Field guide

How to Estimate a Brick Job — the Counts That Don't Lie

Brick estimating rewards the mason who trusts arithmetic over optimism. The units are countable, the mortar is predictable, and the labor — the only genuinely variable line — becomes predictable too once you rate it by wall type. Here's the sequence.

Step 1 — Net wall area, then units

Face area minus openings, times your unit count: modular ≈ 6.75–7/sq ft. A 400 sq ft veneer with 60 sq ft of openings = 340 net × 7 ≈ 2,380 brick, plus 7% waste ≈ 2,550 ordered. Matching on additions and repairs: build the sample panel line into the quote — matching is scope, not a favor.

Step 2 — Mortar, sand, ties, steel

Your bags-per-hundred number × units; sand by the yard; veneer ties per code spacing; loose lintels over openings priced as steel plus setting. On veneer, flashing and weeps at the base and heads are lines — they're also the difference between a wall and a future lawsuit.

Step 3 — Labor by wall type, not by hope

Track your own brick-per-day by type for two jobs; those four numbers price everything after.

Step 4 — Staging and cleanup

Scaffold above one lift: rental or your frames, setup/teardown days, plank moves. Wash-down with the right cleaner as a closing line. Disposal on tear-out-and-relay work by the ton — brick is heavy and the dumpster knows it.

Step 5 — Margin, then send from the wall

Direct cost ÷ (1 − target margin) — verify on the free margin calculator. FieldSquire drafts all of the above from a narrated walkthrough with photos, at your learned rates, and sends the signable PDF on site — the masonry estimating app is free for 14 days.