Brick count, ties, flashing, lintels and cost for an anchored brick veneer wall.
Estimates are planning aids, not a professional quote. Double-check quantities and product coverage — and any local code or permit requirements — before you buy.
⚠ Brick veneer is non-structural — it hangs off ties to a structural backup wall (wood or steel stud framing, or block) that carries every vertical and lateral load. This estimate prices the veneer, ties, flashing and accessories only, not the backup wall or its framing.
| Pavers & Block | $474–$642 |
| Concrete & Footings | $230–$311 |
| Connectors & Brackets | $165–$224 |
| Membrane & Fabric | $100–$136 |
| Drainage | $55–$74 |
| Finishing & Sealant | $34–$46 |
| Total | $1,058–$1,432 |
Excludes tools, delivery, tax and permit fees. Labor not included — this is a DIY materials estimate.
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About this calculator
Brick veneer wraps a wood- or steel-framed wall in a single wythe of face brick, anchored back to the structure with corrosion-resistant ties rather than carrying any load itself. Enter the wall's length and height, subtract the door and window openings, and pick a brick size, and the calculator returns the brick count, mortar bags, wall ties on a code-based spacing, and the accessories that make the veneer actually shed water: flashing, weep vents and steel lintels over every opening.
Brick comes in three coverage rates: modular, queen and utility. The calculator adjusts brick count and price for whichever size you pick, since a bigger unit covers more wall per piece but costs more each one. Set the open cavity width behind the brick, the tie spacing and the weep vent spacing in the advanced panel, and toggle on a steel shelf angle if the wall runs taller than about one story, since a typical wood-frame backup can't carry brick weight much past that height on its own.
Step by step
A step-by-step walkthrough to go with your plan above. Follow the product instructions and any local code or permit requirements as you work.
Install a weather-resistive barrier over the sheathing and confirm the backup wall — wood or steel stud framing — is plumb and square before any brick goes up. This is your last easy chance to fix framing problems the brick will only make harder to reach.
Run through-wall flashing along the base of the wall, lapped and sealed at every joint, before laying the first course. This is what actually keeps the whole assembly dry — the brick above it can't do that job on its own.
Snap a level chalk line and lay the first course dry to check your spacing before mortaring anything, adjusting joint width slightly across the run so you land on full bricks at both ends.
Fasten a wall tie to the backup at every code-spaced grid point as each course reaches it, and set a steel angle lintel with full bearing on both sides before bridging brick over any window or door.
Watch mortar droppings as you work — a clogged cavity blocks the drainage path the flashing and weep vents are there to provide, and it's far easier to keep clear now than to dig out later.
Set weep vents in the head joint of the first course above the base flashing at your chosen spacing, and repeat above the flashing over every lintel, so trapped water has somewhere to go at every level it collects.
Tool the mortar joints once they firm up to a thumbprint for a weathertight profile, brush off smears before they cure, and apply a breathable masonry sealer if you want extra protection against staining and water intrusion.
Equip the job
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Keep planning
Concrete & Masonry
Answers
Multiply the wall's length by its height for the gross area, subtract door and window openings, then apply a coverage rate by brick size: at standard 3/8-inch joints modular brick works out to 6.75 bricks per square foot, queen to about 5.76, and utility to 3.0, since a bigger brick face means fewer pieces per square foot. This calculator does that math automatically and adds a waste allowance for cuts and breakage, then rounds up since brick is sold and delivered by the full unit, not a fraction of one.
Yes. Brick veneer is not structural — it's a single wythe tied back to a structural backup wall with corrosion-resistant metal ties, spaced no more than about 24 inches apart horizontally and set to your chosen vertical spacing, which works out to roughly one tie for every 2.67 square feet of wall. Behind the brick, an open airspace of at least an inch keeps the veneer separated from the backup so any water that gets past the face brick can drain down and out through the weep vents instead of soaking into the framing.
Modular is the standard residential size and the one most masons stock, so it's the safest default unless you're matching an existing wall. Queen size is a bigger brick often used to speed up laying time and cut joint count on larger jobs, and utility is bigger still. Whichever you choose, keep it consistent across the whole wall — mixing brick sizes mid-course throws off the coursing height and the corner returns, and it will show.
Yes, and skipping them is the single most common cause of brick veneer failures. Through-wall flashing at the base of the wall and above every window and door lintel catches water that gets into the cavity and directs it back out through weep vents set in the head joint just above the flashing. Without a clear path out, that water backs up behind the brick, saturates the backup wall, and can rot wood framing or corrode steel studs for years before anyone notices a problem on the visible face.
It's possible for an experienced DIYer, but budget real time to learn coursing, joint tooling and corner leads before committing to a visible wall, and treat the flashing, ties and weep vents as non-negotiable even under time pressure. A steel lintel over every opening and, on taller walls, a shelf angle bolted to the structure are jobs worth having an engineer or contractor at least review, since they carry real load and a mistake isn't obvious until the wall settles or cracks years later.