How to Become
a Mason.
Lays brick, block, and stone. Old trade, slow to change, body-intensive. Skilled masons command top pay; helpers, not so much.Here's the honest path — from zero to journeyman, with the numbers and warnings that nobody puts in the brochure.
The Path.
The union apprenticeship is the gold standard — earn while you learn, no debt, progressive wage increases. Here's the honest step-by-step for the BAC (Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers) path.
Start as a mason's tender (laborer/helper) — this is the legitimate entry path. You mix mud, move material, and set up scaffolding while learning from journeyman masons. Expect your first year to be physically brutal.
Apply to a BAC (Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers) JATC — union masonry provides a structured apprenticeship with documented wage steps. Non-union 'helper-to-mason' paths exist but are often unstructured.
Complete the 3–4 year apprenticeship — 4,500 OJT hours plus classroom. You'll learn bricklaying, blocklaying, and pointing. Speed and quality are both graded. Good masons lay 600–1,000 brick a day.
Get your scaffold user certification — you will spend significant time at height on mason scaffolding. OSHA requires documented scaffold training. Get it early.
Choose a specialty — stonework, tuck pointing (restoration masonry), ornamental brick, or fireplace/chimney work all pay above the general masonry rate. Decorative concrete flatwork is a growing niche with better margins than standard block.
Protect your joints like they're your retirement account — they are. Back, knee, and shoulder injuries are the primary career-shorteners in masonry. Lift correctly from day one.
The Money.
What the Brochure Leaves Out.
Body-intensive trade. Many masons retire (or change trades) by 50 due to joint issues.
Weather-dependent — bad winters mean bad paychecks in non-Sunbelt states.
Non-union masonry can be exploitative — wage theft and unpaid OT are documented industry-wide.
Requirements by State.
Every state has different licensing requirements, exam providers, and code editions. Choose your state for the specific path in your market.