I saw some construction going on in my neighborhood, and it got me thinking about how much all those bricks and stuff cost. So, I decided to figure it out myself and make a simple tool to calculate the cost of bricks and mortar for any project.
First, I started looking up information online. I needed to know how to calculate the number of bricks needed, the price per brick, and how much cement and sand I would need. I found some useful formulas and general guidelines, like how much cement and sand you typically need for a certain number of bricks. It said “you need approx. 120 kg of cement per 1000 standard sized bricks, plus 0.4 m3 of sand for a 1:5 mortar mix.”
I put it all together, so I just need to input a few things.
- Measurements: First, I measured the area I want to build. It’s important to get the height and length of the wall right.
- Brick Price: Next, I looked up the prices for different types of bricks. For example, regular bricks might cost differently than fancy ones.
- Mortar Mix: Then, I decided on the mortar mix ratio. This is how much cement and sand you mix together. A common mix is 1 part cement to 5 parts sand.
I grabbed a simple online tool to help with the calculations. I entered the measurements of the wall I planned to build. The tool is pretty straightforward – you just type in the dimensions and it spits out the number of bricks you need.
Then I went to the pricing part. I put in the prices of different bricks I found online. I also added the cost of cement and sand to the calculation, based on the 1:5 mortar mix ratio. The tool calculated the total cost of materials, including bricks, cement, and sand.
Result
After all the inputs were in, the tool gave me the total estimated cost for my project. It also showed me roughly how many bags of cement and how much sand I would need. This is super helpful to avoid buying too much or too little stuff.
So that’s how I went about building my brick and mortar calculator. It was a fun little project, and now I have a tool that can help me estimate costs for any bricklaying work I might want to do in the future. Plus, it’s a good way to make sure I don’t overspend on materials!
