Masonry History Integrity - National Center for Preservation ...

Chapter 1: What is Masonry?
Masonry is hard, physical work. If you carry bricks or mix
mortar for a day, you’ll be tired on the way home. Because
you’re outdoors most of the time, the weather is a big factor in
masonry work. You sweat in the summer, get cold in the
winter, and when it rains you get wet. But your body gets
healthier from hard, honest, outdoor work and that makes you
a stronger person. Masonry construction also challenges your
mind. It develops your math skills and requires you to think
through different problems or situations. Masonry work also
requires a lot of common sense and it will give you challenges
you won’t find in other careers.
Masonry is also dusty work. Most of the time, you’ll be
working with materials like cement, lime, plaster, sand, clay
and gravel. These come out of the ground and that means you
get dusty or dirty. Foundation work is below ground and that
means your clothes can get muddy. Or you might be working
on a building that’s been abandoned for decades. All kinds of
soot, rust and weeds might have collected on it, and that will
have to be removed before you start repairs.
Masonry tools
Masonry tools
Masonry work is dangerous. A construction site is no place for
the frightened, fearful or foolish. The work requires a
combination of awareness, concentration, daring, and
determination. Work at a construction site can be like a war
zone. There are hazards that can trip you, equipment that’ll
crush you, chemicals to blind you, and tools that can cut off
your hand. There are many hazards that can scare you away, if
you let them. It’s one of the few occupations where you wear
a helmet (a hard hat). And city buildings are high, so you can’t
forget that gravity doesn’t play favorites; it treats everybody
the same way.
Masonry work is hard, dusty and dangerous, (that’s why
masons are generally paid very well); it takes time, patience
and practice to learn the skills of a mason. But, it’s worth the
effort. Their work is full of pride; their methods full of
tradition and their buildings are memorials to their dedication.
Hopefully you’ll learn that masonry is also fun, and there’s
amazing satisfaction in doing masonry work. You will feel
incredibly proud to see something you’ve built, repaired, or
maybe even saved from destruction.
Mason at work
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