How to Calculate Brick, Cement and Sand in Brickwork?

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Essential Information for Estimation

Cement Density

  • Density of Cement: 1440 kg/m³
  • Weight of Cement in 1 Bag: 50 KG
  • Volume of 1 Bag Cement in Cubic Meter: 0.03472 m³

Sand Density

  • Density of Sand: 1450 – 1500 kg/m³

Aggregate Density

  • Density of Aggregate: 1450 – 1550 kg/m³

Cement Volume Conversions

  • Volume of 1 Bag Cement in Cubic Feet: 1.226 cubic feet
  • Number of Cement Bags in 1 Cubic Meter: 28.8 bags

Conversion Factor

  • Cubic Feet to Cubic Meter: 1 Cubic Meter = 35.31 Cubic Feet

Calculating Brick Quantities

In order to calculate the number of bricks in a given volume, we first need to establish the size of one brick.

Brick Dimensions

  • Standard Brick Size in India: 9″ x 4″ x 3″

Converting to Cubic Meters

  • Size of 1 Brick in Metre: 0.2286 m x 0.1016 m x 0.0762 m

This yields a volume of 0.001769 cubic meters for a single brick.

Bricks in 1 Cubic Meter

  • Number of Bricks in 1 Cubic Meter: 565 bricks (approximately)

Brickwork Calculation

To estimate the materials for a brick wall, we need to consider the dimensions of the wall.

Wall Dimensions

  • Length: 20 meters
  • Width: 23 cm (or 0.23 meters)
  • Height: 5 meters

Wall Volume

  • Volume of the Wall: 20 m x 0.23 m x 5 m = 23 cubic meters

Adjusting for Mortar Joints

  • Mortar Joint Thickness: 10 mm (0.39 inches)

This is added to all faces of the brick except the front face.

Volume of Brick with Mortar

  • Volume of Brick with Mortar: 0.002286 cubic meters

Number of Bricks in Wall

  • Estimated Bricks in Wall: 10061 bricks (approximately)

Taking into account breakages and wastage, this may be rounded to 460 bricks per cubic meter.

Mortar Calculation

Next, we’ll determine the amount of mortar required for the brickwork.

Mortar Requirement

  • Mortar Required: 5.2 cubic meters

Allowing for various factors, an additional 15% mortar may be needed.

Final Mortar Volume

  • Total Mortar Volume: 5.98 cubic meters

For practical purposes, a 1/4 increase in dry volume is considered, resulting in 7.475 cubic meters of dry mortar for 23 cubic meters of brickwork.

Cement and Sand in Mortar

To find the quantities of cement and sand in the mortar, we can employ a simple formula.

Example Calculation (for 1:6 cement mortar)

  • Cement Quantity: 1.238 bags
  • Sand Quantity: 0.27 cubic meters

Given that cement fills the voids in the sand, a slight adjustment can be made, resulting in 0.045 cubic meters of cement and 0.27 cubic meters of sand.

This method provides a practical approach to determining material quantities for brickwork in various mix ratios.