About This Career

Builds stone structures, such as piers, walls, and abutments. Lays walks, curbstones, or special types of masonry for vats, tanks, and floors.

This career is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster Construction pathway, Maintenance/Operations pathway.

A person in this career:

• Lays out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
• Shapes, trims, faces and cuts marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools.
• Sets vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.
• Mixes mortar or grout and pours or spreads mortar or grout on marble slabs, stone, or foundation.
• Removes wedges, fills joints between stones, finishes joints between stones, using a trowel, and smooths the mortar to an attractive finish, using a tuck pointer.
• Sets stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
• Cleans excess mortar or grout from surface of marble, stone, or monument, using sponge, brush, water, or acid.
• Lays brick to build shells of chimneys and smokestacks or to line or reline industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations.
• Replaces broken or missing masonry units in walls or floors.
• Smooths, polishes, and bevels surfaces, using hand tools and power tools.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves kneeling, crouching, stooping, and/or crawling more than one-third of the time
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
• Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel