Mortar Calculator
Estimate bags of mortar for block or brick.
Enter how many blocks or bricks you're laying and pick the unit type to estimate the bags of mortar mix needed. Mortar use varies with joint size and waste, so treat this as a planning figure and buy a little extra.
How it works
As a rule of thumb, about 3 bags of mortar lay 100 standard blocks, and about 7 bags lay 1,000 modular bricks. Joint thickness, mix type, and waste all affect the real amount, so round up and keep a spare bag on hand.
Worked example
Laying 500 standard bricks: a typical figure is about 7–8 bricks per square foot of wall and roughly 8–9 bags of mortar per 1,000 bricks for standard joints. So 500 bricks need about 4–5 bags of mortar mix, depending on joint thickness and your mix ratio. Bigger joints and rougher block use more.
What changes your estimate
- Joint thickness. Thicker mortar joints consume more material per brick or block.
- Unit type. Concrete block uses more mortar per square foot than brick because of the larger face and webs.
- Mix ratio. Type N, S, and M mortars use different sand-to-cement proportions, changing yield per bag.
- Waste and droppings. Some mortar is always lost to droppings and tooling — add a small allowance.