How many bricks are in one square metre of wall?

About 50 modular bricks (190 × 90 × 90 mm) or 49 standard red bricks (230 × 75 × 110 mm) per square metre of a half-brick (4½-inch) wall, with 10 mm joints. A one-brick (9-inch) wall takes twice as many: about 100 modular or 98 standard bricks.

How many AAC blocks are in one square metre?

About 8 blocks with a 600 × 200 mm face, whatever their thickness, laid with thin adhesive joints.

How much wastage should I allow?

About 5 % for bricks and blocks, for breakage in handling and cutting at corners and openings.

Which is better, red brick or AAC block?

AAC blocks are lighter, larger and insulate better, so walls go up faster with less mortar; red bricks cost less per piece and are widely available. The structural design decides which suits a wall.

Brick and AAC block calculator

How many bricks or AAC blocks a wall needs, less doors and windows, with wastage, plus the cement and sand for the mortar.

Calculate

Brick or block

Wall thickness

Outer walls are usually one brick (9 inch), partitions half a brick.

Wall length

Wall height

Doors and windows

Their total area, left out of the wall.

Wastage allowance

Wall volume: 1.1 m³
Bricks needed: 490
To order (with 5 % wastage): 515
Mortar (1 : 6): 0.17 m³ wet
Cement for mortar: 0.9 bags of 50 kg
Sand for mortar: 0.194 m³ (6.84 cft)

How it is calculated

The wall's face area is its length × height, less the doors and windows in it. Each brick or block covers its own face plus its share of the mortar joint, so the number needed is the face area ÷ ((unit length + joint) × (unit height + joint)).

A half-brick wall (4½ inch) is one brick laid lengthwise; a one-brick wall (9 inch) is two side by side with a joint between, so it takes twice the bricks and more than twice the mortar.

Bricks are laid in 10 mm cement-sand mortar. The mortar is the wall volume less the bricks' own volume; about a third more dry material is needed than the wet mortar it makes, split 1 part cement to 6 parts sand.

AAC blocks are laid in 2–3 mm joints of ready-mixed block adhesive rather than cement-sand mortar, so the calculator counts the blocks and leaves the adhesive to the maker's coverage figure.

An estimate for ordering material, not a structural design. Your engineer's drawings and site measurements decide the final quantities.

Questions

How many bricks are in one square metre of wall?: About 50 modular bricks (190 × 90 × 90 mm) or 49 standard red bricks (230 × 75 × 110 mm) per square metre of a half-brick (4½-inch) wall, with 10 mm joints. A one-brick (9-inch) wall takes twice as many: about 100 modular or 98 standard bricks.
How many AAC blocks are in one square metre?: About 8 blocks with a 600 × 200 mm face, whatever their thickness, laid with thin adhesive joints.
How much wastage should I allow?: About 5 % for bricks and blocks, for breakage in handling and cutting at corners and openings.
Which is better, red brick or AAC block?: AAC blocks are lighter, larger and insulate better, so walls go up faster with less mortar; red bricks cost less per piece and are widely available. The structural design decides which suits a wall.