Brickmason

What is a Brickmason?

Duties

Here are the duties you can expect to perform in the brickmason profession:

• Measure distances from reference points to mark guidelines on the working surface.
• Place and bind building materials like structural tile, concrete blocks, glass blocks, bricks and terra-cotta blocks.
• Use a wire brush, scraper or broom to clean the working surface of dust, brick and mortal chips, scale, soot.
• Break or cut bricks, tiles or concrete blocks to fit spaces too small for a whole brick with a brick hammer, power saw or edge of a trowel.
• Take part in the daily huddle with other crew members to go over safety and productivity goals for the day.

Day In The Life

A brickmason’s routine tasks are extremely diverse and require high levels of focus and dedication. During a day, a brickmason will work with a wide range of masonry materials for repairs and installation. At the initial stages, you will be reading drawing and blueprints to assess which materials are required for a building structure.

Further, you may construct corners by building a corner pyramid of bricks and filling between the corners to guide layers of brick or concrete blocks. Once a building project is complete, the brickmason is expected to clean and polish the surface with hand and power tools.

Other tasks you may take on includes making calculations on angles and courses to be determined. These measurements have to be accurate for building a sound structure. You can also expect to measure distances between reference points and lay out work accordingly using levels and plumb bobs. Another aspect of the work is breaking and cutting tiles, blocks and bricks to the appropriate size using a hammer, power saw or trowel edge.

Work Schedule And Typical Hours

In the average work week, you can expect to work less than 40 hours as brickmason. There will be irregular hours due to changes in outside weather conditions like extreme heat or cold, production timelines and the duration of the contract. The work is physically tasking due to frequent lifting of heavy materials and having to stand, bend or kneel for extended time periods.

Growth Of The Job

The growth of this industry is dependent on the fluctuating economy, with more jobs available when the economy is growing and vice versa. According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, aspiring brickmasons can expect a 41% growth rate between 2010-2020. This rate is much higher than the growth of other occupations in the country due to several factors.

With the rising population boom, there will be more available opportunities for brickmasons who will be engaged with the construction of hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and other buildings. An aging workforce will also lead to more jobs opening up in the near future. Those candidates who have superior skills in installing and fixing synthetic materials will have a competitive edge in the current market. Further, your career prospects include transitioning to a supervisor for contractors and working in construction management.

Typical Employers

You can find work at cement and concrete product manufacturing companies, as building construction contractors and in local government jobs. Here are some potential employers of brickmasons: Volunteers of America National Services, Commonwealth of PA Bureau of State Employment, Sanders Brothers Construction Co. Inc., Discovery Landscape Design and M. B. Kahn Construction Co., Inc.