NineClip Build

Brick Calculator

Bricks, mortar cement and sand for any wall — real brick geometry, not a guess.

ConstructionCore● Free Formula shown Rates dated
Quick Answer

A 9-inch wall in traditional Indian bricks (9″ × 4.5″ × 3″) uses about 8–9 bricks per sq ft including 5% wastage, plus cement–sand mortar. A 10 × 10 ft wall needs ~875 bricks, ~3 bags of cement and ~21 cft of sand — roughly ₹8,600–14,000 in materials at ₹7,000–12,000 per 1,000 bricks (as of Jul 2026). Enter your wall below for the exact count with openings deducted.

Loading Brick Calculator…

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded.

The Formula

Bricks = wall volume ÷ (brick + 10 mm mortar joint) volume; mortar = wall volume − brick volume, split cement : sand

The count comes from the actual brick geometry, not a per-sq-ft shortcut: each brick occupies its own size plus a 10 mm mortar joint on three faces. Whatever volume the bricks don't fill is mortar, which is then split into cement and sand by the mix ratio and converted at 0.0347 m³ per bag.

Assumptions & Wastage

  • 10 mm (3/8″) mortar joints throughout, solid English-bond masonry with no cavities
  • 9-inch walls use 1:6 cement–sand mortar; 4.5-inch partitions use 1:4, standard Indian practice
  • Dry mortar = wet mortar volume × 1.33 (voids in sand and cement absorption)
  • Wall thickness is taken as the nominal 9 in (0.75 ft) or 4.5 in (0.375 ft)
  • Traditional brick 230 × 115 × 75 mm gives ~392 bricks/m³ with joints; modular 190 × 90 × 90 mm gives 500/m³
  • RCC bands, lintels and columns inside the wall are not deducted — add them to the openings area if significant
MaterialWastage allowance
bricks5%
cement3%
sand10%

Worked Examples

10 × 10 ft external wall, 9-inch, traditional bricks

  1. Wall: 10 × 10 ft = 100 sq ft × 9 in thick = 75 cft = 2.12 m³
  2. Traditional brick + 10 mm joint → 392 bricks per m³
  3. Bricks: 2.12 × 392 = 833; +5% wastage → 875 nos
  4. Mortar: 2.12 − brick volume = 0.47 m³ wet × 1.33 = 0.63 m³ dry, mix 1:6
  5. Cement: 0.63 ÷ 7 ÷ 0.0347 m³/bag = 2.6 bags; +3% wastage = 2.7 bags (buy 3)
  6. Sand: 0.63 × 6/7 = 19 cft; +10% wastage = 20.9 cft
  7. Material cost: ₹8,335 to ₹14,036 (as of Jul 2026)

Load this example in the calculator

12 × 9 ft partition with a door, 4.5-inch, traditional bricks

  1. Wall: 12 × 9 ft − 21 sq ft door = 87 sq ft × 4.5 in = 32.6 cft = 0.92 m³
  2. Bricks: 0.92 × 392 = 362; +5% wastage → 381 nos
  3. Mortar: 0.21 m³ wet × 1.33 = 0.27 m³ dry, mix 1:4
  4. Cement: 0.27 ÷ 5 ÷ 0.0347 = 1.6 bags (buy 2)
  5. Sand: 7.7 cft; +10% wastage = 8.5 cft
  6. Material cost: ₹3,812 to ₹6,328 (as of Jul 2026)

Load this example in the calculator

Rates & Model Data Used

Every number below is a range with a date — material prices in India move quickly, so always check the "as of" month before relying on a figure.

ItemRate / valueAs ofNote
Red clay bricks (first class)₹7,000–12,000 / 1000 nosJul 2026Re-verified 2026-07: the previous ₹5,000–9,000 band had gone stale-low — five independent 2025–26 sources (incl. a kiln operator's own price list and kiln-gate news reporting) converge first class at ₹8,000–12,000, with prices up 10–15% YoY on fuel mandates and coal costs. Regional spread is still the widest of any material: kiln belts (UP/Bihar/Punjab) ₹6,000–8,500 kiln-gate, Delhi NCR ₹10,000–12,000, Mumbai to ₹14,000, South metros ₹8,000–11,000. Second class runs ₹5,500–9,000; ₹4,000–5,000 today buys third class. Transport can be 15–25% of delivered cost — compare delivered quotes, not ex-kiln. CPWD DAR 2023 lists class-7.5 FPS bricks at ₹4,724/1000 ex-GST ex-carriage (Delhi, Apr 2023, procurement scale) — bulk procurement and small-lot retail genuinely diverge here, so the DSR does not anchor this retail band; kept medium.
Cement (OPC 43 grade)₹320–415 / bag (50 kg)Jul 2026Per 50 kg bag as listed by retail sources; no dealer page in the set states a tax basis, so GST-inclusive at 18% is inferred, not quoted — a strong inference, but an inference, and the reason this is medium rather than high. Re-baselined 2026-07-24: the band was ₹340–410 at high confidence, resting on two content farms plus official anchors that turn out to be estimating conventions rather than market evidence. Grade does not move the retail price. On the only dated price list found that quotes both grades (Bangalore, 6 Jul 2026, seven brands), five of seven price OPC 43 and OPC 53 identically to the rupee, the mean difference is −₹1.79/bag and the median is exactly zero — so OPC 53 carries this same band. No Indian government schedule prices the grades apart either: CPWD DAR 2023 carries a single grey-cement rate of ₹5,156/t and lets estimators substitute ordinary, pozzolana or slag against it, and WPI has no OPC 53 series. That is an accounting convention rather than proof about the market, but not one official source in the country supports paying more for 53. What does move the price: brand ₹75/bag (Maha ₹335 against UltraTech ₹410, same list, same day — 22%) and city ₹35/bag (ACC OPC 53 ₹395 Bangalore against ₹360 Hyderabad, 570 km apart). Against those, grade at zero is a rounding error. Bulk orders of 100+ bags take another ₹10–20/bag off. GST moved 28% → 18% on 22-09-2025 (CBIC Notification 9/2025, heading 2523, which names slag cement expressly); any bag price published before Oct 2025 is on the old regime — multiply by 1.18/1.28 = 0.9219, a 7.8% fall, before comparing. Cost check: ₹320 incl. = ₹5,424/t ex-GST against CPWD's ₹5,156/t ex-GST ex-carriage bulk Delhi (Apr 2023) = +5.2%, which leaves about 5% for carriage plus the whole dealer chain — thin, and only plausible near a plant, which is what a value brand in a southern clinker market is. Cement WPI has moved between −3% and +2% since Apr 2023, so no inflation adjustment to that anchor is warranted. Declared weaknesses: the ₹400–415 ceiling is two lines on one Bangalore page (verbatim-confirmed by three independent readers, uncorroborated elsewhere — the one corroborator refused connection), first-hand retail evidence is two southern cities plus one Delhi single-brand list, and July is near the seasonal trough since cement softens through the monsoon and firms in the Jan–Mar infrastructure season. Treat as a national indicative band and check your own market.
River sand₹60–110 / cftJul 2026Re-anchored 2026-07-25: the three content farms (HouseYog, Civiconcepts, Varna Homes) that used to back this band are struck; it now rests on two government schedules read firsthand — but be clear about what they anchor. CPWD DAR 2023 applies coarse sand (zone III, natural) at ₹1,450/cum throughout its own concrete and mortar rate analyses = ₹41/cft ex-GST, ₹43/cft incl. 5% GST (a stray basic-rate index line at ₹285/cum is an anomalous layout artifact, not the applied rate; the '₹1,450 = spirit/air-compressor' reading is a coincidental-value misread — the operative applied rate is ₹1,450). Maharashtra PWD SSR 2022-23 (p.541) gives natural/VSI/artificial sand ₹1,670/cum = ₹47/cft, crushed ₹1,200/cum = ₹34/cft, screened natural (plaster) ₹1,781/cum. So the government evidence pins an EX-GST, EX-CARRIAGE, AT-SOURCE rate of ~₹41–47/cft (~₹43–50 incl. GST at yard) — and that is ALL it pins. The ₹60 floor is that yard rate plus a minimum ~₹15/cft lead (matching delivered Delhi ≈ ₹50–65); it is lowered from ₹70, which came only from the now-struck per-tonne blog quotes. The ₹110 ceiling is deliberately NOT re-sourced — no primary or retail anchor exists above ₹70 now — and the whole upper half is extrapolation (source rate + heavy lead + retail margin + documented 30–50% mining-ban and monsoon spikes). That is exactly why this is medium, not high, and why the carriage bridge from source to delivered is a fitted, unverified step, disclosed as such. Do not cite the schedules as proof of the delivered band; they anchor only the floor. South metros (Bangalore/Chennai/Hyderabad) sit at the ceiling and above, North plains and near-river Maharashtra at or below the floor; transport adds ₹15–40/cft. Unit exactness is the classic sand failure: confirm cft vs brass (1 brass = 100 cft = 2.83 cum) vs tonne vs truckload and whether transport is in the quote; 1 cum = 35.3147 cft. Density (resolved, unchanged): 22–24 cft/t (1,470–1,600 kg/m³) from IS 2386 Pt III, classical tables and trade 1 brass ≈ 4.5 t — do NOT cite IS 383 for density, it grades aggregate, it does not weigh it. GST 5% (natural sand HSN 2505), asserted from the standing schedule and NOT re-verified against a CBIC notification this pass — flagged. State sand portals (Telangana TGMDC, AP) are JS booking apps that expose no static notified rate.

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Measure one wall at a time. Length × height in feet. For a whole floor, run each wall separately or sum the lengths of walls with the same height and thickness.
  2. Deduct the openings. Add up door and window areas for that wall. A standard door is about 21 sq ft, a window about 12 sq ft.
  3. Match the brick. Ask your supplier for the actual brick size — traditional 9″ bricks and IS modular bricks differ by about 25% in count for the same wall.
  4. Order with the wastage shown. The 5% brick allowance covers breakage in transit and cutting at ends. The working under the result shows exactly where every number came from.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many bricks are needed per square foot of wall?
For traditional Indian bricks (9″ × 4.5″ × 3″) with 10 mm joints: about 8–9 bricks per sq ft of 9-inch wall and 4–4.5 per sq ft of 4.5-inch partition, including 5% wastage. Modular 190 × 90 × 90 mm bricks run ~25% higher counts because each brick is smaller.
How many bricks are there in 1 cubic metre of brickwork?
About 392 traditional bricks (230 × 115 × 75 mm) or 500 modular bricks (190 × 90 × 90 mm), counting the 10 mm mortar joints around each brick. Without joints — for loose volume of stacked bricks — the numbers are higher, which is why supplier and estimator counts sometimes disagree.
How many bricks does a 1,000 sq ft house need?
Roughly 8,000–10,000 traditional bricks for a conventional design with 9-inch external and 4.5-inch internal walls — the same 8–10 bricks per sq ft of built-up area thumb rule used in our construction cost calculator. Partition-heavy or AAC-block designs need far fewer clay bricks.
Which mortar ratio should I use for brickwork?
1:6 (one part cement to six parts sand) is standard for 9-inch load-bearing and external walls; 4.5-inch partitions use a richer 1:4 because the thin wall relies more on mortar strength. Richer than needed wastes cement and can increase shrinkage cracking — more cement is not automatically better.
Should I use AAC blocks instead of clay bricks?
One 600 × 200 × 200 mm AAC block occupies the volume of roughly 12 traditional bricks, lays much faster, weighs about a third as much and cuts mortar use sharply — which is why framed apartment projects have largely switched. Clay brick still wins on local availability, nail-holding and cost in kiln-belt regions. For load-bearing construction, check the block grade with an engineer first.
Why do brick prices vary so much across India?
First-class red bricks run ₹7,000–12,000 per 1,000 nationally (as of Jul 2026) — the widest spread of any major material, and up 10–15% year on year as kiln fuel costs rise. Kiln-belt states like UP, Bihar and Punjab sell first class at ₹6,000–8,500 near the kiln, while Delhi NCR runs ₹10,000–12,000 and Mumbai can cross ₹14,000. Transport alone can be 15–25% of the delivered price, so always compare delivered quotes, not ex-kiln rates.

Cement Calculator

How many bags of cement a job needs — any concrete mix or mortar, with the working shown.

ConstructionOpen Calculator

Plaster Calculator

Cement and sand for wall plaster — by thickness and mix, with the working shown.

ConstructionOpen Calculator
Core

Concrete Calculator

Cement bags, sand, aggregate and water for any slab — by grade, formula shown.

ConstructionOpen Calculator

Sand & Aggregate Calculator

Convert cft, m³, brass and tonnes — and price the load before the truck arrives.

ConstructionOpen Calculator
Core

Construction Cost Calculator

How much will your house cost to build? Dated rates, formula shown, honest ranges.

ConstructionOpen Calculator
Core

Steel Calculator

How much TMT steel does your house need? Thumb-rule quantity and dated cost.

ConstructionOpen Calculator

Sources & Limitations

What this calculator does not model

  • Plaster is not included — it is a separate calculation on both wall faces
  • Assumes solid bond walls; rat-trap bond and cavity walls use fewer bricks
  • RCC bands, lintels and stiffener columns are not modelled — deduct them via the openings field
  • Curing water and masonry labour are excluded from the cost
  • The cost band uses national rates; the brick table below shows why your local quote may sit well inside or outside it