Brick and blockwork calculator
Calculate bricks for your wall
Enter wall size, pick your unit type — results update as you type.
Materials required
Wall volume: 0
- Bricks/blocks needed0
- Bricks/blocks to order (+5%)0
- Cement (bags)0
- Sand (volume)0
- Sand (weight)0
- Estimated material cost₹0
Sample figures shown for illustration — pending verification against real Tirupati market rates before publishing as fact.
Brick and block sizes used in India
A modular brick measures 190×90×90 mm on its own, or 200×100×100 mm once you add a standard 10 mm mortar joint on each side — that "with mortar" size is what actually determines how many fit into a wall, and works out to 500 bricks per cubic metre. A traditional (non-modular) brick is slightly larger at 230×110×75 mm (240×120×85 mm with mortar) and is still common in older construction and some regions. Solid concrete blocks (400×200×200 mm) and AAC blocks (600×200×200 mm) are laid with a much thinner mortar bed, so this calculator treats their joint mortar as negligible — most suppliers price AAC block adhesive separately from wall mortar.
How this is calculated
Wall volume is length × height (minus any door/window area) × thickness. The number of units needed is that volume divided by the volume of one unit including its mortar joint — for modular brick, that's a fixed 500 units per cubic metre.
The mortar itself is whatever's left over: wall volume minus the actual (mortar-free) volume of all those bricks, corrected by the usual 1.33 dry-volume factor for mortar, then split into cement and sand by the mortar ratio the same way the plastering and concrete calculators do — cement's share is 1 ÷ (1 + sand parts) of the dry mortar volume.
Worked example: one cubic metre of brickwork
For 1 cubic metre of modular brickwork at a 1:6 cement:sand mortar ratio:
Units needed = 1 ÷ 0.002 = 500 bricks Actual brick volume = 500 × (0.19 × 0.09 × 0.09) = 0.770 m³ Wet mortar volume = 1 − 0.770 = 0.230 m³ → dry = 0.230 × 1.33 = 0.307 m³ Cement volume = 0.307 ÷ 7 = 0.0438 m³ → 0.0438 × 1440 ÷ 50 = 1.26 bags Sand = (0.307 − 0.0438) × 35.3147 = 9.3 cft
Bricks vs AAC vs concrete blocks
Red bricks are the cheapest per unit but need more mortar and more units per wall, and absorb water during construction. Solid concrete blocks are heavier and stronger but bulkier to transport. AAC blocks are the lightest, fastest to lay (fewer, larger units per wall), and give the best thermal insulation — but usually cost more per cubic metre of wall and need a specific thin-bed adhesive rather than standard mortar. Choose based on wall height, load, budget and how fast the contractor needs to build.
Frequently asked questions
How many bricks are needed for a 10×10 room wall?
For a 10×10 ft room with 9 ft high walls in modular brick at 9-inch thickness, expect roughly 3,000–3,300 bricks for the four walls before deducting doors and windows — use the calculator above with your actual dimensions for an exact figure.
How many bricks are there in 1 cubic metre of brickwork?
About 500 modular bricks (190×90×90 mm) per cubic metre of brickwork, along with roughly 1.26 bags of cement and 9.3 cft of sand for the mortar.
How many bricks per cubic metre for traditional (non-modular) brick?
Traditional bricks (230×110×75 mm actual, 240×120×85 mm with mortar) work out to roughly 410 bricks per cubic metre — fewer than modular brick because each traditional brick is larger.
Is AAC block cheaper than red brick?
Per unit, no — an AAC block costs more than a single red brick. But because one AAC block replaces several red bricks and needs a thinner mortar bed, the total cost per square metre of finished wall is often comparable or lower, and the wall goes up faster.
What mortar ratio should I use for brickwork?
1:6 (cement:sand) is standard for load-bearing internal and external brick walls in residential construction. 1:4 or 1:5 gives a stronger, less workable mix used for specific structural requirements — check with your engineer if unsure.
Building on your own land?
Building vs. buying — the real comparison
This calculator is for people building on land they already own. If you're still deciding between building yourself and buying a finished flat, this comparison covers the real costs and timelines of both.