Estimate how many bricks you need for a wall including mortar joints.
Bricks are counted by module, not by brick. Each brick occupies its own face plus one mortar joint on the length and one on the bed, so the repeating unit for a standard modular brick with a 3/8 in joint is 8.375 by 2.625 inches — about 6.55 bricks per square foot. Divide 144 square inches by that module area and multiply by the wall face area. The joint size matters more than it looks: dropping from a 1/2 in to a 3/8 in joint adds roughly 4% more bricks to the same wall. A breakage allowance of 5% covers cuts at openings and corners, and a bag of mortar mix lays about 125 standard bricks.
Brick Count
Module = (brick length + joint) x (brick height + joint); bricks per sq ft = 144 / module; bricks = wall area x bricks per sq ft x (1 + waste%)
About 6.55 for a standard modular brick (8 x 2.25 in face) with a 3/8 in joint, in a single wythe. Larger-format bricks drop to 4-5, and thin veneer brick can be higher.
Yes. This figure is per wythe of brick face, so a solid two-wythe wall needs twice the count, plus header courses or wall ties depending on the bond.
Because it applies on every brick in both directions. A 1/8 in change in joint size shifts the module area by several percent, which across a few thousand bricks is a full pallet.