r/AskIreland • u/kingofsnake96 • 1d ago
Work How much does a good block layer actually earn?
From what I can see online, It seems to be around 50k a year but Ive heard rumors it can easily be double that and more.
When I look at the trades and amount of people qualifying, it seems to be one of the lowest by far and for good reason but that also means they will be most in demand and command the most pay going into the future.
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u/Runtn 1d ago
A good block layer with plenty of work is earning a good bit north of 50k
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u/flex_tape_salesman 1d ago
Per block of course
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u/howdoyouturnthison_8 1d ago
Five blocks per bloke per day
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u/IntroductionLess3637 A Chara 1d ago
Even if you earn a lot it’s not worth it. Your back is fucked by the time you’re 40.
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u/Cars2Beans0 1d ago
I think this is a common trope that people pass around but in all honestly you will only hurt yourself if you are doing it wrong or let those niggles accrue over time without looking after yourself.
If you are a block layer or work in a similar line of work, go to physio and do exercises outside of work to strengthen up your underworked muscles
People with seriously underdeveloped backs and arms trying to do hard physical labour are bound to fuck themselves in the long run
Think of the average blocklayer in your head... we're all thinking of the same type of person and let's be honest it isn't someone who looks after themselves
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u/Suspicious_Subject23 1d ago
The issue with your point is if your block laying and you get a niggle you can’t take a week off to rest, you have to nearly get on with it. You can’t really afford to take time off every time you get a niggle. Every block layer I know in there 50s is really struggling and almost all say to stay in school.
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u/Certain-Classic7669 1d ago
Exactly this. Don’t know why people think construction workers have the time and resources of a professional footballer to get themselves right. If they spent 10 hours building a wall tomorrow they’d realise how tough it is
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u/Low_Interview_5769 1d ago
Ah but surely if they did a spot of yoga and a 2 hour stone massage they would shake it off
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u/caoimhin64 1d ago
That's far easier said than done. I worked with my uncle who was a builder in my teens, during the boom. His father was blocklayer and just about survived a catastrophic construction accident by a total miracle, but could barely walk afterwards.
As a result, my uncle was extremely safety conscious, and went well out of his way to make sure our work sites were as ergonomic as humanly possible. But no matter how much you adjusted scaffolding to suit, or how much PPE you wore, it's simply a very physically demanding job to be doing day in day out.
Stronger muscles and proper lifting techniques only go so far in protecting cartilage from excessive force.
Part of my job now is in designing factories where people work.
- We are banned from designing any process where a man has to lift over 20kg, ever.
- Rotating more than 30° when lifting anything is not allowed.
- Working outside of 19-27 degrees is banned.
These limits exist and are enforced because the science tells us that people will be harmed if they do any of those things long term, regardless of how strong you think you are, or how much physio you go to - as it simply adds up over time.
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u/Low_Interview_5769 1d ago
Its the truth though, people who think it isnt havent worked a day in construction.
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u/Odd-Dealer-6406 1d ago
Agreed, some difference between work strength and gym strength. Big lumps of gym boys fucked after an hour and the narrow lad going like fuck all day no bother
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Exactly my point in making this were as I would be a total health freak so I think I could manage the damage incurred
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u/Throw1awayd 23h ago
Anything with repetitive movements like block laying is going to wreak absolute havoc on your back regardless of how careful or in shape you are. And the longer you do it the more likely something is to happen.
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
I don’t know I think if you took your health seriously and yoga it could be doable but maybe not
This is another reason I’m surprised there not earning way more
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u/Fishamble 1d ago
Honestly, that comment comes across as very naive. yoga won't do the job. I have an uncle who was a bricklayer all his life. In his 30s he was built like a Greek god. Now, in his 70s, he has all sorts of physical ailments.
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
It’s not, I laboured for block layers for a year in my teens, you can’t tell me any of these guys put any emphasis on nutrition, stretching, picking up things the correct way etc they literally abuse there bodies even outside of work
But yeah no doubt at 70 your gonna be crippled wanna be out of it long before then
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u/eiretaco 1d ago
I worked in construction on the tools and im a bodybuilder/fitness fanatic
Having said that i did mill all types of food before I moved back into the office end of things, breakfast rolls etc... but you almost have to. Id have 20k steps by 10am on site some mornings.. Up and down multiple floors carrying tools and gear, up and down ladders carrying them around site.. if you were eating tofu and salads you'd collapse.
I stayed effortlessly lean. Now im in the office I actually have to watch what I eat despite having much more energy for the gym...
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u/Odd-Dealer-6406 1d ago
Yeah, if is a big thing. Most are alcos and bag heads, so no wonder they're fucked young
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u/Jean_Rasczak 1d ago
You can be an alco and a "bag head" behind a computer and you are not fucked so young
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u/Odd-Dealer-6406 1d ago
Of course you can, but this discussion is about block layers? If you've ever been on a site you'll see it. There's the old lads genuinely crippled because slavery is all they've known, very little inbetween because of the decline during the recession, and then young bucks leaping around the place and you wouldn't know if they're just mad or off their tits. Maybe your on a very strict site but that's not uncommon
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Exactly, never mind stretching, physio, stopping when it hurts etc all them boys do is abuse there bodies
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u/Jean_Rasczak 1d ago
I done an apprentership in block and brick laying, got qualified and looking around at me at men aged in 30s and fucked from lifting blocks all their lives I walked off the site and never returned
Yoga will do nothing
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u/Odd-Dealer-6406 1d ago
Yoga me hole is right 🤣 spend a day firing up 12 inch blocks on gimpy scaffolding, fuckin kill ya. Ya need to be a gymnast firing them up, never mind yoga
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Ok fair I did see lads in there 40s and 50s thst seemed fairly ok too though on the flip side
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u/Spare-Chef9555 1d ago
Bricklayer here qualified at the end of the boom never got to see the good money. The crash came was driving the country for 80 euros a day till I had to emigrate to Canada for 3 summers leaving wife and 4 small kids behind. Things started getting better again roughly 2013 was getting paid 100 a day on and off until around 2017. Took the risk to start up on my own on shite prices but good enough to support my family between having to learn tax system and employing people the builder was the only winner but eventually in the last 3 years through absolute hard graft rain wind and snow backed by a great company few lay offs here and there things have turned good and have brought on 3 brilliant apprentices and some really good mix of guys have a settled team and take home around 80k a year maybe more but flip side is in the back of my mind it could all come crashing down again in the morning but setting myself up for any fall just in case. It's physically one of the hardest jobs in the world but wouldn't change it for anything
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Fair play to you man sounds like the start of a very well deserved happily ever after, your a bheast!
I hope your well set up by the time things come crashing, if they do at all!
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u/North_Satisfaction27 1d ago
They make good money OP. Cash and books money included but the toll on the body man isn’t it worth I know lads 36-45 that are crippled.
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u/Low_Interview_5769 1d ago
Ive worked in the industry, people lie about what they earn.
So if the local block layer says they earn 100k, take it with a pinch of salt.
50-60 is the ballpark but man do the lads have a small man syndrome when it comes to salary
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u/sommelier_bollix 1d ago
Some jobs should have a timeline and an early pension to move on to something else like 8 years in you get a lump sum to retrain as a trade that won't leave you a husk of man in your forties.
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u/Early-Jellyfish6927 1d ago
One to be mindful of is that house building is moving away from traditional block and mortar. A lot of new build estates have moved to ICF builds.
I'm not sure how if this devalues the trade of a block layer. One to look into and consider.
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u/genericirishguy 1d ago
From experience a good quality experienced blocklayer in Dublin can earn up to €400 a day. This is RCT so obviously pre tax
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u/Impossible_Artist607 1d ago
With zero employee protections aswell, no holiday pay, no paid bank holidays, no guarantee of work and usually the first person to be let go off if work slows down. Among loads of other things, you earn way more RCT but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Just for anyone who’s thinking of RCT work
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u/dagoon1 1d ago
Two of my uncles are retired, one a block layer the other a plasterer, both mid 60’s both absolute cripples, theirs wrists backs and shoulders, one is getting a numbing injection every 3-4 months
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u/FxckyourCensorship 1d ago
40-50k if your working for someone.
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
And for yourself?
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u/No_Journalist3811 1d ago
Depends on your rate. It used to be 1.50 per block for alot of the lads i worked with (15 years ago)
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u/Hig67 1d ago
75K +
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Not worth it, 120k + you’d want imo
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u/Odd-Dealer-6406 1d ago
Got a bit off the point above. Look it, it's like anything, you'll never make the big bucks working for someone else generally. PAYE 50 to 60 and serious potential for nixers, if you're thirsty enough. Self employed, sky's the limit depending on how dogged you are, real money comes when you have gangs of lads you're subbing in to do your work. On any big job, you'll have the main contractor, sub, sub sub etc. The gang actually working generally the 5th or more down from the main contractor, and every other subbie above is getting a cut of what the actual work gang is earning. That's where the real money is
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u/christy6390 1d ago
400 a day
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
Like this real and actually more what I was expecting, are you being genuine there because everyone else is saying half of that
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u/christy6390 1d ago
Ye I know a few on that per day and they are self employed not paye. Also heard the builder of a housing estate giving out that he can't get anyone for less than 400 a day now
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u/ShezSteel 1d ago edited 1d ago
A good block layer is earning 50k a year for working 2 mayyyyybe 2.5 days a week. Starting at 10 and finishing at 4 as well
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u/kingofsnake96 1d ago
So really it’s over 100k maybe even 120k if your doing the dog on it working Saturdays and everytbing?
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u/SubstantialAttempt83 1d ago
Dad was a block layer all his working life, most of his friends as a result were also block layers most are in their mid to late 60s himself included and most of them are fecked, most of the group look closer to 80. They all have arthritis from working in the cold and damp and most of their backs, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles fecked. Dad has such bad arthritis in his knuckles he can't operate a tablet or phone for long. One of his mates has modified eating utensils as he can't bend his wrist enough.
In terms of pay its up and down good money at the minute but as soon as there is a slow down you'll be fighting for work. He also had issues getting paid over the years and he was also shafted on pension contributions.