Now I know why it is hard to find a Stone Mason.

[deck2]

Installing a bluestone hearth behind a new stove and found out why I can't find any good stone masons, this is tough work. My Grandfather was a stone mason for years and I always assumed that is was just slaping down some morter and laying some stone. Well I found out the truth on that subject. At least the guy that owns the local stone dock has helped me out and we are almost done.

 

[Brian VT]

I listen to people around my workplace and everyone seems to think all other people have easier jobs than them.

 

[fossil]

My friend Jeff's a brick & stone mason. He's done a good deal of work for me, and we have a job in progress right now. He hasn't been here for a few weeks, because he needs one of his hip joints replaced. He's about 48 y/o, or so. His profession almost certainly has had something to do with the wear and tear on his body. It's hard work. Rick

 

[Saw-dust]

My friend Jeff's a brick & stone mason. He's done a good deal of work for me, and we have a job in progress right now. He hasn't been here for a few weeks, because he needs one of his hip joints replaced. He's about 48 y/o, or so. His profession almost certainly has had something to do with the wear and tear on his body. It's hard work. Rick

That is a fact.

Out here people want the rustic cabin look houses built. i helped on a lot of stone work and i mean stone WORK as in find the rock on the hill side, get it out, wash it, haul it to the site, then get to the top of the scaffold so the guy can lay it. He might have to throw it back down so you can cut it and haul it back up two or three times.

Oh yea and then there is the mud (you might call it morter). Getting the color right is enough to make you crazy then you got to haul it up there too! Rock = a lot of work.

 

[chad3]

"This stuff is soup"...
Worked for a mason once or twice, chief this is for you...
Chad

 

[homebrewz]

I have done some minor stone masonry projects, and I agree with the
previous posts. Its hard work. I also have a friend who is a stone mason,
and at around age 50-55, he is looking at a double hip replacement,
especially if he wants to go biking or x-country skiing again.

Cheers to him though, as he gave me the bluestone slabs for my hearth!

 

[woodjack]

I'm almost finished laying the stone on my blue stone hearthpad, too. Hard work! . . . and took much longer than I expected.
Here's pic of the stone freshly laid (cement is still drying and needs to be cleaned).
It didn't come out as nice as I had expected, but I'm still working on it. . . . and looks much better in real life than this photo.

 

[gary]

Went down to visit a buddy who's building a cabin/retirement house in the SE part of the state. He's finishing it out with laid up field stone. Fortunately, he builds houses for a living and is in much better shape that I. I'll tell you right now, if it had been me, I would have been looking at cedar siding before I had finished gathering the first load of stone. Place looks great, very rustic. Been 3 years in the making and he probably has 1 to go. Basically working on it over the weekends.

Did I mention he also has a commercial grade butcher shop on the premises complete with walk-in freezer, stainless steel counters, and all the equipment? I won't even start on his deer blind!

 

[fraxinus]

Son of good friends worked for 10 -12 years as a mason. He had all the work he could possibly handle because of his talent - a massive granite 2 sided fireplace in a local restaurant is probably his masterpiece. In his early 30's a doctor told him a back Xray showed disc degeneration you'd expect to find in someone in his 60's. No more masonry.

 

[deck2]

Well here is the finished project, with a before pic of the old brick and old franklin stove

 

[InTheRockies]

Very nice job! I like it. (I knew stone masons have tough jobs--my mother's maternal grandfather, my great grandfather, was a stone mason who immigrated from Scotland, married a yank and became a successful builder. What always struck me about him was that he was missing 2 fingers on one hand. He told me he lost them while an apprentice stone mason in Scotland--he hadn't been careful enough when handling explosives. That convinced me the job was hard and dangerous.)