The title.
Feel free to ask me stuff. I’m in Scotland, born in Canada. I’ve been a mason for coming on 15 years. And my favourite dinosaur is…not really a dinosaur…the Stenopterygius species. because they’re tubby not quite dolphin looking (apparently) reptiles.
How many people have confused stone mason and Freemason when you’ve told them what you do?
Surprisingly only one! That one person was quite drunk.
Though my grandfather on my dad’s side was a Freemason, I was never really tempted to join. That said, it would probably do wonders for my side hustle, I’m not great at selling myself. I get most of my side work from word of mouth, and really can’t be bothered to make a website or FB page.
Are you on the square?
They don’t know what they’re doing, so I’ll wager that they’re not on the square, nor the level.
Are you ready to swear right here, right now before the devil?
Maybe
The numbers, mason, what do they mean?
Bro…if you don’t show me the numbers…I can’t help you out…
Oh, sorry.
Echelon 3 24 20 12 19 17 17 22 19 23 19 4 0 7 6 7 19 10 12 16 17 6 14 4 3 17 24 20 13 24 8 16 17 1 24 9 21 15 0 5 15 4 4 23 6 11 25 14 4 20 4 9 14 18 12 8 7 21 6 4 21 7 21 4 2 14 3 14 7 18 13 6 22 16 6 1 21 21 15 3 5 24 9 11 2 10 5 21 4 20 11 19 12 5 12 13 12 5 17 19 3 14 21 12 15 17 7 7 2 2 21 1 10 22 13 5
…yeah…I got nothing fam 🤷
What’s your favourite-size mason jar, and how many stones will it hold?
Shit…uhmmm…let me check? I have the one I usually put the hot sauce I make in the cupboard somewhere. I’ll get back to you!
Oh no, it shouldn’t take a day to get to the cupboard and back. I think OP is dead or maybe just incapacitated or napping.
I’ve not been sleeping well and working 16 hour shifts. Even at my best my memory is not great. Thanks for reminding me about the mason jar, I’ll check the cupboard when I get home from buying lunch.
Does sand count as stones?
Glad you’re still alive, bud.
Does it? It counts as aggregate, and so does small stones and pebbles. What’s the cut-off for the transition to sand from stone? I’m positive that some nerdlinger drew a line in the scale and said “past this is sand!”
I am highly skilled at pedantry and enjoy challenging arbitrary lines. I bet there’s even a way to argue that we’re all stones or made up of the same stuff as them.
Need your professional opinion on something: what’s the best way to undermine the 12ft curtain wall protecting my enemy’s fortress?
My great-grandfather was a stone mason. My office happens to be inside a (non-military) wall he built.
Do you have access to explosives?
I am advised by legal counsel to say no.
You clearly pay them well enough for the good advice you get.
Tunnel under the wall if you can, light a giant fire, or your not explosives.
Electrician thinking of moving to Scotland from US. Any advice?
Make sure your certs are valid here, as soon as you’re able to take the CSCS safety course, and get your trades card. Cost of living isn’t insane, but wages are pretty low. Do not expect to be able to purchase alcohol at a shop before 10am or after 10pm.
Here’s a link to figure out how your qualifications stack up in the UK.
Luckily for me I don’t drink
Unluckily for me weed is basically legal here and not there…
Buddy… it’s even worse than you think…maybe… depends on the quality and price you’re used to.
I stopped smoking(read as buying) weed here.
- I’m on a visa, and cannot afford to fuck around on pain of angry wife.
- Cost/Quality ratio is entirely fucked compared to what I’m used to. Further details below.
- I’m just kinda over it at this point. I enjoy mooching a tiny puff here and there, but my tolerance is waaay down from smoking ½oz+ every few days, and greening out sucks when you’re not young enough to bounce back right away.
Point 2:
Having grown up in Vancouver, and knowing quite a few people who grew professionally, some of which still do, before legalisation. The ganja available here is both mid-A/AA and incredibly expensive…and dry as fuck for the most part.
For the quality of weed I would have paid MAYBE $60/oz back home (before legalisation), unless you know a guy, and are really willing to be picky, you’re going to likely pay between £190(Scotland from what I’ve seen) to £380(mostly London, but I’ve seen stuff in the north be that pricey too)… Which…I’m just not really willing to pay that. And also the whole wife thing.If you make it out this way DM me.
What kind of stone is this?
I’m not a geologist. And that rock is covered in dirt. Probably not sedimentary as there’s no obvious striations. 🤷 Granite?
Those pictures are amazing.
Do you run into trouble with permits and Inspections because that type of skilled work can’t be very common. Or is it?
Not yet! In my day to day job things are heavily dictated by engineers and architects. And when what jobs I take on the side actually require permitting and inspection I pay an engineer to go over my design and confirm I’m within regulation and the customer is required to get the appropriate permits and schedule inspections.
Masonry is kinda dying. In Canada it’s considered unskilled labour. So no certs, no training other than what you get on the job. The UK has a few different certificates depending on what country. England has a Vocational Qualification for Fixing(installation) and used to do multi-trade, Banker/Fixer(cutting/carving and installing), but have recently moved Banker to an arts bachelor. Scotland is still has a multi-trade qualification, but it’s actually really really hard to get. You need to have a quota of stones you have carved, but they need to be installed on a building. There’s also very few colleges left in Scotland that even offer a masonry course.
I guess what I’m getting at is that there’s a lot of cowboy outfits, and not many masons that do an actually good job. Fewer people are willing to get into it, and there’s more people just kinda winging it.
What are your thoughts on the issue of dust with cultured stone, is it similar for real stone as well?
So beyond my opinion on the existence of (un)cultured stone at all? It’s probably a bit worse than the harder stones( granite, basalt, slates) and about on par with stuff like sandstone and limestone.
“Cultured” stone is an affront to nature, and no one who calls themselves a stone mason should be willing to install it…unless the price is exceptional…
What it started out as, and is still claimed (falsely, for the most part) to be, was ground up stone that was deemed “unusable” that is mixed with cement and cast into a small assortment of shapes. For the most part, in my experience, cultured stone today is literally just precast concrete that MIGHT have a dye added integrally, but is likely dusted on after being removed from the mold but before it fully cures. It’s lifespan is very short. It’s colour fades within a few years if not sooner. And most of the people who install it do subpar work.
Thank you for your insight.
No worries dude! Do. Not. Accept. Inferior. Materials!
Fuck cultured stone.
What’s your favorite hammer?
I have a 7kg mini-sledge. That’s my favourite.
My favourite that I actually use regularly is an Estwing 2.5kg lump hammer, it’s my daily driver, and also the tool I’ve had the second longest. Got it from one of my tradesmen (one of the guys who trained me) as a gift when he moved back to Germany from Canada.
I was half way hoping you’d say Estwing… I love their hammers. I have two of their cross peens that I used for (backyard, redneck) blacksmithing for years that still get use any time I need some girth/weight and one of their “masonry” hammers that I use for stone work (again, backyard/redneck shit).
Their 3/4 axe (I think they call it a camp axe) is also solid.
I have an Estwing brick hammer that gets some use, but not nearly as much as the lump!
Estwing just makes good shit. Or did. I don’t own any Estwing stuff newer than a decade old.Hmmm…might have to have a look at the camp axe 🤔
What’s your recommendation on replacing a farmhouse style sink that’s set in a stone countertop (I think it’s quartz). We believe the countertop was placed on top of the sink, which makes removal difficult as there’s small lips on either side of the sink. I believe those lips could be removed but not sure the best way to go about it safely without damaging the rest of the countertop or lungs.
Send me a pic? Top and bottom of where the counter meets the sink.
Best one I’ve got at the moment. Basically it’s but much overlap if we wanted to move the sink out.
The sink is likely sitting on a frame, probably wood. There should be clips holding it in place under the counter top. It should be as simple as removing the screws/bolts on the clips, cutting the seal around the edge, and lift-sliding it out.
If you send me a picture of the underside at one of the sides I’ll be able to get a bit more specific.
I imagine there’s a basic set of skills every mason has to have to be called a competent mason. But more advanced skills aren’t necessary. What skills did you develop that you really worked hard on? What some skill that really impresses you that you don’t have in masonry?
Being able to guesstimate basic maths, measuring and then cutting exactly to that measurement, being able to semi-accurately gauge out a mix consistently. Most importantly, you need the willingness to do a hard shift, it can be brutal work sometimes. Everything else is icing.
A skill I worked really hard on was grinder dexterity. Being able to cut a straight line is actually a lot harder than one might think. And then polishing with a grinder, it’s finicky, really easy to accidentally put a huge divot into a face.
Not really sure about a skill I’m jealous of. I’ll have to come back to that.
How did you get started as a stone mason?
Bonus: what made you first consider it seriously as a profession?
As I said in a different comment:
Honestly just kinda fell into it. Was working in a warehouse and hated it. Just walked off one day, called a friend just to complain about it and the firm he was working for happened to be hiring. I was 18, I’m now a few months away from 40.
For the bonus: I left and did other stuff here and there, few years of demolition, but always ended up back at a masonry firm. I’m good at it. It’s heavy work, but there’s a lot of thinking involved. Sometimes you spend 3 times as long thinking about how a stone is going to go in around various obstructions without damaging anything than it takes to actually fit the stone. It’s mentally stimulating and physically taxing. I guess to take the long way to answering your question, I always wanted to do masonry as soon as I started it. I only left for something else due to shitty bosses.
Are you really good at sand castles?
Absolutely horrendous at sand castles.
How long did it take you to understand the country accent?
Surprisingly not that long. I still struggle with some things. Like I recently discovered that I have been using the term “The back of 4”(put any hour of the day in) incorrectly. I had thought, probably because my friends I’d made when I first moved over, that the back of whatever means just before the following hour. In actuality it means between the hour but before half past.
I can only assume that no one has corrected me because they either assumed I had the punctuality of a half dead tortoise, or they also were never on time.
Once in a while I will have to ask someone to slow down or enunciate. D’nue was a bit tricky for me. It’s actually The Now. As in:
You going to be here soon?
Bit late, just on the bus d’nue.
Scot here (Edinburgh), and I’d usually only use “Back of 4” to mean a few minutes past, maybe ten minutes at most. Same as “just after 4”.
May vary though depending on where in Scotland you go :-)
That was how it was explained to me…3 days ago. 5…5 entire years I’ve been using it wrong. 🤦
What are the major hazards involved in stone masonry? How did you get involved in the field?
Silicosis is one of the biggest hazards. It happens when ultra-fine particles of silica dust get breathed in and cause scarring on the lungs. It’s spooky shit.
Other than that there’s the usual dangers of working with large heavy materials and power tools. There’s a high risk of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome and arthritis from swinging a hammer at a chisel for hours on end.
Honestly just kinda fell into it. Was working in a warehouse and hated it. Just walked off one day, called a friend just to complain about it and the firm he was working for happened to be hiring. I was 18, I’m now a few months away from 40.
