Careers > Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

$48.3K Median Salary 17.2K Job Openings (Annual Projection) -1% Job Growth

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About This Career

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.

Reported Job Titles

Cement Finisher, Cement Mason, Concrete Finisher, Concrete Mason, Finisher, Mason

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Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Manual Dexterity

Trunk Strength

Multilimb Coordination

Near Vision

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Control Precision

Extent Flexibility

Deductive Reasoning

Dynamic Strength

Information Ordering

Problem Sensitivity

Stamina

Visualization

Category Flexibility

Far Vision

Finger Dexterity

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Selective Attention

Speech Recognition

Static Strength

Depth Perception

Gross Body Coordination

Inductive Reasoning

Rate Control

Reaction Time

Speech Clarity

Knowledge

English Language

Building and Construction

Mathematics

Public Safety and Security

Skills

Monitoring

Coordination

Quality Control Analysis

Speaking

Time Management

Active Listening

Complex Problem Solving

Critical Thinking

Judgment and Decision Making

Technology Skills

Project management software

Analytical or scientific software

Accounting software

Information retrieval or search software

Tools

Trowels

Floats

Concrete spreaders

Batching plants or feeders

Power saws

Cement retainers

Shovels

Levels

Saw blades

Edgers

Hand sprayers

Cement bulk material equipment

Bar or rod cutter

Plaster or mortar mixers

Power buggies

Power drills

Concrete vibrators

Paving breakers

Curbing machines

Tampers

Tilt trucks

Abrasive stones

Aggregate spreaders

Tape measures

Concrete mixers or plants

Cold chisels

Stonemason hammer

Spades

Respirators

Pry bars

Jacks

Braces

Squeegees or washers

Post hole digger

Tongs

Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers

Gas generators

Brooms

Power grinders

Curing machines

Paint brushes

Demolition hammers

Pneumatic nail drivers

Hickeys

Paint rollers

Measuring wheels for distance

Power routers

Straight edges

Grouting pump

Steel bar bending machine

Paint sprayers

Cement pumping units

Water pumps

Ladders

Screwdrivers

Hammers

Hand clamps

Utility knives

Notebook computers

Scarifiers

Grinders

Wheelbarrows

Desktop computers

Abilities

Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Knowledge

English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Building and Construction: Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills

Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Technology Skills

Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis

Tools

Trowels: Pointing trowels; Round-point trowels
Floats: Concrete floats; Rubber floats; Spreaders; Wood floats
Concrete spreaders: Power screeds
Batching plants or feeders: Asphalt plants; Concrete plants
Power saws: Chain saws
Cement retainers: Form liners; Form tubes; Steel forms; Wooden forms
Shovels: Snow shovels
Levels: Optical levels
Saw blades: Screw slotters
Edgers: Bump cutters; Edging trowels; Groovers
Hand sprayers: Spray guns
Cement bulk material equipment: Concrete chutes; Elephant trunks; Transit mix deflectors
Bar or rod cutter: Rebar cutters
Plaster or mortar mixers: Mud mixers
Power buggies:
Power drills: Hand drills
Concrete vibrators: Internal concrete vibrators; Surface concrete vibrators
Paving breakers: Pavement grinders; Pothole excavation milling machines
Curbing machines: Slipform curbing pavers; Slipforming machines
Tampers: Tamping rods
Tilt trucks: Dumper riders
Abrasive stones: Abrasive rubbing stones
Aggregate spreaders: Hydraulic spreaders; Sand spreaders; Stone box spreaders
Tape measures: Diameter tape measures
Concrete mixers or plants: Concrete mixers
Cold chisels: Flat cold chisels
Stonemason hammer: Brick hammers
Spades:
Respirators: Half-face respirators; Respirator hose masks
Pry bars:
Jacks: Hydraulic jacks
Braces: Form braces
Squeegees or washers: Vehicle squeegees
Post hole digger: Post hole augers
Tongs:
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers: Personal digital assistants PDA
Gas generators: Power generators
Brooms: Concrete finishing brushes
Power grinders: Underwater power grinders
Curing machines: Cure sprayers
Paint brushes: Paint application brushes
Demolition hammers: Hydraulic breakers
Pneumatic nail drivers: Pneumatic air nailers
Hickeys: Hickey bars; Rebar benders
Paint rollers: Paint application rollers
Measuring wheels for distance: Distance measuring wheels
Power routers:
Straight edges: Straightedges
Grouting pump: Grout pumps
Steel bar bending machine: Bar benders
Paint sprayers: High volume low pressure HVLP spray guns; Low volume high pressure LVHP sprayers; Paint spray guns; Paint sprayguns
Cement pumping units: Cement pumping equipment
Water pumps:
Ladders: Extension ladders
Screwdrivers: Mini screwdriver sets
Hammers:
Hand clamps:
Utility knives: Precision knives
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Scarifiers:
Grinders: Lapping wheels
Wheelbarrows:
Desktop computers: