
Basic Knowledge for Brickwork:
- The Cement-mortar ratio used for brickwork must be between 1:2 & 1:6. For half wall (meaning wall having 4.5 inches of thickness), the cement mortar ratio should be 1:4. While, for 9-inch brickwork, the cement mortar ratio should be 1:6.
- Cement mortar thickness between sides of brick should be 10 mm or a half inch.
- The structural note of brickwork should be read properly.
- One cubic foot (1 ft3) contains 13.5 number of bricks
Calculating the Bricks Required in a Wall
The required data for calculating the bricks are:
- Volume of wall
- Details of opening in the wall
- Volume of a standard brick
The procedure of calculating the bricks are:
Volume of Wall
- Calculate the dimension of the wall. The dimension of the wall includes length L, height H, and thickness W.
- Multiply all dimensions with each other L x H x W. You will get the volume of the wall.
Volume of wall V = L x H x W
Openings in the Wall
Examples of opening s in a wall are door & windows etc.
- Calculate the volume L x W x H of the opening (door or window) in the wall
- Subtract it from the volume of the wall
V = Volume of the wall – Volume of the opening
Number of Bricks
Since one cubic foot contains 13.5 bricks, we are going to multiply the volume of the wall with 13.5.
No’s of brick = V x 13.5
Example
Let’s take an example to calculate the number of bricks required for a wall for better understanding.
Let assume a wall with following parameters with an opening of L = 2ft, H = 2ft
Wall parameters; L = 10 ft, H = 10 ft W = 9 inch or 0.75 ft
Solution:
The volume of the wall is
Volume of wall = L x H x W
Putting the values
Volume of wall = 10 x 10 x 0.75
Volume of wall = 75 ft3
The volume of the opening
Volume of opening = 2 x 2 x0.75
Volume of opening = 3 ft3
Subtract the volume of opening from the wall
V= Volume of wall – Volume of opening
V= 75 – 3
V = 72 ft3
Now Multiple the volume with 13.5
No’s of brick = V x 13.5
Putting the values
No’s of brick = 72 x 13.5
No’s of brick = 972 bricks
One Brick Wall
The width of a one brick wall is 9 inches. The one brick wall requires 10.133 bricks per square foot.
Brick Calculation for One Brick Wall
- Measure the length L of the wall
- Measure the height H of the wall
- Calculate the Area of the wall using H x L
- Calculate the area of the opening & subtract it from the area of the wall.
- Multiply the resultant area with number 133.
Taking an example;
A one brick wall with following parameter & openings
Wall parameter: H = 10 ft L = 10 ft
Opening Parameter: H = 2 f t L = 2 ft
Solution:
Area of the wall
A = H x L
A = 10 x 10
A = 100 ft2
Area of opening
Area of opening = 2 x 2
Area of opening = 4 ft2
Subtract the area of opening from the wall
A = Area of the wall – Area of opening
A = 100 – 4
A = 96 ft2
Multiply Area with 10.133
No of bricks = A x 10.133
No of bricks = 96 x 10.133
No of bricks = 973 bricks
Half Brick Wall
Half Brick Wall or also known as a 4.5-inch brick wall because it has a width W of 4.5 inches. The Half brick wall requires 5.066 bricks per square foot.
Brick Calculation for Half Brick Wall
- Measure the length L of the wall
- Measure the height H of the wall
- Calculate the Area of the wall using H x L
- Calculate the area of the opening & subtract it from the area of the wall.
- Multiply the resultant areal with number 066.
Taking an example
L = 10 ft H = 10 ft
Area of the Half Brick Wall
A = 10 x 10
A = 100 ft2
Multiply it with 5.066
No of bricks = A x 5.066
No of bricks = 506.6 bricks
One and a Half Brick Wall
One & a half break wall has a width W of 13.5 inches. In such wall, the required numbers of bricks are 15.2 bricks per square foot.
Brick Calculation for One & Half Brick Wall
- Measure the length L of the wall
- Measure the Height H of the wall
- Calculate the Area of the wall using H x L
- Calculate the area of the opening & subtract it from the area of the wall.
- Multiply the resultant area with number 2.
Taking an example
L = 10 ft H = 10 ft
Calculate the area of the wall
A = 10 x 10
A = 100 ft2
Multiply it with 15.2
No of bricks = A x 15.2
No of bricks = 1520 bricks
Blocks
Blocks are the construction material used in walls, pavement, and masonry construction. It is made using concrete cement, sand, and aggregate. It has different sizes, types, and materials but typically the blocks that have dimensions of 18 x 8 x 4 inch3. Using such a block , the wall requires 3 blocks per cubic foot.
Nowadays it is frequently used in construction that’s why it is important to learn blocks calculation.
Blocks Calculation Required in a Wall
The data required for calculations of blocks being used in the wall are:
- Volume V of wall
- Volume of a standard block
- Details of opening in the wall
Volume of the Wall
In order to calculate the volume of the wall;
- Calculate the dimensions of the wall. The dimension of the wall includes length L, height H, and thickness or width W.
- Multiply all dimensions with each other L x H x W.
- The result is the volume of the wall being constructed using blocks.
Openings in the Wall
The openings in a wall refer to the door & windows etc.
- Calculate the volume L x H x W of the opening (door or window) in the wall
- Subtract it from the volume of the wall.
V = Volume of the wall – Volume of the opening
Number of Blocks Required
After finding the volume of the wall;
- Since the standard block of dimension 18 x 8 x 4 inch3 takes 3 blocks per cubic foot.
- Multiply the volume with the number 3.
Here is an example to calculate the number of blocks required for a wall:
Let assume a wall
Wall parameters: L = 10 ft H = 10 ft W = 9 inch or 0.75 ft
Opening parameters: L = 2 ft H = 2 ft
Solution:
Volume of the wall
Volume of the wall = L x H x W
Volume of the wall = 10 x 10 x 0.75
Volume of the wall = 75 ft3
Volume of the opening
Volume of the opening = L x H x W
Volume of the opening = 2 x 2x 0.75
Volume of the opening = 3 ft3
Subtract it from the volume of wall
V = Volume of the wall – Volume of the opening
V = 75 ft3– 3 ft3
V = 72 ft3
Now calculate the number of blocks
No’s of blocks = V x 3
No’s of brick = 72 x 3
No’s of brick = 216 blocks