◆ Calculators ◆ Mortar Bag Calculator: How Many Bags for Block or Brick
Mortar Bag Calculator: How Many Bags for Block or Brick
Work out how many masonry cement bags and how much sand a block or brick wall needs, with the manufacturer yield spelled out and sourced.
Laying mortar always loses some to splatter, buttering and broken units — the data sheet names no figure for it. 0 % is a starting point you set yourself, not a claim that no loss occurs.
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How the number is worked out
The steps from input to result
Mortar is bought and carried in bags, not in cubic feet, so the number that matters at the counter is the bag count — this calculator converts the units you plan to lay into that count, it does not compute a raw mortar volume as its own product.
The yield comes from the QUIKRETE Masonry Cement data sheet, retrieved 2026-09-04, which states: "A typical mix design consisting of one bag of Masonry Cement and 240 pounds of QUIKRETE Mason's Sand will yield approximately 2.75 cu. ft. of mortar and will lay about 46 standard block or 144 standard bricks." The source names two separate cases, joined by "or" — it makes no statement about a wall that mixes both unit types.
Laying block and brick in the same wall and adding both contributions (block count ÷ 46 plus brick count ÷ 144, before rounding up to a whole bag) is this calculator's own assumption, not something the data sheet says: the same bag-and-sand batch yields a fixed volume of mortar regardless of what it lays, so the yield per unit is treated as linearly divisible between the two unit types. That assumption is stated again next to the bag count whenever both quantities are entered together.
Only QUIKRETE Masonry Cement (Type N, 70 lb bag) is covered. QUIKRETE Mortar Mix No. 1102, a separate, pre-blended product, has a different, unlisted yield and is not mixed into this figure.
The formula
Written out, so you can check it by hand
Bags = round up( (block ÷ 46 + brick ÷ 144) × (1 + loss allowance ÷ 100) ); Sand = bags × 240 lb; Mortar volume = bags × 2.75 ft³
Worked example
Worked with the preset values
46 standard block, no brick, no loss allowance: the block contribution is 46 ÷ 46 = 1.0, the brick contribution is 0, and with no allowance the raw total stays 1.0, which rounds up to 1 bag. That one bag needs 1 × 240 = 240 lb of sand and yields 1 × 2.75 = 2.75 ft³ of mortar — the same numbers the data sheet gives for its own example.
What this calculator does not do
Named, not left out
- 01Only QUIKRETE Masonry Cement (Type N, 70 lb bag) is covered. QUIKRETE Mortar Mix No. 1102 is a different, pre-blended product with an unlisted yield and is not covered by this figure.
- 02Adding the block and brick contributions for a mixed wall is this calculator's own assumption, not a statement from the manufacturer — the data sheet gives the two figures separately, joined by "or".
- 03Block and brick dimensions are not accounted for. The data sheet names "standard block" and "standard bricks" without a size, so no conversion from wall area or unit size is offered.
- 04Mortar joint width is not a separate input — it is already folded into the manufacturer's per-unit yield figures.
- 05This assumes typical, uninterrupted laying. Waste from cutting, corners, openings, or a job with unusual joint widths is not modeled beyond the loss allowance you set yourself.
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Updated: 9/4/2026