National Association of Women in Masonry

Let’s kick things off with a look at just exactly what stone masonry is and how it has evolved through the centuries to the modern equivalent that is around today.

Stone masonry is by definition the craft of shaping or forming rough chunks of rock (stone) into accurate, well formed geometrical shapes and then arranging the formed and shaped stones, most often along with a cement based or other adhesive mortar, to create and form buildings or structures. These shapes are mostly simple in form, although you can get some that are of considerable complexity.

The process is carried out by a number of skilled artisans. This begins with the quarrymen who quarry and then split the base rock, and then extract rough hewn stone blocks from the ground. The next stage is carried out by sawyers, who cut the large blocks into smaller cubes to the required size as per order with large, diamond-tipped saws.

The next stage is carried out by banker masons in the workshop. These masons specialize in carving the rough stones into the smooth and accurate geometrical shapes that are required by the building’s design. These masons are capable of producing just about anything from stones including simple chamfers for tracery windows, right up to highly detailed moldings that comprise such things as classical architectural building. The mason working a stone from a basic sawn block ensures the stone is correctly bedded, so the finished work will sit in the finished building with the same orientation that it had when it was quarried from the ground.

More specialized forms of masonry include the work of carvers, who create more of an art form, using their artistic skill and ability to carve rough stone into incredibly detailed shapes and reliefs, including figures, animals, plants and foliage or more abstract designs.

Where the erection of buildings requires stone masons to be on-site, there are what is known as fixer masons. These masons specialize in fixing stones onto the buildings as they are erected. They use lifting tackle, machinery as well as traditional lime mortars and grouts to create the finished effect. Depending upon the style of building, modern cements, or even mastic and epoxy resins may be used. This is often seen on specialist building styles such as stone cladding.

Lastly, memorial masons or sometimes known as monumental masons specialize in carving gravestones and engraving inscriptions such as epitaphs.

Stone masons undergo long and arduous training to acquire the necessary skills to be able to create the finished product as required by the builder as per the architect’s plans. Skills are learned by extensive practical training, as this is one trade that cannot be easily learned just from books and is a skill that has been taught and handed down from father to son for millenia.

Information sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonemasonry

Welcome to the National Association for Women in Masonry (NAWM). This website has been created to highlight the association while also providing an information base to help anyone wishing to enter this field. To that end we are continually publishing informational articles on a variety of subjects within the sphere of building, masonry and home improvements to cover every aspect of this wide and vast topic.

Seattle-based NAWM has its mission to create an environment through education, training, and networking that enhances the leadership skills of women in the building industry. NAWM was founded to help to build a large community of women who are devoted to leadership and also to offer many opportunities for their ongoing education and training. By doing so, this will create many opportunities for the continued inclusion of women in the fields of building, concrete and stone masonry while leading to a greater recognition of all our achievements.

Additional Information

In order to build this site into a solid repository of useful and usable information on all aspects of building, construction, finishing and home refurbishment and improvement, we are adding informational articles originally written for this site. They will cover many aspects of construction in both a domestic as well as business side of things. Here are just some of the areas we will be covering:

Patio and Terrace

The outdoor space of many homes is a useful area to socialize in and a well laid up patio or terrace is great place to do this. It must be remembered that good workmanship and a professional build and quality finish are great qualities by which to judge the best hard standing outdoor areas. Of course once they have been laid up, it makes a lot of sense to adorn them with well placed decorative plants and some nice furniture. Its worth reading some good patio furniture reviews to ensure you get the right type of outdoor furniture to match your outdoor space because you certainly don’t want anything to appear out of place.

Garage and Outbuildings

While most emphasis is generally placed on the house or main building itself, some additional thought should be given to garages and other outbuildings such as a workshop, brick or stone sheds and other solid structures. When considering the building of such structures, remember to take into account the need for professional skilled labor to ensure a safe and solid build.

The growing number of articles that will be and are already published here are all related to the building and stone masonry industry so that the information database grows into a reference for anyone who needs to extend their knowledge into further subjects that are incorporated withing this industry.

National Association for Women in Masonry