I am interested in masons -brick and mortar masons, not fraternal masons- as they occur in literature. I stumbled across a wonderful website "Books and bricks" which deals with this very topic. In navigating through this website, I have been unable to find some of the great bricklaying characters which I am sure populate the world of literature.  Plenty of carpenters.

Two noteworthy masons in literature are Alexander Solzenytsin's Ivan Denisovich and Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.

One day in my life, it's cold as Siberian hell, and I'm laying brick or block, I pause and think of Ivan Denisovich; and just how easy this really is.

Water Storage Test Tank

I’m working on constructing a sub-surface water storage tank from manufactured concrete block. This is at my property in the woods outside Alfred, NY in the Allegheny foothills.

These block were produced on a Columbia 3-at-a-time machine, from a steel mold which I fabricated to produce these triangular block. There are two types of block, one creates a pentagon, the other a hexagon, as described here. This assembles into a “soccer ball” type geometry, or a truncated icosahedron.

This is being done in frozen ground in the middle of winter, so it’s a bit of a challenge. I used a fiberglass shell to help create a guiding surface (the ‘bowl’ you see in these pictures). This is not necessary, but just made this job easier.

This particular tank will be a “plunging pool” for a sauna which I’m building: to jump into and cool off when you get out of the sauna. It will be a complete sphere, with a hole in the top. Once it’s finished, there will be a "wishing-well" type structure on the top. The tank is around 3,000 gallons. It will be filled with rainwater collected from the roof and gutter system of the sauna.

There is a PVC pipe with rope inside it, which goes down to the bottom center of the sphere. The rope will be used to pull electrical wire through the pipe. There will be an underwater electric light at the bottom center of the sphere, which I’m hoping will provide a cool “fishbowl” effect as you jump in. This will be powered by solar panels.
This is a crude prototype using an early simple version of this block. Subsequent designs use the interlocking features, which I’ve termed dimp and simp, as described earlier in this blog.

I’ll continue to post updates as this project moves along.

To see the tank completed, please look here.

Marble and Terrazzo Floors

Marble floors exude richness, quality and sophistication. There is an ancient history of marble flooring, and much of this architectural work still exists today from antiquity. Some of it is still in excellent condition after thousands of years. Marble floors are found in historic structures from the ancient Greek Parthenon to Grand Central Station in New York City (below).

Patterns can be created by using different colored stone, and inlaying them for contrast and juxtaposition. The surface of the marble floor is then polished smooth, for an even flooring surface.

Because marble flooring is so sleek, shiny and reflective, it can often be difficult to keep spotless. Streaks, smudges, scuffs and dust will show up clearly and immediately. Regular cleaning is a must. A soft dust mop works well for daily maintenance, with at least a weekly sweeping and a damp mop. Marble floors need to be professionally cleaned and polished at least once a year to repair any cracks or dried-out areas and help it keep its sheen.

Since marble is so durable, heavy, dramatic and used in places like palaces, folks should get the hint that it's also pretty expensive. Installation of the floor will also be costly, and should not be undertaken by anyone who does not know what he's doing. The maintenance alone takes its toll, with constant cleaning and regular resealing which should also be done by professionals. In addition to the high cost, marble floors are very cold on bare feet. Slippers or throw rugs are highly recommended during winter months

Below are the marble floors of the Mamluk 14th century madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan Hasan in Cairo, Egypt.

Here is a panel from the Duomo’s marble floor in Siena, Italy.

Around 1920, Italian masons realized a less expensive method for producing marble floor, in a technique now known as “Terrazzo.” First, a concrete substrate is built from a slab at least 3 inches thick. Then a wet mixture of sand-based mortar is applied to the substrate. While this mortar is still wet, marble chips and pigment are placed on top of the wet mortar. This mixture is then tamped or consolidated in place, and subsequently polished. The beauty of terrazzo is that different colored patterns can readily be incorporated, with high precision and accuracy. Terrazzo does not have the same high sheen as marble slabs, so usually a filler or additive is applied to the terrazzo to give it a more lustrous finish.

Here is a Terrazo floor from the Texas State Capitol building:

In American architecture today, a marble floor sometimes seems pretentious, in the same vein as a “McMansion” of the nouveau riche. However, judicious use of marble tastefully applied, properly installed and adequately cared for can add real beauty to any building.

Tiling

I am getting ready to tile my bathroom, so I thought this would be a good occasion to talk about tiling.


The basic steps in tiling today involve gluing the tile to a substrate (concrete floor, etc.), and then grouting the space between the tiles. The tiles are glued with either thin-set mortar or mastic. After tiles are set, mortar is applied between the tiles. This mortar is then usually sealed, and allowed to cure.

There is a long history of exquisite tiling from ancient sites and across much of the globe, it endures and remains functional and vibrant. Here is beautiful tile work from Delphi, Greece.

Here is an ancient Arabesque tile showing fractal geometry.

Here is an ancient Assyrian tile, with a floral motif.

Here is tile from the Topkapi palace, in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Topkapi tiling as an interior arrangement, masterfully executed.

Today most tiles are made as mass-produced unit shapes, which fit together according to a regular repeating pattern, like squares, or triangles or hexagons, etc.

In the world of mathematics, tiling is defined as a two-dimensional pattern resembling a tiled surface. This gets pretty interesting. Regular triangles can tile, squares can tile, hexagons can tile, octagons can tile; but pentagons can NOT tile. If you try to tile together pentagons on a flat surface, you get a gap. Geometers call this gap a “frustration.” Five-fold symmetry does not appear to lend itself to tiling.

Roger Penrose realized that five-fold symmetry could in fact be used for tiling, if done in a quasi-periodic arrangement involving two shapes. There is no regular repetition of geometry, but instead a random element of arrangement which completes the mathematical task of tiling a flat surface. This creates some beautiful patterns. This makes for fun tiling!

Blog Action Day 2010

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted.

Petitions by Change.org

Start a Petition »

Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us.

I've described the efforts of masonry design here, here, here, here, here and here.

To see my completed prototype, please look here.

This system can have a real, significant impact on providing fresh water to humans globally.

Masonry Woodstoves

Masonry woodstoves offer many distinct advantages over metal woodstoves and conventional fireplaces. Today I’ll be taking a look at this masonry combustion system.

First a firebox is built with refractory brick (high temperature brick). This firebox is then surrounded by simple red brick, which provides additional thermal mass. A gap of around 1 inch is provided between the firebox and the outer brick, to allow for thermal expansion.

The flue or venting gas is usually made to zigzag as it passes through the masonry stove. This extends the flame path within the firing space, releasing more heat in the space to be heated. This captures more heat from combustion, and is much more efficient than simply venting all that heat to the outside.

Masonry woodstoves operate at a higher temperature than a conventional metal stove or fireplace. This produces a more complete combustion of fuel, and creates less pollution.

Masonry stoves use the thermal mass of the masonry to store and release heat from burning fuel, so that the heated space is kept warm by thermal radiation long after the fire has died down.

Masonry stoves can also easily incorporate an oven for cooking, which is a very nice feature.

Typically, a masonry woodstove will operate with one large, hot fire per day. The heat from this one fire will usually keep the space warm throughout the day.

Masonry stoves operate most efficiently when air is drawn from the outside to provide oxygen for combustion. This is usually done by drawing in air through the bottom of the stove, where it is pre-heated by the firebox above it; further increasing efficiency. If air is drawn from the inside of the heated area, then heated air is sent up the chimney. This is why an open fireplace is particularly inefficient.

Finally, masonry woodstoves are attractive. The red brick outer layer provides a comforting appearance, and an oven is very inviting, especially if the house smells like fresh baked bread!

Currently I am building my own masonry stove. When it’s done I’ll do another blog entry on this and show some pictures. I used this publication for masonry stove design, and found it very helpful. Lots of good tips and design considerations here.

Masonry as a Career

Today’s economy seems plagued with chronic unemployment. For many open jobs, the number of unemployed exceeds the positions available. Wages for much of today’s service economy are depressed, leaving people underemployed. Not much satisfaction in flipping burgers or serving meals.

Masons are in pretty high demand right now. The wages are fairly respectable, ranging from around $40,000 per year up to around $80,000 per year, depending largely on location. This seems like an odd circumstance to me. Remember the ”Jetsons” cartoon? By now we are supposed to have buildings made in a matter of minutes, done completely by automated robotic equipment.

Many people today tend to be critical of organized labor, or unions. The fact is that the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union (BAC) is an excellent organization that provides highly trained and skilled laborers who will do the job right. If you really want a great job done, with excellent workmanship, go with the union masons. If you are a mason, and you want to be paid well, go with the union.

Masonry as a career is not for everyone. It is hard work, requires skill and manual dexterity, and the work days are long and tough. But if you enjoy working with your hands, masonry can be very rewarding. You are building structures that should outlast other forms of construction, and can aspire to the highest forms of art and architecture.

Finally, there is a huge demand for skilled masons overseas, especially in Europe right now. It could be an exciting adventure, well paid, new surroundings and interesting work. If younger people are considering their future, masonry might be a career worth looking at. You can be making good money doing important work early in your career.

Or there are positions in the service industry. You want fries with that?