Bricks are still how most South African houses, boundary walls, garages and RDP extensions are built. The standard brick is about 222 x 106 x 73 mm, and you buy it either as a grey cement brick pressed and cured at a yard or as a clay brick fired in a kiln. Which one you need depends on whether the wall gets plastered, how much load it carries and your budget. This page covers the types of bricks, sizes, how many you need and what bricks cost. Send one free, no-obligation request and brickyards near you quote you directly.
Types of bricks used for building
Building bricks come in two families, cement and clay.
- Cement stock bricks: cement, sand and water compacted in a mould and cured. Cheap, square and meant to be plastered. See cement bricks.
- Clay stock bricks: fired in a kiln, a little rougher, also plastered. See clay bricks.
- Face bricks: clay bricks with an even colour and finish, left bare.
- Maxi bricks: a bigger 290 x 140 x 90 mm unit that builds a wall faster.
- Blocks: big hollow concrete units for quick walls and boundary walls.
Bricks size and how many you need
Work out the wall area in square metres and take off doors and windows. With 10 mm joints a single skin wall of standard bricks takes about 52 bricks per m², and a double skin wall (one brick thick, about 220 mm) about 104. Add about 5% for breakage and cuts. A boundary wall 30 m long and 1.8 m high, single skin, is 54 m², so roughly 2,800 bricks plus 140 spare. If speed matters more than the look, compare a maxi brick or a block wall.
Building with bricks: rules and common mistakes
New buildings must follow SANS 10400 for foundations, wall thickness and damp-proofing, and a new home needs an NHBRC registered builder. Cement bricks fall under SANS 1215 and clay bricks under SANS 227, so ask the yard what strength the bricks are and whether they are tested. Common mistakes:
- laying cement bricks that have not finished curing;
- leaving out brickforce in the bed joints or the damp-proof course at floor level;
- ordering in small lots, so clay bricks from different batches don't match;
- storing pallets on soft ground where they tip or stand in water.
A good bricklayer checks the bricks before laying them.
Bricks price and what to ask a yard
Standard cement and clay stock bricks usually cost about R1.80 to R3.50 each, roughly R1,800 to R3,500 per 1,000, with delivery usually extra. The price moves with the type, strength, quantity and distance from the yard. Ask each brick supplier:
- the price per 1,000 and how many bricks a pallet holds;
- the strength in MPa and whether it is tested;
- the delivery charge and the smallest load;
- whether bricks broken on arrival are replaced.
What to include in your request
- Give the brick type: cement, clay or face
- Give the wall size or the number of bricks
- Say whether walls are single or double skin
- Give the delivery address and site access
- Ask for the price per 1,000 delivered
Bricks for different clients
- Homeowners: bricks for an extra room, a garage or a boundary wall round the house
- Builders and bricklaying contractors: regular loads of stock bricks delivered to site in step with the building programme
- Housing developers and complexes: large orders of matching bricks for a whole phase of houses or a complex
- Brickyards and block yards: yards topping up stock with bought-in bricks when their own production runs short
- New brick-making businesses: a small yard making cement stock bricks to sell to builders in the area
- Farms and smallholdings: bricks for staff houses, stores, kraals and walls around the farm buildings
- Municipalities, schools and public works: bricks for classrooms, clinics, community halls and municipal housing projects
- Landscapers and paving teams: bricks for garden walls, planters, braai stands and steps on outdoor projects
Frequently asked questions
What is the price of bricks per 1,000?
How many bricks are on a pallet?
Which type of bricks is best for a house?
Who will quote me for bricks?
Bricks by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg