Percentage of Bricks and Mortar in a Masonry Wall

By Jahanzaib
16-3-2015

Case 1: When thickness of the wall is 4.5” and that of mortar is 12mm, having the following plan.

In this case
Height of the wall along with the mortar = (10 x 3) + [(9 x 12)/25.4] = 34.252″
In the above equation
10 = No of Brick Layers
9 = No of layers of Mortar of 12mm each
3 = Brick Height in inches
Width=   4.5”
Length of the wall along with the mortar= (5.5 x 9) + [(5×12)/25.4] Volume of the wall along with the mortar= L×W×H
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= 7993.72 cubic inch
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= 4.626 cft
Now Number of Bricks= 55
Volume of One Brick= (9/128) cft
Total volume of bricks used= 55 x (9/128) = 3.867 cft
%age of bricks used = (3.867 / 4.626)*100 = 83.6 = 84%
 %age of mortar used= 16.4% 

Case 2:When thickness of the wall is 9” and that of mortar is 12mm, having the following plan.

In this case
Height of the wall along with the mortar = (10 x 3 ) + [( 9 x 12 )/25.4] = 34.252″
Width of the wall along with the mortar = (9+12/25.4)” = 9.472″
Length of the wall along with the mortar= (5.5 x 9) + (5 x 12/25.4) = 51.862″
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= L×W×H
Volume of the wall along with the mortar=16826.678 cubic inch
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= 9.7376 cft
Now Number of Bricks= 110
Volume of One Brick= 9/128 cft
Total volume of bricks used= 110 x (9/128) = 7.7344 cft
So
%age of bricks used = (7.7344 / 9.7376) x 100 = 79.43% = 80%
%age of mortar used= 20.57% = 21%

Case 3: When thickness of the wall is 4.5” and that of mortar is 10mm, having the following plan.

In this case
Height of the wall along with the mortar = (10 x 3) + (9 x 10/25.4) = 33.543″
width = 4.5″
Length of the wall along with the mortar= (5.5 x 9) + (5 x 10/25.4) = 51.468″
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= L×W×H
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= 4.4959 cft
Now Number of Bricks= 55
Volume of One Brick= 9/128 cft
Total volume of bricks used= 55 x 9/128 = 3.8672 cft
%age of bricks used = (3.8672 / 4.4959) x 100 = 86%
%age of mortar used = 14% 

Case 4:When thickness of the wall is 9” and that of mortar is 10mm, having the following plan.

In this case
Height of the wall along with the mortar = (10 x 3) + (9 x 10/25.4) = 33.543″
width = (9 + 10/25.4)” 9.3937″
Length of the wall along with the mortar= (5.5 x 9) + (5 x 10/25.4) = 51.468″
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= L×W×H
Volume of the wall along with the mortar= 9.38513 cft
Now Number of Bricks= 110
Volume of One Brick= 9/128 cft
Total volume of bricks used= 110 x 9/128 = 7.7344 cft
%age of bricks used = (7.7344 / 9.38513) x 100 = 82.4% = 82%
%age of mortar used = 17.6% = 18%

Conclusion

Where in it
W= wall thickness in inches
m= thickness of the mortar in mm
The answer will be the %age of mortar, and for better results round it off.
Its Verification is given below after the example from observation.

EXAMPLE:
If thickness of the wall is 4.5” and that of mortar is 12mm, then what will the percentage  of mortar used in the wall?

Solution:

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