# Brick production numbers?



## jsprplc2006 (Aug 9, 2019)

I'm curious about how much everyone thinks the average bricklayer should get done in an 8 hour shift laying brick in ideal conditions, i.e. summer, and an apprentice who always has bricks and mortar ready to go.

I'm thinking somewhere in the 250-300 bricks a day mark including jointing, but not certain if that makes sense for the average bricklayer.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Masons here would starve at that rate. 

You can go to the World of Concrete and watch it done for speed and prize money though.


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## cdkyle (Jul 12, 2009)

That is a loaded question. Anyone with any experience would know that there are no two jobs alike. Corners, windows, openings, bond, weather conditions, material being used, etc. They say that there are no dumb questions, but this is close.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

My mason is charging me .60 to lay....so x 300 a day, $180. And he pays a helper out of that. So no....and if he only laid 300 a day, how many days to do a spec, like I am building right now? 8,000 bricks plus gables? 

But that is a number good for Hennessey Oklahoma, not for anywhere else...and there are crews here laying for .35 and they will swarm it.....but it won't look as good as a single mason job on a home.


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## Adamthebuilder (Apr 14, 2016)

Are you a one man operation, or do you have a crew, or are you considering hiring a crew?

The next question is what is the market rate to lay a brick in your area? 

Based on that rate, can you pay yourself, a helper if needed, taxes, insurance, OH etc, and make a decent living? It is not the number of bricks you can lay in an 8 hour day, as depending on the job, that will vary.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

You mean per hour, right?


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## Fouthgeneration (Jan 7, 2014)

I asked my first boss how many brick we were supposed to lay a day, (3 2cd year journeymen, laying over 2K on house veneers) and he said instantly, " *MORE
*"

No water proofing, no flashing, no installing insulation boards, etc

Just wall ties at 16" centers screwed on.....

One color of brick, one shade of mortar, concave tooling of joints

No "glassy" or spongy east coast pick and dip brick......

Normal ~3/8" joints both ways, A straight level footing ...

Level plumb opening sized to work with halves sand whole brick, and modular opening heights that don't require ripped bricks/bat wraps

Running bond 50/50 shade

100 an hour with striking, 666 an 8 hour day with wash down average. laying to a line..
Large hole "brick" subtract 5-10% for added spreading/volume of mortar needed.

Level building corners ALL day 400-500 depending on Quions etc....

The apprentice should laying 250 -300(2cd year?) a day and making ALL the cuts/ helping the mud forkers raise the walk planks etc

Spend some rain days watching U tube videos and get a Fast GOOD mentor to sort through the phony experts.

Even take mud home and practice spreading on 2x4 and 2x8.....

I worked with some studs ~30 year old, that laid 250-300 CMUs every DAY if they weren't grouted, I laid a 350 blk garage footing in one 10 hr day with grout and bolts with NO laborer, when I was young and dumb....


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

300 a day is 37 an hour.

I lay about 150 an hour on a chimney building leads and laying blocks too.


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## bytor (Jan 23, 2010)

A friend of mine is on a "Production" brick crew in the North end of Toronto... think mini-Mcmansion territory...
I asked about their production rates. 
12 man crew (8 brickies and 4 labourers) are banging off 14,000 brick houses in a day and a half including scaffold set-up and tear-down.
After caulking crew does their thing, another half day for 2-3 guys to do a wash-down.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

There are two sides to every coin. This fella presents a perspective I concur with,tine in at about 10 minutes 10 seconds if you don't want to watch the entire video.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

That's a lot of brick bytor. I'd rather bang on rocks.


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## stuart45 (Oct 7, 2009)

fjn said:


> There are two sides to every coin. This fella presents a perspective I concur with,tine in at about 10 minutes 10 seconds if you don't want to watch the entire video.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJrCfX9Ulbw


Shame that many people, including those not in the building trade, judge a bricklayer totally on the number of bricks he can lay in a day. 
If you tell people you are a bricklayer, someone will usually ask if you can lay 1,000 a day. 
You wouldn't ask a plumber how many taps he can install, or a sparks how many light switches an hour he can do.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

stuart45 said:


> Shame that many people, including those not in the building trade, judge a bricklayer totally on the number of bricks he can lay in a day.
> If you tell people you are a bricklayer, someone will usually ask if you can lay 1,000 a day.
> You wouldn't ask a plumber how many taps he can install, or a sparks how many light switches an hour he can do.


 :thumbsup:


Just some trivia,a long time acquaintance of mine is the guy in charge of promoting and running the bricklayer 500 each year at world of Concrete / Masonry. I have told him numerous times what a disservice I feel it is to the craft / industry. I'm just glad they go so fast,that does not let the mud to set,that way they can easily kick those walls over with the 1/4 filled head joints ! There is no way I'd want that crappy work on a job of mine.

The guy says any publicity is good publicity and it pays the bills. I don't agree with the first half of that statement.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

It's like chainsaw races. No one in the woods is going that fast. It's just for fun and entertainment.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

VinylHanger said:


> It's like chainsaw races. No one in the woods is going that fast. It's just for fun and entertainment.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk




Well,IMHO,if they required trade standard work that would be a different story,it reminds me of a HS food fight the carnival atmosphere.


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## Windycity (Oct 3, 2015)

Although this is brick paving not brick laying this is the type of production i expect with my crews!!...

LOL

Joking aside there is alot of variables when talking expected production numbers 







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Joasis said:


> My mason is charging me .60 to lay....so x 300 a day, $180. And he pays a helper out of that. So no....and if he only laid 300 a day, how many days to do a spec, like I am building right now? 8,000 bricks plus gables?
> 
> .



The flip side of that,here in mid-west,the rate is a buck a brick or more,mason supplies mortar,builder all else. Also,there is absolutely nothing wrong with a one man band,however,a decent laborer should be able to supply 3 masons at ground level or 1 five foot frame high.Four if he is real good. So,a one man band has no ability to amortize the laborers cost,he has to absorb it all.Not the absolute best business model.


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## Fouthgeneration (Jan 7, 2014)

Fjn? who is building & stocking the next wall?

I try to have different order of job task priority for mason versus Laborer/ Operators, with some identical priority ones in the middle, like installing wall ties.

Short staffing labor just leads to lower production as Masons spend ever higher % of their day laboring, and taking extra steps and motion for poorly stocked materials. IMHO

I have witnessed HUNDREDS of hard working laborers given more and more work to do with ever smaller wages gains.
And the vast majority left the trade to work for businesses that paid the very best More then the mediocre, and are very happy with a steady workman like pace that most can maintain to retirement age if healthy.

If a Healthy Mason goes home bone tired at the end of the Day, the outfit has poor or insufficient labor and or poorly erected scaffolding


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

stuart45 said:


> Shame that many people, including those not in the building trade, judge a bricklayer totally on the number of bricks he can lay in a day.
> If you tell people you are a bricklayer, someone will usually ask if you can lay 1,000 a day.
> You wouldn't ask a plumber how many taps he can install, or a sparks how many light switches an hour he can do.



For builders, time is a consideration, but in relation to price. I have a budget number, and I don't have a specific time requirement on spec homes. My mason gives me a quote based on the brick count and any specials or add ons, like columns, or gables, etc. and then he tells me when he can do it. All I need to know. So price per brick is an average number, and not reflective of how my jobs are set.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Fouthgeneration said:


> Fjn? who is building & stocking the next wall?
> 
> I try to have different order of job task priority for mason versus Laborer/ Operators, with some identical priority ones in the middle, like installing wall ties.
> 
> ...





Not advocating to work laborers or masons to death. That ratio is strictly ground or 1 five foot frame high. Also,the key to production is not found in laborers erecting and stocking scaffold (except feeding mud) while work is on going. If pipe scaffold is the scaffold of choice (which IMHO) is far from the most productive choice,it should all be erected,planked and stocked prior to work commencing. I don't want laborers stocking brick and block one or two frames above me while I "try" to work beneath,for various reasons. In other words,have enough equipment to supply the job at hand. Regarding scaffold,if you want real production and way less laborer and mason strain,Non -Stop tower scaffolding is the absolute best method. You need way less plank,laborers never need to re -position out riggers,all work is performed at the mason sweet spot,waist high. No more laying at toes or chin high.


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## Fouthgeneration (Jan 7, 2014)

Some how the guy that is SUPPOSED to crank up the self climbing towers NEVER is on the job, AND I am supposed to stop laying and crank myself and and all my materials the labor stocked (instead of raising the tower every course) ? 

The last "green" crank up I was on didn't have ANY X-Braces install for the first 8' and I even downloaded the Makers Owners manual, but the operator/ dope tester would n't install the missing braces to stop the 4 pairs of towers from swaying when ever some one moved around....luckily it didn't completely fold up....I do like how the planks and material fall to the Earth when the towers are raised or lowered unevenly....

Foiled again by a too stupid to make big money owner.

And WHAT is up with using HUMAN power to lift ~5 or 6 tons of ANYTHING in 2019 A.D.?:blink:

Hydro-mobile is on the Bucket list of equipment purchases...


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

No doubt,hydro mobile is the cats meow. Never owned one,as you can appreciate,they do not work on all applications. They are good for the Walmart walls.:laughing:


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## 6stringmason2 (Dec 23, 2017)

Our production numbers vary, but with residential these days, and how chopped up the houses are, we look for 400-600 being a good day. Sometimes we get lucky and get a 25' long garage wall with only two little 2'x4' windows and we can slam that wall up to the soffit height of 9-10' with two masons and a tender by lunch. 



More times than not though, these houses let you lay 3 brick, then its either a cut or a corner, and its hard to slam brick in like you'd like to. We concentrate more on quality control, and not burning our guys out over everything though. Charging more for the highlights, the gable work, how chopped up it is etc, still lets us make decent money on a job, and keep our guys happy and healthy.


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