Stonemasons in Finland

Keiran · Post by **Keiran** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:13 am

Hi,
I would like some advice. I'm a trained Stonemason and Bricklayer. When I search "Murare" lots of jobs come up for 'plastering' and 'tiling', neither of which I have done before.
I just thought I would cut out the middle-man and ask on a forum; is there much work in stone or brick work in Finland? And to work in stone and brick do you also need to be able to tile and plaster?

I am well qualified and experienced in this kind of work, I run my own business. I don't speak Finnish but I would never move there without having lessons first.

Any help you can give is appreciated, thanks!

**Sponsor:**

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:37 am

Keiran wrote:I would like some advice. I'm a trained Stonemason and Bricklayer. When I search "Murare" lots of jobs come up for 'plastering' and 'tiling', neither of which I have done before.
I just thought I would cut out the middle-man and ask on a forum; is there much work in stone or brick work in Finland? And to work in stone and brick do you also need to be able to tile and plaster?

I am well qualified and experienced in this kind of work, I run my own business. I don't speak Finnish but I would never move there without having lessons first.

http://www.mol.fi/paikat/Job.do?lang=fi ... or=8061944
So it seems the relevant job descriptions are: kivimies and muurari

As for demand... I haven't really watched, but I do remember few ads for stone men. There seems to be a trend to change asphalt to cobblestone in town centers.

edit. and if the street in front of the office is any indication, you don't have to be super fast to get the job... or fast at all. I'd say you need to be able to kneel and tap the stones and you are good to go. "The street will be ready by the end of August..." my ass!

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:22 am

Kivimies is a stonemason, muurari is "one who uses mortar" so a brickie, a plasterer would be a "rappari" (you might get a few adverts for rap artists) and a tiler is "laatoittaja"...

And to work in stone and brick do you also need to be able to tile and plaster?

As you know in Finland you can't afford to hire 4 men to do the job of one

Keiran · Post by **Keiran** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:41 am

[quote="Pursuivant"]Kivimies is a stonemason, muurari is "one who uses mortar" so a brickie, a plasterer would be a "rappari" (you might get a few adverts for rap artists) and a tiler is "laatoittaja"...

That is actually ALOT of help, thank you. Now that I search "Kivimies" I get much better results!

Keiran · Post by **Keiran** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:44 am

Thanks you also Upphew, this website is great! It's very difficult to find good search engines and I don't really know the proper terms.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:14 am

Keiran wrote:Thanks you also Upphew, this website is great! It's very difficult to find good search engines and I don't really know the proper terms.

Mol (as in ministry of labour, now defunct) is _the_ place where the... more physically oriented jobs are advertised. Also all the jobs that get some subsidies from government and government jobs. Those are also the jobs that unemployed are supposed to apply to (and if they don't they they might lose the dole for a time), so the employers get a boatload of applications, unless the job is really crappy one.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:18 am

They do not build houses so much of stone, so its more outside/pavement work vs. then brickies - to be honest, they don't build so much of brick either, so a "brickie" is most sought for making ovens and kilns. The houses are made of elements or concrete "bricks" which are glued together... stone is used in facades... there are then your variety of terms for builders and their speciality... "harkkoasentaja" (the installer of concrete bricks) and "elementtiasentaja" for installing half the house before breakfast from elements... and of course the ubquitous jack-of-all-trades "kirvesmies" (the axeman) - like rough-work chippie. The fine woodwork is done by a "puuseppä" - which then is a rough cabinet-maker...

Of course one other place stone is used is gravestones.

Keiran · Post by **Keiran** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:28 am

It sounds like my options are limited.
What is your opinion of this; in my research I found the word "kivenhakkaaja" which shows pictures more like my usual kind of work?

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:33 am

Yes, "kivenhakkaaja" would be one employed in making building stones, gravestones and such. Very rare profession as such... just be glad you're not a carpet layer.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:34 am

Saying - very rare profession - if they have a project where they need to restore an old building, they will be scouring stonemasons...

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:21 pm

Talking of gravestones... my sister reckons our Tulikivi fireplace http://www.tulikivi.com/en looks like a mausoleum

But a lot of fireplaces are made of stone or brick and some houses are still built around a central oven/sauna/fireplace/chimney block made of brick or stone.
We drove past the Tulikivi quarries and showrooms on our way back from Kuhmo this summer so I guess they are some near Joensuu (Juuka?). They are apparently the world leader in heat-rentive stone fireplaces. And there are several other companies producing similar stuff.

People are increasingly hard landscaping their gardens so there would probably be freelance, self-employed work available in that area: building walls, outdoor kitchens etc

Lemminkainen is a BIG civil engineering and construction company that almost certainly employs a helluva load of stone masons and bricklayers.
http://www.lemminkainen.com/

cors187 · Post by **cors187** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:51 pm

A good business plan would be to make regular money landscaping,paving,retainer walls.Fireplaces seem to be good money.Actually your skill set can net a hefty business agenda!

Adrian42 · Post by **Adrian42** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:03 am

Keiran wrote:is there much work in stone or brick work in Finland? ... I am well qualified and experienced in this kind of work, I run my own business.

Why do you want to abolish your existing business and start from scratch in Finland in the first place? (And where are you from?)

And even though I know nothing about the business prospects in your profession, I would expect there to be relatively few work in the winter half of the year.

Keiran wrote:I don't speak Finnish but I would never move there without having lessons first.

Speaking Finnish fluently will anyway be a prerequisite for you for finding work in Finland.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:24 am

Adrian42 wrote:
Speaking Finnish fluently will anyway be a prerequisite for you for finding work in Finland.

This is total rubbish. There are THOUSANDS of foreigners working in Finland without fluent Finnish. Of course, on this forum we only see the desperate ones who are looking for work, lost their jobs, can't find work or don't know where to start. But there are foreigners working in all sectors of the economy from primary sector (farming, forestry, mining etc) through knowledge-based jobs (education, technology etc) to the service sector (restaurants, healthcare, cleaning services etc), not forgetting all those who are self-employed and doing fine (like me).

I also know quite a few Finns who do not have fluent Finnish and that has not stopped them finding jobs.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 10:11 am

cors187 wrote:A good business plan would be to make regular money landscaping,paving,retainer walls.

Naah, you need to do proper groundfrost insulation the first time over, if you show your face there the next year they'll lob the stones at you

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