Masonry work refers to the work involved in building various structures such as buildings, houses and walls using bricks, mortar, stones, marble, granite and concrete. These structures are built in order to last for many years and generations. Those who carry out masonry work are called stonemasons, brickmasons or blockmasons, based on the exact nature of their work.
Brickwork is the most common form of masonry and involves creation of walls for building a structure. Brickmasons have to select the appropriate type of bricks, based on its size and quality for specific tasks. It is generally a durable form of masonry and is known to last for centuries, owing to its design and good quality products used.
Nature of Work
Masonry workers have to liaise with structural engineers, architects and other construction professionals and learn about the layout plan before carrying out the actual work of laying out bricks and mortar to create walls. This mortar is also created by them with the help of several elements such as cement, water and sand. Upon completion of the corners of the wall, they have to make sure that all bricks are aligned with the help of tools such as hammers and chisels.
The work of stonemasons is slightly different from that of brickmasons. They create walls made out of stone instead of bricks, giving it more durability. They have to cut the stone using a chisel in order to achieve an optimum size for the task. In some cases, they may even need to cut stones to specific shapes and sizes for aesthetic appeal. They also use mortar to hold the stones together. Blockmasons also perform work that is similar to that of brickmasons and stonemasons. The major difference is that they use hollow concrete blocks as building material, which can provide a good amount of durability as well as flexibility in creating structures.
Skills and Requirements
Masonry workers should possess a good sense of building structures and walls out of bricks, blocks and stones. They have to be in excellent physical condition in order to carry out their daily activities as masonry work is a physically demanding job. They also need to possess knowledge of basic level geometry and a good sense of proportion and measurement while creating mortar mixtures. Although the job is mostly repetitive in nature, it is essential that a masonry worker pays individual attention to each task that he is carrying out, since minor mistakes can prove to be costly in the long run.
Traditionally, there have been no mandatory educational requirements for this line of work. Most workers start their careers as helpers or basic laborers who learn their skills by observing senior masonry workers or by assisting them in their tasks. Lately, the trend of learning masonry work in a technical school is on the rise. Following the completion of the course, they seek apprenticeship jobs with various firms in order to gain on field experience.
Working Environment
Most of the work carried out by masonry worker is done outdoors in extreme weather conditions. They have to remain in standing or kneeling positions for long hours at a stretch. They make use of heavy tools such as sledgehammers, chisels and saws, which have to be used with great care and caution. Lifting heavy stones, bricks and other items is another task that is regularly carried out by masonry workers. They work for around 40 hours in a week, with occasional overtime work during heavy workload periods.
Career Advancement
Most of them start their careers in this field as entry level laborers and slowly advance to being full time masonry workers. Based on their skill level and experience in the field, they may be promoted to higher positions such as contractors or supervisors. Some of them start their own private construction firms, based on the experience they gain from working in this field.
Thus masonry work may appear as an extremely physically demanding line of work, but it can also have a number of job advancement opportunities for those want to pursue a career in this field.