Masonry calculators
11 masonry calculators: brick count per wall thickness, mortar quantity and mix, AAC blocks, perforated bricks, wall ties, tie columns, ring beams and lintels.
What this group solves
Masonry take-off goes wrong over definitions. Brick count depends on wall thickness and joint, from 529 bricks per cubic metre in a 240 mm wall to 552 in a 120 mm wall. Mortar is not simply one minus brick volume — it needs the joint-fill allowance added on top. This group keeps the brick, mortar and block chains separate so one does not contaminate the other.
Secondary structure — tie columns, ring beams, lintels and wall ties — is the most commonly missed quantity, yet it carries a meaningful share of the cost. Tie columns run roughly one per 5 m of wall and one per storey band, lintels take the opening width plus 250 mm bearing each side, and ties go in every 500 mm of height extending 700 mm or a fifth of the wall length, whichever is greater. All of these are editable so you can match the local detail book.
Masonry quantities behave differently from concrete: brick and block counts are set almost entirely by unit size and joint thickness, while mortar follows joint fill. So the entry point is always the same — say which unit, then wall thickness, then the structural extras (ring beams, tie columns, lintels). Working backwards from wall area divided by unit face area is the classic error, because it ignores the joints.
Which one for your case
| Standard 240 mm brick wall — counts and mortar | Brick Wall Calculator |
| AAC blocks, reported by both cubic metre and piece | AAC Block Quantity Calculator |
| Hollow or perforated clay units | Hollow Brick Quantity Calculator |
| Mortar only, for bedding or rendering | Mortar Calculator |
| Walls over 4 m high — ring beam position and reinforcement | Ring Beam Calculator |
| Walls over 5 m long or openings over 2 m — tie columns | Tie Column Quantity Calculator |
| Load carried by a lintel over a door or window | Lintel Load and Moment Calculator |
Where this group goes wrong
- Counting bricks as 1/(length×width×height) and ignoring the joint. A 240×115×53 brick with a 10 mm joint gives 529 per m³, not the 684 the net size implies — 29% out, and tens of thousands of bricks on a single building.
- Pricing bedding mortar only and forgetting pointing and waste. Bedding runs 0.23-0.26 m³ per m³ of brickwork, then 1.05 for waste; external walls need pointing on top, and that line item is routinely missed altogether.
- Placing tie columns every 4 m as a blanket rule. The actual triggers are walls longer than 5 m, walls more than 4 m high needing a horizontal tie beam, and openings wider than 2 m needing columns either side. Going by wall length alone misses two of the three.
- Ignoring block moisture. AAC absorbs fast and will pull water out of the mortar, killing bond; blocks should be wetted 1-2 days ahead but be surface-dry at laying. This is a quality issue rather than a quantity one, and the rework costs far more than the material.