Masonry Tools and their Uses

I have been a mason for about five years now and people ask me all the time for tips on making their home projects a bit easier. I cannot stress enough the importance of having the correct tools. Masonry can be hard work, but without the right tools, you will be fighting yourself the whole way.

With that being said, I'm going to go over all the tools one would need to make their at home masonry project as simple as possible. There are several different types of material you might be using for your project (brick, block, stone, pavers etc.) but the tools you will be using stay fairly consistent.

-Trowel: The first thing you will need is a trowel. The masons main tool. The trowel is used to spread (butter) the mortar (mud) on the material you will be using and scraping off excess mortar. There are several different types of trowels which differ mainly in size. Which trowel you decide to use mostly depends on how comfortable it is in your hand. Although, larger trowels are usually used for spreading mortar while smaller trowels can be used for touching up old mortar joints and scraping the excess mortar.

-Masons Hammer: This tool has two ends, one is small and flat like a hammer and the other is flat and sharp like a small chisel. The chisel end is used for breaking brick, block or stone precisely. The hammer end is used when you need a little extra power behind your swing. Like breaking off a part of a block or brick that you have already chipped away with the chisel end.

-Chisel: The chisel is used for splitting block or brick. A chisel is usually preferred over a masons hammer because it makes a cleaner cut but is sometimes unnecessary.

-Power Saw: If you're going to be making a lot of cuts in your block or brick, a power saw with a diamond blade would be a great investment. The saw will allow you to make quick, precise cuts in your material. You can use a handheld saw or a stationary Chop Saw but the blade must be a diamond edge blade to prevent it from breaking or dulling quickly.

-Level: A level is a very important tool to have at hand. Whether you're laying block or brick you are going to want it to be as level as possible. Masonry levels come in sizes ranging from one to four feet. I would recommend having one of each but they can be quite expensive. A three or four foot level is the most commonly used and is what I would recommend for any brick/block work.

-Chalk Line: If you are laying block or brick against a wall, a chalk line can be used to snap a line on the wall, at the correct height,  to give you a visible line which you can build your block/brick up to. It can also be snapped on the foundation to be sure your first row of block or brick is perfectly straight.





-String and String Level: Once both ends of your wall are built to the correct

height a string can be stretched from the corner of  a block on one end of the wall to the corner of a block at the opposite end of the wall. By laying within the line it assures you are laying a plumb and level row of block/brick. This is repeated on every row of block allowing you to rely on your eye rather then a level.

-Steel Square: A steel square is an L shaped piece of steel at a perfect 90 degree angle. It is used to make sure the corners of your wall are at a 90 degree angle.

-Jointer: There are two different types of jointers. One is used for brick and block and the other for stone work. For brick/block a rounded jointer is used to run along the joint and compact the mortar into the joint while scraping off the excess mortar. For stone a smaller, flatter jointer is used to scrape out excess mortar from the joints once they have been grouted.



I hope this helps with your at home masonry project. Feel free to leave comments with further questions or ideas for my next post. I will be making a video soon explaining how to lay block and brick.