How much does bricklaying cost in Adelaide?
The question Adelaide searchers ask most is what a bricklayer charges per brick. Here the labour rate is $920–$2,025 per thousand bricks laid, so divide by a thousand for the cost of each one, and remember the bricks themselves are bought separately. Priced by area, standard brickwork is $51–$110 a square metre; priced by time, it is $41–$110 an hour. Semi-detached homes make up 16.3% of Greater Adelaide dwellings, against 12.6% nationally, and 51.3% of homes have three bedrooms (ABS 2021 Census), so plenty of jobs involve tying new brickwork into an existing or shared wall, where matching the brick and mortar is part of the price.
Comparing cities, or after the Australia-wide picture? See the national guide: Bricklaying cost in Australia.
Detailed Pricing — Bricklaying Cost in Adelaide 2026
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bricklaying (hourly rate) | $41/hr | $69 | $110 |
| Bricklaying (per 1,000 bricks, labour) | $920/1000 bricks | $1,475 | $2,025 |
| Bricklaying (per sqm, standard) | $51/sqm | $74 | $110 |
| Garden feature wall, installed (per sqm) | $130/sqm | $240 | $415 |
| Brick retaining wall, installed (per sqm) | $230/sqm | $415 | $600 |
| Brick veneer (new home, per sqm) | $46/sqm | $64 | $92 |
| Brick pointing / repointing (per sqm) | $37/sqm | $64 | $140 |
| Brick repair (per brick) | $23per brick | $60 | $130 |
| Brick letterbox (supply & lay) | $370total | $735 | $1,375 |
| Brick BBQ or simple fireplace (built, installed) | $1,850total | $3,225 | $6,000 |
| Damp-proof course, whole-house retrofit | $920total | $3,225 | $5,500 |
| Full-day bricklaying | $415per day | $600 | $830 |
| Damp-proof course injection (per metre) | $64/m | $100 | $230 |
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Get Adelaide quotes →Prices include GST. Based on Adelaide metro area, October 2026. Outer suburbs may vary.
Adelaide bricklaying: a day on site, a 5,000-brick job, and letterboxes, barbecues and garden walls
A bricklayer for a day in Adelaide
A full day of bricklaying is $415–$830 in our Adelaide table; eight hours at the typical hourly rate ($69) come to $552. The table prices brickwork only: it has no row for concrete block laying, so we don't publish a block-laying rate.
Labour for a 5,000-brick job in Adelaide
Labour is $920–$2,025 per 1,000 bricks laid in our Adelaide table. For a job of 5,000 bricks that is $7,375 at the typical rate. The row covers labour only, not the bricks.
Letterboxes, barbecues and garden walls in Adelaide
A brick letterbox, supplied and laid, is $370–$1,375 in our Adelaide table and a brick barbecue or fireplace $1,850–$6,000. A garden feature wall is $130–$415 a square metre, which is $1,440 for 6 square metres at the typical price.
These answers use the prices in the table on this page.
What Affects Bricklaying Costs in Adelaide
Counting bricks or square metres
For a garage or extension the drawings show how many bricks are needed, so the thousand-brick rate fits naturally. A fence or wall is easier to price by area. Small repairs suit time: $415–$830 buys a full day on site. Most quotes are labour only; a supply-and-lay quote is simpler to compare between bricklayers but leaves you less say over the brick.
Brick fences and council approval
In South Australia a brick or other masonry fence taller than one metre generally requires development approval from the local council, while other fences hit that line at 2.1 metres. On a boundary, the Fences Act assumes each neighbour benefits equally and should pay an equal share; if you cannot agree, serve a notice of intention and wait 30 days for any cross notice before going to the Magistrates Court.
Brick retaining walls
Built complete with its footing and the drainage behind it, a brick retaining wall costs $230–$600 a square metre. Development approval is not usually needed where the wall retains a difference in ground level of one metre or less, but tiers count together, and some zones or council areas call for approval even on a lower wall. A garden feature wall that holds no soil is $130–$415.
Salt damp, cracks and repointing
A wall that looks ready to rebuild often needs less. Single damaged bricks are replaced for $23–$130 each and tired mortar raked out and repointed for $37–$140. White crusting and crumbling mortar low on an older wall points to rising damp, often called salt damp: a chemical damp-proof course injected into the mortar costs $64–$230 per metre, and a whole-house retrofit runs $920–$5,500.
Summer heat and scaffolding
Adelaide is NCC climate zone 5, warm temperate, and January and February average highs above 28 °C (BOM averages). Mortar dries fast in that heat, so ask how fresh work will be kept from drying out too quickly. Brickwork above single-storey height, out of reach from the ground, needs fall protection such as scaffolding, a matter SafeWork SA polices; on City of Adelaide roads and footpaths, scaffolding or a skip needs a City Works permit.
Licences and insurance
Anyone running a business that carries out building work for others in South Australia must hold a building work contractor licence, subcontractors included. On domestic work over $20,000 that needs development approval, the builder must also hold building indemnity insurance and give you a copy of the certificate before work starts. A letterbox at $370–$1,375 or a barbecue at $1,850–$6,000 sits well under that line.
How to Save Money on Bricklaying Cost in Adelaide
Bricklaying Cost in Adelaide by Wall Area
Take a cracked wall of 16 square metres, the example's own assumption. Relaid at $51–$110 a square metre it comes to $816–$1,760; repointed at $37–$140 a square metre it comes to $592–$2,240. The two ranges overlap, so the quote should say which job it prices; any failed bricks are added one by one at $23–$130 a brick.
What moves a wall of that size in Adelaide is what is wrong with it. White crusting low down points to salt damp, and injection along the wall is $64–$230 a metre, so the cause is worth settling before the mortar is touched. Hot January and February days, and brickwork above single-storey height that needs scaffold, add to the time and the hire.
Bricklaying Cost in Adelaide: What the Quote Should Include
A brick wall quote in Adelaide is easier to trust when the wall, the brick and the repair are each set out on their own line. Whether the job is in Glenelg, Unley or Burnside, a cracked wall can need less than a rebuild, and the quote should show what was priced and why.
- The wall in square metres, or the brick count from the plans, with the unit of the price written beside it: $51–$110 a square metre or $920–$2,025 per 1,000 bricks.
- Labour only or supply and lay, with the brick named by kind and the mortar colour written on the quote.
- For a cracked wall, replacement bricks at $23–$130 a brick and repointing at $37–$140 a square metre, both priced before a rebuild is quoted.
- Salt damp, with white crusting and crumbling joints at the base of an older wall, priced as injection at $64–$230 a metre or the whole-house retrofit at $920–$5,500.
- How new mortar is kept from drying out too fast in the heat of January and February, noted on the quote.
- Scaffold for brickwork above single-storey height as a separate line, with who puts it up and takes it down.
- New brick veneer on a house at $46–$92 a square metre, set against the number of bricks the plans show.
- Footings, waste removal and any brickwork taken down first, each listed apart from the laying itself.
- Start and finish dates, payment stages and GST in writing, and ask for their licence number and insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions — Bricklaying Cost in Adelaide
Our Methodology
These are independent estimates from public cost guides, marketplaces and industry rate data, and no tradesperson can influence them, so always get a few quotes. Last reviewed October 2026. Read our full methodology →