Brick and Block Masons

Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures.

Tasks

• Calculates angles and courses and determines vertical and horizontal alignment of courses.
• Breaks or cuts bricks, tiles, or blocks to size, using edge of trowel, hammer, or power saw.
• Cleans working surface to remove scale, dust, soot, or chips of brick and mortar, using broom, wire brush, or scrapper.
• Fastens or fuses brick or other building material to structure with wire clamps, anchor holes, torch, or cement.
• Sprays or spreads refractory material over brickwork to protect against deterioration.
• Measures distance from reference points and marks guidelines to lay out work, using plumb bobs and levels.
• Lays and aligns bricks, blocks, or tiles to build or repair structures or high-temperature equipment, such as cupola, kilns, ovens, or furnaces.
• Removes burned or damaged brick or mortar, using sledgehammer, crowbar, chipping gun, or chisel.
• Mixes specified amount of sand, clay, dirt, or mortar powder with water to form refractory mixture.
• Applies and smoothes mortar or other mixture over work surface and removes excess, using trowel and hand tools.
• Examines brickwork or structure to determine need for repair.

Skills

• Mathematics
• Equipment Selection
• Repairing
• Monitoring
• Product Inspection

Abilities

• Information Ordering
• Manual Dexterity
• Visualization
• Extent Flexibility
• Dynamic Strength

Work Activities

• Handling and Moving Objects
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Getting Information Needed to Do the Job
• Implementing Ideas, Programs, etc.

Interests

• Consequence of Error
• Importance of Being Sure All Is Done
• Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
• Using Hands on Objects, Tools, Controls