How to Calculate Bricks Needed Per Square Metre

How to Calculate Bricks Needed Per Square Metre

Looking to give your home or outdoor area a fresh makeover with bricks? Bricks are a low maintenance, aesthetically pleasing and energy-efficient building material that offer the flexibly of endless size, colour and texture options, but one of the most challenging aspects of building with bricks is determining the exact quantity of bricks you’ll need. If you order too few, you can end up delaying your project, while ordering too many is a waste of money.

If you are wondering how to calculate bricks needed per square metre for your project, we’ve outlined some easy steps to follow below!

Know these measurements:

To calculate the bricks needed per square metre, you will first need to know:

·       The length, height, and thickness of the structure, wall or floor you need to cover

·       The length and height of the brick you are going to use

·       The thickness of the mortar

·       The estimated wastage (due to breakage, accidental damage and so on) of bricks is generally factored in as between 5-10%.

How to calculate bricks needed per square metre:

While there are different ways to calculate bricks you need per square metre, here is an easy method that we can recommend:

·       First, measure the surface area that needs to be covered in square metres. For example, if a wall is 5 metres long and 2 metres high, multiplying 2 x 5 gives you 10 square metres.

·       Determine the dimensions of the brick. In Australia, the standard brick has these dimensions: 230mm length X 76mm height X 110mm width. If you are using custom bricks, such as the Krause Emperor Bricks, you will need to factor in dimensions of 380 x 110 x 45 mm.

·       You will only need the length and height to determine area coverage. For standard bricks, consider the 230mm X 76mm dimensions when you are calculating the quantity of bricks needed per square metre.

·       Divide this (square metres ) by bricks required for one square metre. For standard bricks, we allow for 48 bricks per square metre, before accounting for cuts, breakage, wastage and accidental damage.

How to calculate the brick quantity:

In the above example, for a wall that measures 5 metres in length and 2 metres in height, you arrived at 10 square metres of measurement. Multiply this by 48 bricks (the number of standard bricks in one square metre of the wall) to get your answer.' So the answer for this example is 48 x 10 = 480 bricks.

It is important to also note that when arriving at the estimate of 48 standard bricks in one square metre, experts also factor in the mortar thickness. For a clay brick wall, the standard mortar thickness between bricks is typically 10mm. This allows for proper adhesion between brick rows while creating stability in the wall.

Most states also impose strict building codes related to mortar thickness so definitely take this into consideration when planning and ordering.

How to calculate the brick quantity for various brick sizes:

Factoring in 10mm mortar as well as accounting for wastage or damage, here are the various brick quantities for different brick dimensions:

·       230mm X 76mm (standard size)- 48 bricks per square metre

·       465 mm X 45mm brick size - 38 bricks per square metre

·       290mm X 50mm – 55.5 bricks per square metre

·       230mm X 50mm - 70 bricks per square metre

·       380mm x 45mm (Krause Emperor Bricks) - 47 bricks per square metre

How to calculate the brick quantity for your project:

Whether it is a small- or large-scale building project, all you need to do is determine the area that you have to cover in square metres and select the brick size.

For example, if you are going to cover your garden footpath or build an outdoor patio, you will need 40 bricks for every square metre. If you are building a garden wall measuring 4 metres in length and 2 metres in height, you can use the same formula given above to calculate the brick quantity:

First, multiply the length and height of your garden wall - 4 x 2 = 8 square metres.

Accounting for wastage and mortar thickness, you need 48 standard size bricks per square metre.

Now multiply 48 x 8 = 384 standard sized bricks needed for your garden wall project.

We hope this helps clarify questions relating to your next brick build – if you’re unsure about anything don’t hesitate to contact us!