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Brick sizes

brick-dimensions

What are the standard brick dimensions?

Actual dimensions will be determined by manufacturer standards and shape of a brick. Rectangle brick measured by width, height (thickness) and length is the one of the most widely used option. In masonry industry nominal size or exact brick length and height plus the thickness of a joint use for calculating the number of bricks require to build a certain object. While nominal dimensions will work with a high accuracy for simple single standard layout, more complex work as well as custom design will require precise calculations with analyzing all parameters and exact brick specifications, otherwise decreasing of an accuracy might take a place.

Actual brick dimensions, thickness of the joint and number of rows should be included while calculating the number of bricks required for building a wall. While in theory the amount, size and thickness are precise characteristics, in practice there is always tolerance and acceptable allowances when it comes to load bearing masonry. Based on the type of mortar (cement), bricks used and type of a structure thickness of joints should stay within certain parameters and determined by building codes.

Some bricks are modular when length (L) and width (W) stay in proportions to each other – typically 1L equal 2W plus thickness of joint. Some does not have any proportional relationship between width and length.

Brick dimensions chart

H
W
L
S
SJ
N (100 ft²)
N (10 m²)
2 1/4
3 5/8
7 5/8
17.16
21
686
57
92
194
11,058
13,668
732
2 3/4
2 3/4
7 5/8
20.97
25
576
70
70
194
13,580
16,320
613
3 5/8
3 5/8
7 5/8
27.64
32
450
92
92
194
17,848
20,808
480
2 1/4
3 1/2
8
18
22.98
655
57
89
203
11,571
14,271
701
3 1/2
3 1/2
8
28
32.45
444
89
89
203
18,067
21,087
474
2 5/8
2 3/4
9 5/8
25.27
30
480
67
70
244
16,348
19,558
511
2 3/4
3 5/8
9 5/8
26.47
31.25
461
70
92
244
17,080
20,320
492
2 3/4
3
9 3/4
26.81
31.64
455
70
76
248
17,360
20,640
484
2 1/4
3 5/8
11 5/8
26.16
31.5
457
57
92
295
16,815
20,435
489
2 3/4
3 1/2
11 5/8
31.97
37.5
384
70
89
295
20,650
24,400
410

How the data was analyzed

First row for each size marked in bold is dimensions of a brick in imperial units (feet, square feet), second in metric system (millimeters, square millimeters).

H – brick height; W – brick width; L – brick length; S = H x L; SJ = S + Joint thickness - 3/8”, 10 mm. N – number of bricks require for 100 square feet or 10 square meters of wall.

Note: the numbers are not masonry industry standards, but only a data analysis based on most common brick sizes.

How heavy the brick is

Usually solid 2 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 7 5/8 brick will weigh about 5 lb with proportional changes according to its dimension.