Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of WI - Best Hands in the Business

Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of WI - Best Hands in the Business

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the following program is sponsored by the building wisconsin television network [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome to building wisconsin i'm stuart keith and on today's show what we're learning more about the travel trades as we catch up with the bricklayers and allied craft workers here in wisconsin so let's get started with jim vick [Music] [Music] [Music] well jim welcome to building wisconsin it's great to have the bricklayers and allied craft workers finally on our show and we're looking forward to learning more about the trial trades and you know as i look around here this is your milwaukee or new berlin training center it looks pretty busy today yeah pretty busy too thanks for having us and coming on down behind us we got a six-week pre-job going on here these students they're learning the crafts and the skills it take to be a bricklayer hopefully in six weeks contractors come in here and try to get a career here well you know when you talk about bricklayers and allied craft workers you're talking about brick mortar and much more than that and for people who aren't familiar with this trade let's spend a minute and explain the different disciplines that your union represents in the construction industry sure stu we have a wide variety of trial trades that we represent so we have the brick layer and that bricklayer lay brick block and stone we have a tile setters we have the travel workers we also have pcc which is pointer caulker cleaner and do part of historic restoration on buildings for masonry marble mason we set precast plaster is involved in there too so we have a wide variety of crafts wow there are a lot of different disciplines under that umbrella which to me screams of opportunity for people to get into this trade oh great opportunity stu like i said if you don't think one trade is good for you look and you can bounce and look at another trade you want a job that you're going to enjoy for the rest of your career and that's what we're about career and when you talk about a career the gentleman that i have met and the women in the trade there's a lot of pride that comes with that isn't it i mean it's a prideful career and it's really artisans doing a craft oh yes dude you're proud you'd take your son or daughter and see i built this project or i did that project it's neat to see it see the end product and it's nice to see that well you know later in the show i want to learn more about this training center but first you have a great project for us to head up to don't you yeah stu we have a great project up in you know wisconsin neenah high school so you'll see laying block you'll see new technology so it's a great job to oversee and even some bricklaying up there too so well i can't wait to see it i'm gonna head up there right now i'll see you a little later in the show see you later [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] pat i really appreciate you coming on building wisconsin today and what a beautiful setting out here great weather for the construction workers to be hard at it and where are we oh this is a great day to be on a construction site stu we are at the new nina high school this is going to be the second largest high school built in the state of wisconsin yes i understand it the only second behind verona that we featured on building wisconsin so with our show we have an opportunity to showcase a lot of these iconic structures throughout our state it's so great to see all these big buildings being built in wisconsin with masonry structural masonry infill masonry we're very excited about this yeah and you know you bring up masonry and that's the focus of today's show with the bricklayers and allied craft workers and why do you think brick is such an important aspect and really the foundation of our communities you know brick is solid right and it makes everyone feel secure when you say brick i think veneer what we're seeing here in the background is gray block and that is a structural element you know so that is the bones of the building and then we're going to put some beautiful brick on the outside to decorate the box so to speak sure okay so what is your role in this project yeah i'm a registered architect in the state of wisconsin and i work for the international masonry institute we're funded by the bricklayers union and the contractors who employ the bricklayers and my role is the director of industry development and technical services what that means is i help people design efficiently with masonry and so you must work closely with the general contractors the subs everybody involved kind of a third set of eyes on a project like this absolutely it's even further upstream than that sometimes we work with the owner's representative there's an owner's representative on this job for instance and we work with the designers very far upstream to help them conceive masonry solutions to these types of buildings and develop the details even before the contractors see the drawings so it's fair to say from design to completion you're involved in virtually every aspect i am yeah and that's a free service when you work with the bricklayers union here in the state of wisconsin you get our organization which is called the imi international masonry institute for free any size mason contractor who's part of the union can use our services to help promote their industry and then develop some durable and economical details wow that sounds like quite a service quite a value for any of the contractors out there so let's talk about the contractors here who is the general in this and some of the subs you're working with the general is myron construction and their corporate office is just a couple blocks away from here it seems like and then they've employed some subcontractors to help them install the masonry so my reconstruction is installing the gray block that you see behind us here there's hind construction out of the green bay area de pir more specifically they're working on some of the veneer over on the metal stud portion of the project and then there's a company called walsh masonry and they're also doing some veneer work as well again under the guidance of myron construction wow pat when you walk inside this facility there have to be thousands of masonry units out there there's a ton of masonry over here you can see the performing arts center the masonry is providing some support space then you've got the music area and then the gymnasium behind there so a ton of masonry out here today and you know as i look around i can see that there's you know the classrooms it looks like are going to be over to my right you got a looks like either an elevator or a stairwell shaft here and throughout our communities anytime i drive i see masonry i mean why is it so popular oh masonry is a great local product made with local materials with local shipping it's a very economical building material to use in the state of wisconsin the service you offer i said it's i mean so valuable let's get a little more specific i mean on a project like this what would be your day-to-day role or if you show up you know one one weekday how can you assist yeah it's so satisfying to be involved in such a great project like this like i said earlier stu i'm involved with the design community to help them design economical masonry solutions that are cost effective for instance earlier today i was meeting with brian and we were talking about the details and how to achieve some continuity of water barrier and air control layers in the wall assembly really so a design or say that a project like this has been designed but there's changes that happen on a daily basis out here to make it work in the real world well sometimes stu works on a piece of paper and in the architect's computer but then you get out to the job site and there's job site specific criteria that you have to meet so that's another advantage of using the union contractor like myron because they go through our training programs and so they can proactively look at some of these details and then if they need to figure something out they can call me and i can visit the job site and then we can really figure out the nuts and bolts boy and you brought up training i mean training is so important not only from that aspect but what is your opinion of the training of the bricklayers and allied craft workers on site on a project that's second to none stu best hands in the business these masons have been trained initially for apprenticeship training and then we have journeyman upgrade training to keep their skills sharp and to help them evolve with the new materials that you're going to see on this job site yeah and i love that you use the word evolve because i love to see an industry that continues to evolve and the bricklayers and allied craft workers are no different than anybody else as old as this trade is it continues to evolve and that's who i'm going to catch up with next is brian one of the soups here to learn more about the masonry techniques that are being used i appreciate you coming on today's show all right thanks for having me [Music] [Music] brian i really appreciate you coming on building wisconsin i was just talking to pat and i was marveling at how many units of masonry are in this project and when i say a unit i'm talking about one block yeah there's currently 280 000 units on project that are putting in the walls today 280 000 pieces that's great isn't it holy cow is that ever awesome no wonder it's gonna be so strong so he he also told me down there how the industry is evolving and he called them a mule and i see the mule here i mean let's walk through why that's so advantageous yes so a mule stands for a material unit lifting enhancer and what it does as you can see here it's taking the place of a mason lift in the block is actually lifting the block for the mason and mason still puts the block and lays the block in the wall by taking the lifting out of the work and that allows you to use larger block yes it does so you currently see we have 32 inch long blocks 32 inches one block so you're getting double the amount of black and the mule is lifting that block and putting it in place for you so in the installation process you're saying it might be a little quicker on a straight run because you just can lay 32 inch instead of what are they 15 and 5 8 or something right correct and to me the advantages of the mule speak for themselves you know when we first got up here on the scaffolding i talked to nathan he said he had been a mason for since 1993. and he said i never thought that i would see the trade evolved like this and he was just beaming because he goes it's going to allow me to do my craft longer and he took genuine pride in that i mean these guys love what they do absolutely masonry definitely is an art and a craft and it's cool to see how stuff's evolving as you can see you see nathan just said he was in the trace of 93 and next to him as an apprentice that's been in it for three years and he's got a little bit of the old taste but now he's getting a new fresh start at it all so it's great seeing how the older generation is adapting to the mules putting their bodies a better life and apprentices are learning right behind them to make a better trade for everybody and not unlike most of the trades out there if not all of them mentorship is so important in the training process right membership is absolutely the most important thing in the training process it's important our apprentices learn knowledge and know that they're doing the right job so they carry that down and when they become a journeyman they can teach an apprentice on how to do the right thing so the trade keeps going on sure so what is your role in this project i'm currently one of two masonry superintendents a masonry superintendent's role is to order material lay out walls make sure structural steel goes in the right spots charge a manpower and make sure the crew's doing a craftsman job it sounds like there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that position if you all work together it's pretty easy really well teamwork's a key along with communication in any of these projects i bet absolutely communication's number one factor on job communicating with your team and other subcontractors get the job done safe and job done right okay well this takes care of one facet you have anything else you can show us yes we are laying block and we also are growing currently right now let's go take a look at that all right so [Music] now would you ever use this for sound control on this job they have a 40 foot wall roughly against stable 100 feet long it's all solid growth everything's solid that's for sound so it must be like a music center or something yep it's a music center you can't hear the music on the outside but hear it on the inside oh my gosh well you know like this i mean it takes a lot of training to do it correctly right absolutely that's why it's important to have a good apprenticeship and have the right amount of training to get the job done right well this project's moving along quickly i think it's still a year out but you guys will be here almost to the finish right yep we'll be here until the finish there's lots of masonry currently on this project well i really appreciate you coming on today's show and giving us a behind the scenes look of how the industry continues to evolve thanks a lot brian thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] well jim it's been a great show so far and i tell you you weren't kidding when we first met you said i'm going to see some new technology up at that neenah school that mule was incredible and i was talking to some of the journey workers up there and nathan in particular was just beaming about it and i said why is so excited he goes well number one i never thought i'd see the industry evolve to having a robotic helper for me and he goes that's going to mean longevity i can stay in this trade longer and i love what i do so it was really neat to see that and then in addition i was talking to brent and he was saying how he loves the mentorship that he's getting from nathan but at the end of the day it really all starts here at your training center right you're right stu it does so here we have tom trying to play the block nice and straight he's got a line to deal with within the tolerance of the 16th of an inch he's got the top of the block to the bottom block he's got to line up and as you go up in the building got to be spot on because you want to be straight on and straight up you know as i look so if this is the footing down here you're going to have this line for level going all the way across and that helps guide them within the tolerance right but it's not only that stu you got two leads here so what we call leads is on both sides you're taking height measurements and it's what helps guide the line to be level and plumb you're not just slapping a block and throwing some mortar down and hoping that it works because after all this could be the really the foundation literally of the building and if this is off the whole building's going to be off exactly well to me that screams of attention to detail and it doesn't start here it starts back when you're in high school i mean pay attention don't skip classes i mean this is an awesome field to get into but you got to be smart intelligent and you have to understand math and angles and things right right and so that's block work then i think about like the veneer that we saw we see the brick lane that's going on walk us through what this gentleman's doing well yes he's trying to lay the brick there he'll have a level and he'll level it and plumb it and again attention to detail as well right he's building two leads and getting ready to put a line up so he can run that line out and lay some brick you know earlier when i mentioned how they're really artisans this is a great example of it look at the facade he's building there with all the different types of architectural details you bet stu francisco laid some running bond here he's got some projection out of bricks he's got some soldiers going on different designs different techniques it takes talent and read blueprints to bring those designs from the blueprint out to the job site and into the wall and after a viewer watches our show today i hope they have a new appreciation for when you drive through your community and you look at the brick buildings out there and you see the little details that you know make a good building great i hope they have an appreciation for the training that goes into it and you know a facility like this who pays for all this do our members pay for this training so whether you're an apprentice or a journey worker you're contributing to this training center which helps train the future so there's no taxpayer dollars in here even though to me it's like a learning campus yeah no tax dollars at all stu so we're we're funded solely well you guys should be proud of that not unlike all the building trades in our state we're so fortunate to have a workforce that takes pride in what they do and think of the next generation and pass on that knowledge all right stu i mean the bricklayer and all aircraft workers been around for 154 years so we got to continue the tradition and as we've seen on today's show it's an industry that continues to evolve you bet right now i want to head across and learn more about the tile with mike thanks for sharing with us the brick and block [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh what a beautiful vignette i mean and when i think of tile this is what i think about whether you're talking about a home when you're talking about a office building a library you know commercial structures tile can really take an ordinary and make it extraordinary absolutely it's a beautiful finish and it's one of the most durable finishes out there and what are we looking at right here this is supposed to be a large commercial bathroom so that the apprentice can do the floor the large walls do the whole layout we basically pick out what they're gonna do but they can change the pattern up a little bit be a little artistic with it and that's what it's all about using your creative skills to create a masterpiece and then i see a bunch of different vignettes around here as well i mean take us through the process of the apprenticeship well usually we start first years off in tub surrounds that's a little easier so they have to shim out the walls make them as flat as they can prep the wall and then tile it and then once they tile it they grout it and then they get graded on it really and so there's it's almost like a competition an internal competition with themselves in order to do it correctly and you're going to come through and teach them along the way and at the end of it hopefully they're doing it correctly and you want them to do it here and kind of make your little mistakes here rather than in someone's home or on a big commercial job and it's not just setting the tile you said it's behind the walls but it looks like the floors as well this is called dry pack or mud is what we call it it's sand and cement mixture we mix it together it's kind of like a concrete now it's a little dryer and then you can make it flat you can manipulate it you can pitch it it's used in showers to kind of do your shower drains if you had a big gang shower that's what goes underneath it if you've ever seen an old house from like the 50s and you go to tear it up and has that wire underneath that's actually what that stuff is sure and i mean that's so important because the base of everything just like most aspects of construction it's what you don't see is what can lead to the good or bad end result we want it to last a lifetime i think almost half of our work is prep work if you don't prep it right the beautiful tile's never going to last it's going to crack it's going to break you got to check your coverages expansion joints you got to learn membranes you got to learn all those things what goes underneath of the tile not just putting the tile in you are just a wealth of knowledge i mean how did you become an instructor well actually i took my apprenticeship here so this is where i learned and then i became a journeyman a lead guy and then they asked we had our older instructor was going to retire someone asked if i wanted to be an instructor but we actually have certification it's called instructor certification program it's a five-year program it's done at our national training center out in bowie maryland so you have to do a portfolio you have to do a 20-minute video and you're going over syllabus i mean class schedules so not only you're learning how to teach tile you're learning how to be a better teacher so that we're an actual apprenticeship program this really is a college setting to me i mean people might not think of it but to me you have a five-year degree in teaching after all the years you spent in the field learning everything so you can pass along the field knowledge and now the teaching knowledge i hope the students here appreciate that i think they do and every time we do evaluations at the end of the year we do a review with the apprentices seeing how things are going and ask them you know do you think it's worth it do you what did you what do you want to learn here so we can add more things this this trade has added more in the last 10 years than i think any other trade has i mean products are changing you got foam boards instead of mud you got you know membranes that are liquid now that when i started they didn't have any of that stuff so it's it's evolving all the time and another beautiful vignette and of course we're looking at tile for the most part here right what about other products that you train them terrazzo we do have a newer product it's called gauge porcelain panels those panels are 10 feet by about 40 inches so you need a special rack and special training to do that now you mentioned terrazzo i mean explain what terrazzo is and where we find that terrazzo is epoxy so there's marble chips and granite chips in there so have you ever been to the pfizer forum the whole main level is all that that's terrazzo they basically put it down about a half inch three-eighths thick then they come back with these big grinders with some water and grind it as smooth as a pancake and all these products are so durable that's why they're being used in our buildings because we want them to last a long time and the beauty is they're gorgeous right they really bring it to life absolutely you can use colors anything you want to do sure well it's a great career to get into and along the lines of being a great career earlier we learned about the bricklayers apprenticeship is this a separate apprenticeship with the allied craft workers yes this is a separate training a separate apprenticeship so even though i'm part of the bricklayers union i never did brick in my career so i did tile terrazzo and some stone so we do have some cross training we do have some brick layers that do do tile and vice versa but for the most part this dish training is completely different than brick layers okay and how long is the apprenticeship our apprenticeship is three years okay three years and then what happens if i'm out there and i have some experience or maybe a lot of experience i want to join the allied craft workers is there a head start program there's a way to get slotted further up so i don't have to do the full three-year apprenticeship that's another thing i do here is a tile evaluation you would call it i have somebody come in we have a little bit of a written test have you do a little bit of layout for me set some tile float what i was talking about there's a little bit of pans and then after you do that i can kind of slot you in about where you're at in our apprenticeship from a first year apprentice all the way up to a journeyman so if you have the experience we're looking for you and i can kind of figure out where you would fit in that's what i love about your trade if you're looking for the best individuals experience or not you'll train them right or you'll get them slotted correctly based on how good they can late dial and even if they don't have all that training that's what we want them to do is come in and build them the idea is to get them to that journeyman level to that lead person level and maybe even own a company someday well it's been awesome learning more about the allied craft workers appreciate you coming on today's show thank you my [Music] [Music] for more information on building wisconsin follow us on facebook and twitter and be sure to watch additional episodes on youtube or at our website building buildingwisconsintv.com the preceding program was sponsored by the building wisconsin television network

2022-07-06 23:14

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