Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

Overview

Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers has a national median salary of $57,020 per year, with +1.6% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.

Work Values

• Relationships
• Support
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.
• Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.
• Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float.
• Monitor how the wind, heat, or cold affect the curing of the concrete throughout the entire process.
• Mold expansion joints and edges, using edging tools, jointers, and straightedge.

Work Activities

• Handling and Moving Objects
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Scheduling Work and Activities
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others

Detailed Work Activities

• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for no formal educational credential.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers:

Video Resources