ORDER XVII.—BUILDERS, BRICKLAYERS, STONE AND SLATE WORKERS, CONTRACTORS

Sub-order 1.—Builders, Bricklayers, Stone and Slate Workers; Contractors

571.—Tile Layers; Mosaic Workers and Composition Floor Layers

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cast worker (terrazzo)

a terrazzo hand (q.v.) who casts terrazzo mosaic (made of stone cubes without set design) in wooden moulds; sometimes makes mould himself to required design, or takes mould from stock; coats mould with oil to prevent adhesion of cement; places coloured cubes of stone in bed of cement in mould; removes mosaic when set and rubs surface smooth with gritstone.

composition floor layer, composite deck layer ; fireproof floor fitter, layer or maker, floor layer, floor plasterer, jointless floor layer, patent floor layer

lays "composition" or jointless floors; sets up one or more gauges on floor to be covered, indicating depth of composition which is to he laid thereon; spreads floor composition, which he sometimes also mixes, usually by adding water and stirring -with a shovel; draws "straight-edge" rule, about 12 feet long, across surface to level it; "finishes" surface by adding another layer of composition and smoothing it with trowels, wooden floats or similar tools.

encaustic tile fixer

fixes encaustic tiles on walls, either with screws or by spreading cement on walls and setting tiles therein; cuts tiles to shape with hammer and chisel if necessary.

encaustic setter

a bricklayer (565) or plasterer (567) (q.v.) who sets encaustic tiles in position in a bed of cement.

faience and mosaic fixer, faience worker

fixes faience or mosaic tiles or panels with screws or in cement on interiors or exteriors of building; see range tiler, and mosaic worker.

fireproof floor fitter, layer or maker, floor layer, floor plasterer

see composition floor layer.

hearth maker

see tiler.

jointless floor layer

see composition floor layer.

marbles man

a mosaic worker (q.v.) who lays marble mosaic floors, etc.

mosaic cutter

cuts or breaks up variegated pieces of stone or glass in a workshop, with hammer or mallet, and chisel, sets out selected fragments of stone or glass so cut or broken following a given pattern drawn to scale, on sheets of brown paper, and attaches it thereto with adhesive, to form mosaic panel in reverse.

mosaic fixer, mosaic setter

(i) (terrazzo work) mixes cement and stone chips, constituting mosaic, spreads it on floor and rolls it several times; before final rolling, satisfies himself that mosaic is laid to correct thickness and sprinkles a topping of stone chips in cement; sometimes also does work of polisher (q.v.);

(ii) (designs, mural work, etc.) cuts away wall or other surface with hammer and chisel if not previously properly prepared for mosaic panel; mixes cement and spreads it with trowel and float over surface; presses reverse side of mosaic panel (see mosaic cutter) upon it; wipes away surplus cement and when set, washes off brown paper; touches up face of design by filling in cement or rubbing with gritstone.

mosaicist, mosaic worker, mosaic pavement maker ; venetian pavement maker

(i) general terms for all workers in mosaic, including mosaic cutter, mosaic fitter, mosaic setter, polisher (q.v.);

(ii) a tile layer (q.v.) laying or fixing mosaic tiles.

patent floor layer

see composition floor layer.

polisher (mosaic)

rubs surface of mosaic floor after it has been laid by mosaic fixer (q.v.), with gritstone, to render it perfectly smooth and to polish it.

terrazzo hand, terrazzo worker

a mosaic worker (q.v.) working in terrazzo, i.e. ordinary pavement work as distinguished from picture or design work in mosaic; sometimes work of cast worker, mosaic fixer and polisher (q.v.).

tesselated tile worker

cuts tiles to exact size to form tesselated pavement; usually done in tile manufacturer's works; may also lay and fix tiles.

tiler, tile fixer, tile layer ; hearth maker

fixes and sets tiles in cement on floors, hearths, walls, round ranges or grates, etc.; may be done by bricklayer (565) or plasterer (567); sometimes specifically designated according to place tiled, or tile laid, e.g., mosaic tile fixer, mosaic tile pavior, range tiler, tesselated tile fixer, wall tiler.

tile slabber

cements together tiles and glazed bricks to form hearths, kerbs, range surround, etc.

venetian pavement maker

see mosaicist.

wall tiler

see tiler ; may also be done by bricklayer (565), especially where walls represent bonded brick work.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.