NineClip Build
All 20 calculators

Brick Calculator

Bricks, mortar cement and sand for any wall, worked from real brick sizes.

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, or roughly ₹9,200–14,000 in materials at ₹8,000–12,000 per 1,000 bricks (as of Oct 2026). Enter your wall below for the exact count with openings deducted.

Rates checked Oct 2026. Source: CPWD Delhi Analysis of Rates 2023, Civil Vol. I — basic rates (official PDF, mirror host).

8–9bricks per sq ft of 9-inch wall, with 5% wastage
392 / m³traditional bricks, with joints
500 / m³modular bricks, with joints
1:6 / 1:4mortar: 9-inch wall / 4.5-inch wall

Part of the system: Plan a house construction budget, Material order for one floor. Steps, checks and a free printable page.

Guide: Check a brick delivery.

Loading Brick Calculator…

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

Share this calculator. Your numbers are not included.

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.

One brick plus its mortar jointA 230 by 75 mm brick face with a 10 mm joint making a 240 by 85 mm block.brick 230 × 75 mm face240 mm with joint85 mm10 mm mortar jointTraditional 230 × 115 × 75 mm → about 392 bricks per m³Modular 190 × 90 × 90 mm → 500 bricks per m³
One brick plus its mortar joint. Each brick takes up its own size plus a 10 mm joint. Divide the wall volume by that larger block to get the count; the space left over is mortar.

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%
Wastage added on topBricks 5%, cement 3%, sand 10%.Bricks5%Cement3%Sand10%
Wastage added on top. Bricks 5%, cement 3%, sand 10%, added once by the calculator.

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: ₹9,209 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: ₹4,192 to ₹6,328 (as of Jul 2026)

Load this example in the calculator

Tools on Amazon.in

Tools for laying a straight wall

For measuring the wall and keeping the courses level and plumb.

  • Measures the wall for the calculator.Stanley 5 m measuring tape (4.5★, 27,100 ratings) · See on Amazon.in
  • Checks each course is level.Taparia 12-inch magnetic spirit level (4.4★, 2,000 ratings) · See on Amazon.in
  • Checks the wall stays vertical as it goes up.Stanley brass plumb bob, 225 g (4.5★, 140 ratings) · See on Amazon.in
  • Stretched as a mason's line to keep courses straight.Cotton cord, 100 m (4.3★, 1,200 ratings) · See on Amazon.in

Or search Amazon.in yourself. Type what you need, or tap a common search.

mason line cordplumb bobspirit levelmeasuring tape 15m

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Ratings checked October 2026. We don't show prices; Amazon has the current one.

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)₹8,000–12,000 / 1000 nosOct 2026Per 1,000 first-class red clay bricks, delivered retail. A kiln operator's own 2026 price list puts first class at ₹8,000 to ₹12,000 (Delhi NCR ₹11,000, Gurgaon ₹11,500, Aligarh ₹8,500), second class at ₹5,500 to ₹8,000 and third class at ₹3,000 to ₹5,500. The Tribune reported in December 2025 that Punjab rates had risen from ₹7,000 to ₹8,000 per 1,000 after monsoon losses and higher coal costs. Both sources put first class at ₹8,000 or more, so the band starts there. Transport adds to the delivered price, so compare delivered quotes rather than kiln-gate prices. CPWD DAR 2023 lists class-7.5 FPS bricks at ₹4,724 per 1,000, ex-GST and ex-carriage (Delhi, Apr 2023); that is a bulk procurement price and does not anchor retail. Confidence stays medium because both sources are from North India. Checked 11 Oct 2026.
Cement (OPC 43 grade)₹320–415 / bag (50 kg)Oct 2026Checked on 23 Oct 2026 and left unchanged. Bangalore's 8 October list prices OPC 43 from ₹340 (Penna) to ₹415 (UltraTech), taking the low end of each quoted range, ₹5–15 a bag above July. The Hyderabad listing shows OPC 53 mostly at ₹300–330 after discounts, with ACC Concrete still at ₹360. Both sit inside the band. Per 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 / cftOct 2026Checked on 23 Oct 2026: no newer schedule or dated dealer price found, so the band carries forward. Re-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.

Tips and tricks

  • Knock two bricks together before you accept a load. Well-burnt bricks ring; a dull thud often means under-burnt.
  • Lay five random bricks end to end and measure them. Sizes vary between kilns and change the count.
  • Soak clay bricks before laying so they don't pull water out of the mortar.
  • Take openings off the wall area. A 3 × 7 ft door is 21 sq ft of bricks you don't need.
  • Unload by hand. Tipping a tractor load can break far more than the 5% allowance.

What we would do

Order 90% of the count first and the rest once the walls are half up and you can see your real wastage. Buy the whole job from one kiln if you can, so sizes match and joints stay even. If you're weighing AAC blocks, compare what a finished sq ft of wall costs (blocks, adhesive or mortar, and labour) rather than the price per piece.

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 (the 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. That is 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, so 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. That 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 ₹8,000 to ₹12,000 per 1,000 (checked Oct 2026), and the city you buy in moves the price most. One kiln operator's 2026 list prices first class at ₹8,500 in Aligarh, ₹11,000 in Delhi NCR and ₹11,500 in Gurgaon. Class matters too: second class on the same list is ₹5,500 to ₹8,000. Fuel and weather push prices up. The Tribune reported in December 2025 that Punjab kiln rates rose from ₹7,000 to ₹8,000 per 1,000 after monsoon losses and higher coal costs. Transport adds to every load, so compare delivered quotes, not kiln-gate rates.

Cement Calculator

How many bags of cement a job needs, for 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, with the 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