Three flights, three ledgers, and the same three steps each time: add the faces, multiply by the brick rate, and check the result at the waste rule. Every example below uses modular brick at 6.75 bricks per ft2, at a 3/8 in joint in running or stack bond, and checks the net count at the Brick Industry Association rule of at least 5 percent for breakage and waste. The rate excludes waste, so the waste check always comes after the net count.
What does a worked brick steps example look like?
A worked example shows each ledger line, the total face area, the net brick count, and the waste-checked count, with nothing hidden between them. The three lines of arithmetic are the same for every flight on this page.
Face area = tread faces + riser faces + side cheek faces + landing faces, where a landing exists
Net bricks = face area x 6.75 bricks per ft2
Waste-checked bricks = net bricks x 1.05, rounded up to whole bricks
The waste-checked count is a check on the count. Turning it into whole packs belongs to the ordering page, which also records the supplier pack size, the split-pack policy, and the lot. This page stops at the checked count so the arithmetic stays checkable.
Example 1: the 3-step entry flight
The flight has 3 steps, each 4 ft wide, with a tread depth of 1 ft and a riser height of 0.5 ft. Both side cheeks show brick. The top tread is the arrival surface, so the flight has 3 treads and 3 riser faces.
| Line | Calculation | Face area |
|---|---|---|
| Tread faces | 3 steps x (4 ft x 1 ft) | 12 ft2 |
| Riser faces | 3 steps x (4 ft x 0.5 ft) | 6 ft2 |
| Steps total | 12 ft2 + 6 ft2 | 18 ft2 |
Each side cheek is measured column by column, from the back step to the front. Each column is 1 ft deep, and its height is the height of the flight at that column.
| Column | Calculation | Column area |
|---|---|---|
| Back column, top step | 1 ft x 1.5 ft | 1.5 ft2 |
| Middle column | 1 ft x 1.0 ft | 1.0 ft2 |
| Front column, bottom step | 1 ft x 0.5 ft | 0.5 ft2 |
| One side cheek | 3.0 ft2 |
- Face area: 18 ft2 of tread and riser faces + 6 ft2 of side cheeks (3.0 ft2 x 2 sides) = 24 ft2.
- Net bricks: 24 x 6.75 = 162 bricks.
- Waste-checked bricks: 162 x 1.05 = 170.1, rounded up to 171 bricks.
Result: 24 ft2 of brick face, 162 bricks net, 171 bricks at the 5 percent check. The measuring guide for brick steps shows how each of these lines is measured on site.
Example 2: the smaller 2-step flight
The flight has 2 steps, each 3 ft wide, with the same tread depth of 1 ft and riser height of 0.5 ft. Both side cheeks show brick. The steps are the same as Example 1. Only the numbers change.
| Line | Calculation | Face area |
|---|---|---|
| Tread faces | 2 steps x (3 ft x 1 ft) | 6 ft2 |
| Riser faces | 2 steps x (3 ft x 0.5 ft) | 3 ft2 |
| Steps total | 6 ft2 + 3 ft2 | 9 ft2 |
| One side cheek | (1 ft x 1.0 ft) + (1 ft x 0.5 ft) | 1.5 ft2 |
| Both side cheeks | 1.5 ft2 x 2 sides | 3 ft2 |
| Total face area | 9 ft2 + 3 ft2 | 12 ft2 |
- Face area: 12 ft2.
- Net bricks: 12 x 6.75 = 81 bricks.
- Waste-checked bricks: 81 x 1.05 = 85.05, rounded up to 86 bricks.
Result: 12 ft2 of brick face, 81 bricks net, 86 bricks at the 5 percent check. The smaller flight needs exactly half the face area of Example 1, and its counts follow from that area, not from the step count alone.
Example 3: the flight with a landing
This example adds a landing to the Example 1 flight. The landing is 4 ft wide and 3 ft deep, with a front face 0.5 ft high. The step up from the top tread to the landing surface adds one more riser face. The landing sides sit against walls in this example, so they add no brick face. That condition is part of this example. A landing with exposed sides needs its side faces measured on the same column method as the cheeks.
| Line | Calculation | Face area |
|---|---|---|
| Steps and cheeks, from Example 1 | 18 ft2 + 6 ft2 | 24 ft2 |
| Landing top | 4 ft x 3 ft | 12 ft2 |
| Landing front face | 4 ft x 0.5 ft | 2 ft2 |
| Riser up to the landing | 4 ft x 0.5 ft | 2 ft2 |
| Total face area | 24 ft2 + 12 ft2 + 2 ft2 + 2 ft2 | 40 ft2 |
- Face area: 40 ft2.
- Net bricks: 40 x 6.75 = 270 bricks.
- Waste-checked bricks: 270 x 1.05 = 283.5, rounded up to 284 bricks.
Result: 40 ft2 of brick face, 270 bricks net, 284 bricks at the 5 percent check. Count the risers against the treads before closing this ledger: the flight has 3 treads, and with the riser up to the landing it has 4 riser faces. A flight ending at a landing always has one more riser face than treads.
How do you check a count you did not make?
Two ledger errors account for the largest count differences on a flight like Example 1, and both can be found from the ledger alone.
First, check the cheeks. A side cheek measured as one rectangle uses the full run times the full rise: 3 ft x 1.5 ft = 4.5 ft2 per side, against the true stepped profile of 3.0 ft2. Both sides then total 9 ft2 instead of 6 ft2, the face area becomes 27 ft2 instead of 24 ft2, and the net count becomes 182.25 bricks instead of 162, which is 20.25 bricks too many at the net step. The rectangle fills the triangular notches above the steps with brick that is not there.
Second, check the landing riser. A missed riser up to a landing drops 2 ft2 from the ledger at the Example 1 width and riser height, giving 22 ft2 instead of 24 ft2 and 148.5 bricks instead of 162 at the net step, which is 13.5 bricks too few. If the ledger shows the same number of risers as treads on a flight ending at a landing, the landing riser is missing.
A wrong area survives every later step, including the waste check and the pack rounding. Fix the area first, then rerun the count.
What these examples do not decide
These examples settle counts for three stated flights. They do not choose the brick grade, class, or mortar, set riser heights or tread depths, size a footing, price an order, or set a mortar quantity. Those decisions follow the project drawings, the applicable code, the site conditions, and the responsible qualified people. The brick steps selection guide covers the product choice, and the brick steps ordering guide turns a checked count into an order.
Sources and scope
- Brick Industry Association, Technical Note 10, Dimensioning and Estimating Brick Masonry, February 2009: modular brick nominal 4 by 2-2/3 by 8 in, 3/8 in joint, 675 bricks per 100 ft2; Table 4 values exclude waste and assume running or stack bond; brick breakage and waste, as a general rule at least 5 percent added to net brick quantities. Accessed 2026-10-26.
- Manufacturer product sheet and supplier quote for the ordered product: pack size, split-pack policy, returns terms, and lot identity. These control every supplier-specific figure in a real order, and no such figure is given here.
Scope: the Association record supports the stated coverage rate and the at-least-5-percent waste rule. The three examples use calculation fixtures, not project quantities. The landing-side condition in Example 3 is an example condition, not a rule. No universal pack size, price, mortar quantity, footing size, riser-height limit, or tread-depth limit is given, because no source in this pack publishes one for these flights.
Review responsibility: Saleem Sial owns the published calculation, source, and editorial checks. Waseem Sial, External Reviewer and Engineer, remains listed for ongoing external review; no completed external-review date is claimed.
Next, use the measuring guide for brick steps when the flight still needs measuring, or check the ordering guide when the count is ready to become an order. Run the count with the Brick Calculator.
