Want To Begin...

Mephistopheles

hello.. currently i am landscaping, but i really want to get into masonry.
the way i began landscaping was just apprenticing (somewhat) with a landscaper i KNEW. though I do not know any masons, do masons hire laborers/apprentices to learn the trade? i am quite young (18)

6stringmason

Yes. Thats where we all learn. Open the phone book and start calling.

__________________
Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

ruskent

Open the phone book and just call around.

I do landscaping design/build. I wish i learned masonry. I try to put alot of masonry in my plans because it helps set me apart from my compeititors, and i am trying to get into the high end work which we all know is heavy heavy masonry.

Subbing it out kills my profit margains. Its hard to sub stuff out and stay compeitive against people doing it in house.

My plan is to hire somone with masonry experience by the end of the year.

stacker

but dont expect to pick up a trowel and start laying right away.it could be a couple years before that happens,but it will be well worth it,

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life is short,do your masonry naked!!
http://ok.local.yahoo.biz/knabemasonry/index.html

jvcstone

You can also show up where there is a lot of construction---particularily residential, and start asking crews for a job.
Ditto to what Stacker said-- you'll be pushing a wheel barrow, and humping material for a while before the boss will tell you it's time to buy a trowel.

JVC

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John VanCamp
www.jvcstoneworks.com

Tscarborough

Show up on a masonry jobsite (commercial or small retail would be best) at 6:30 AM with jeans, boots, and gloves (and lunch), and you will be hired on your first or second jobsite. Tell them you want a laborer job to learn the trade, and expect to work your ass off. Good luck!

Mephistopheles

thanks for the input so far. ya, i do realize i wont be doin any fun stuff off the bat, and i dont mind waiting either. now do most masons do roughly the same thing? im real interested in bricks and slate. making like fireplaces, walkways, walls, chimneys, arches, outdoor patio additions etc. do most masons do a variety of projects, or stick mostly to 1 thing?

also, do you need to be certified to do anything?

thanks in advance for any help

6stringmason

In my area, upper midwest, most masons cover a wide array of masonry. Including some landscaping. Mainly its newer home and commercial construction.

Theres also chimney repair, stoop repair, and foundation repair.

Up here we dont need certification either. It sounds like you want to do more residential type work, so I would say find a reputable masonry company that does mostly what youre looking for and call and ask for a job.

Its not easy to start out in, but of the many jobs I've had, I found it the most rewarding and fell in love with it. There's nothing like getting done with a hard day's work and look at your accomplishments.

Good luck!

__________________
Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

laybrick

Being a good laborer determines how good of a bricklayer you will be. do your time as a laborer, learn every aspect by staying ahead and giveing yourself time to watch EXPERIENCED bricklayers ( not the guy with the aluminum level, wal-mart trowel, roll your own cigs, and a big mouth) get a trowel & start tempering the boards w/ it while trying to gain a trowel hand. practice spreading mud on the board, maybe grab a bad brick & practice puting an ear on the brick. Ask questions & mainly, LISTEN to answers. Laboring is hard work, but gives you the fundamentals that you need to become a good brickie. I've worked alongside many ex- union pre-madonnas that never labored before and find the most they can do is lay to the line, & cry anytime they have to dump a bucket of mud or grab a tong of bricks. Pay attention to the older guys & the bosses ways. Don't let partying or wondering what your girlfriend is doing distract you from paying attention at work, or you'll be a laborer for a long time good luck

POOLMANinCT

the best tender make the best mason,,

some of my buds are mason contractors...

but if you are too good of a tender they want to keep you on as a tender...

strange guys

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

JasontheMason

That is what I did, at 19 I showed up at a commerical job with a few tools and asked the boss for a labor job because I wanted to learn and I worked for free for 3 weeks because I loved what I did.

But show them you want to work, like everyone else said, listening is the best thing you can do. And execpt to work a lot!

Good luck to you!

POOLMANinCT

i recommend a 75 yr old italian if you can find one... i use one now & then, he is fast meticulous & a bull, i wouldn want to arm wrestle him

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

jshuatree8

also if u can pour a slab at home about six foot long 16 inches apart [enough room for twelve inch block]get someone on the job to lay up some block about five or so foot high at each end of it. get some old brick to take home even one or two from each job then get some sand to your house and a bag of lime mix your lime and 16 to 18 shovels of sand per bag youll learn that when u get out there[i think thats the right mix] but any way it makes a fake mud that you can reuse by just adding water have someone on the job show u how to use your rule and to course your brick. practice at home it might help you get on the wall quicker and ask question u might catch a little hell but its good to know why your being asked to do what your being asked to do this will help u see what needs to be done instead of being told what needs to be done. and also heres a good rule mud ,brick ,wall tyes and shake up are things a bricklayer should never have to ask for. oh yeah and wetting half the boards like wiping half your ass.