Bricklaying quote paid brick by brick

What to put on a brickwork quotation

Bricklayers price by the brick, and this bricklaying quote template is set up that way: face bricks by count, laying at a rate per brick or per thousand, then mortar, ties, footings and excavation on their own lines. Piers, caps and feature courses can sit as optional extras. Fill it in online and send a PDF, or download a Word or Excel version to keep. Change the title and it works as a bricklaying estimate template for jobs you price from drawings.

A brickwork quotation should let the customer picture the wall before it is built: length, height, thickness, brick, bond, joint finish and footing. Price bricks and laying by count so the numbers can be checked, and keep footings and excavation separate because ground conditions vary.

1. Wall dimensionsLength, height above ground and thickness: single skin, double brick, or brick veneer on a frame.
2. Brick selectionMake, color and type, face or common, and whether the customer supplies them. Batches vary in color, so the full quantity should be ordered at once.
3. Bond and jointsStretcher, English or Flemish bond, and the joint finish: ironed, raked or flush. Feature bonds take longer and use more cut bricks.
4. Laying ratePrice per brick or per 1,000 laid, which is how most bricklayers think about output.
5. Mortar and tiesSand, cement and lime or premixed mortar, wall ties, damp proof course and any reinforcement.
6. FootingsFooting size, depth and concrete volume in m³ or yd³, plus excavation and reinforcing steel. A concrete estimate template suits larger footings poured by others.
7. Cappings, piers and featuresCapping course, piers, soldier courses or arches as separate or optional lines.
8. Clean down and wasteWashing down with brick cleaner and removing broken bricks, pallets and spoil.
9. Weather allowanceA note that rain and frost stop bricklaying and can push the finish date.

Sample bricklaying quote with example prices

Coursework Brickwork’s sample for Ethan Price is a 12 m long, 1.2 m high double brick garden wall with a capping course on new footings. Materials list 1,150 face bricks at $1.10, mortar with sand and ties, and 1.8 m³ of footing concrete. Labor covers excavating and pouring the footing and laying 1,150 bricks at $1.35 each. Two capped brick piers are optional. Subtotal $4,529.50 before tax, 10% deposit, example figures only.

Edit the Coursework Brickwork quote

6 lines are filled in, from face bricks to brick piers with caps. Put in your own bricklaying rates, then download the PDF.

Open the bricklaying sample

How bricklayers price a job

Bricklaying is most often priced per brick laid or per thousand, with materials and footings added on top. The rate per brick changes with the bond, the height, the number of cuts and whether it is face work or commons, so keep separate rates for each kind of brickwork you do.

1. Per brick or per 1,000Count bricks from the wall area and charge a laying rate. Clear, checkable, and the language most of the trade uses.
2. Per m² or ft² of wallA rate per square of wall face, which suits block work and veneer where unit sizes vary.
3. Day rate for a gangA bricklayer and laborer per day, used for repairs, rebuilding old walls and work where counting makes no sense.
4. Fixed price for small jobsMailbox piers, steps and small repairs as a lump sum with a minimum charge.

The laborer’s time to mix and stack is part of the laying rate, not free. The labor cost guide helps build a rate per thousand from a gang’s day cost, and the markup calculator sets the margin on bricks you supply.

Worked example: brick count for an 8 m garden wall

This counts a double brick wall 8 m long and 0.9 m high in standard metric bricks (230 x 76 mm face) with 10 mm joints. Rates are examples.

1. Wall face8 x 0.9 = 7.2 m² of wall face.
2. Two skinsA double brick wall has two leaves of brick: 7.2 x 2 = 14.4 m² of brickwork.
3. Bricks per m²Each brick plus joint covers 0.24 x 0.086 = 0.02064 m², about 48 bricks per m². 14.4 x 48 = 691.2, so 692 bricks laid.
4. Order with wasteAdd 5% for cuts and breakage: 692 x 1.05 = 726.6, so order 730 bricks. At $1.10 each the bricks cost $803.
5. LayingAt $1,350 per 1,000 laid ($1.35 each), 692 bricks cost $934.20 to lay.

US modular brick, imperial joints and a capping course all change the count, and a soldier course on top uses bricks on end. Count the capping separately from the body of the wall.

Inclusions and exclusions on a bricklaying quote

Bricklaying quote mistakes

• Counting bricks for one face of a double wall, which halves both the material and the laying.
• Ordering bricks in two lots from different batches and ending up with a visible band of color.
• Treating a retaining wall like a garden wall, with no drainage, weep holes or engineering.
• Writing footings by others without checking who is digging, pouring and paying.
• One laying rate for everything, even when piers, cuts and feature bonds slow the gang down.
• No allowance for rain days on a quote that promises a fixed finish date.