Brick fences come in a variety of styles to meet your outdoor design needs. Tall, solid brick fences need more bricks than lower, half-fences that use wrought iron railings and balusters at the top or fences that have brick pillars spanned by white picket fencing. To estimate the cost of a brick fence, you must first decide on the type of fence you want so you can accurately determine how many bricks you need.
Step 1
Draw a diagram of the fence you plan to build. Solid brick fences need wide, square pillars every 6 feet to add stability to the fence. Determine the height of the fence and the length between pillars. Draw in the number of pillars you need to finish the fence.
Step 2
Multiply the height by the length of each panel between the pillars. This gives you the square footage of each panel. Multiply the height, width and length of the pillars to find their square footage.
Step 3
Add the square footage of the panels and pillars together. This is the total square footage of your fence.
Step 4
Multiply the total square footage by five, because most brick styles average five bricks per square foot. Plan to buy 5 percent more brick than your calculation to allow for errors or broken bricks while you're building your fence.
Step 5
Count how many bags of mortar you need to build your fence. Most mortar bags have an estimated square footage printed on the bag. For example, if your bag of mortar covers 25 square feet and you have 200 square feet of fence, you need eight bags of mortar to complete the fence.
Step 6
Call or visit a home improvement store or masonry provider to price the brick and mortar based on the number of bricks and bags of mortar you need. Ask for a discount if you're buying the bricks and mortar in bulk quantities; some dealers give per-piece discounts if you buy large quantities at a time. Also check prices on the number of pillars you will need.
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Writer Bio
Based outside Atlanta, Ga., Shala Munroe has been writing and copy editing since 1995. Beginning her career at newspapers such as the "Marietta Daily Journal" and the "Atlanta Business Chronicle," she most recently worked in communications and management for several nonprofit organizations before purchasing a flower shop in 2006. She earned a BA in communications from Jacksonville State University.