Brick hod
Encyclopedia
A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying brick
s or other construction materials
, often mortar
. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side, however, by arranging the bricks in a chevron fashion, the number of bricks that may be carried is only limited to the weight the labourer can bear and the unwieldiness of that load. Typically 10-12 bricks might be carried.
Hod carrying is a skilled labouring occupation in the building industry. Typically the hod carrier or hoddie will be employed by a bricklaying team in a supporting role to the skilled bricklayers. Two bricklayers for each hod carrier is quite normal. The hoddie's duties might include wetting the mortar boards on the scaffolding prior to fetching bricks from the delivery pallet
using his hod and bringing them to 2x2 wide 'stacks' upon the scaffold that may then be easily laid by the bricklayers. The carrier needs to time deliveries of bricks with deliveries of mortar - also carried in the hod - to ensure the bricklayers maintain a constant work rate. On sites without premixed mortar, the mortar will also be mixed by the hod carrier. Bricks may be cut and assistance given to 'rake out' the mortar joints, if that form of coursing joint is required, or in repointing work. The baseline rate for a bricklayer is to lay 1000 bricks a day, if the hod carrier is serving a team of two then he must move 2000 bricks although it is not uncommon for experienced hod carriers to serve three bricklayers. The world Record for moving 500 brick by Hod is 12 min and was set by John Logan, age 46, on the 12th of February 2011.
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s or other construction materials
Building material
Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more...
, often mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side, however, by arranging the bricks in a chevron fashion, the number of bricks that may be carried is only limited to the weight the labourer can bear and the unwieldiness of that load. Typically 10-12 bricks might be carried.
Hod carrying is a skilled labouring occupation in the building industry. Typically the hod carrier or hoddie will be employed by a bricklaying team in a supporting role to the skilled bricklayers. Two bricklayers for each hod carrier is quite normal. The hoddie's duties might include wetting the mortar boards on the scaffolding prior to fetching bricks from the delivery pallet
Pallet
A pallet , sometimes called a skid, is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, front loader or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies...
using his hod and bringing them to 2x2 wide 'stacks' upon the scaffold that may then be easily laid by the bricklayers. The carrier needs to time deliveries of bricks with deliveries of mortar - also carried in the hod - to ensure the bricklayers maintain a constant work rate. On sites without premixed mortar, the mortar will also be mixed by the hod carrier. Bricks may be cut and assistance given to 'rake out' the mortar joints, if that form of coursing joint is required, or in repointing work. The baseline rate for a bricklayer is to lay 1000 bricks a day, if the hod carrier is serving a team of two then he must move 2000 bricks although it is not uncommon for experienced hod carriers to serve three bricklayers. The world Record for moving 500 brick by Hod is 12 min and was set by John Logan, age 46, on the 12th of February 2011.
Song references
- In the song Never Any Good, Martin SimpsonMartin SimpsonMartin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...
describes his father as "not steady enough for the office, not hard enough for the hod." - In the Irish folk song "Finnegan's WakeFinnegan's Wake"Finnegan's Wake" is a ballad that arose in the 1850s in the music-hall tradition of comical Irish songs. The song is a staple of the Irish folk-music group, The Dubliners, who have played it on many occasions and included it on several albums, and is especially well known to fans of The Clancy...
," the line "...to rise in the world he carried a hod," suggests that Tim Finnegan worked as a bricklayer. - In the song "The Sick Note" by the Dubliners, the narrator of the song is told to cart a load of bricks down fourteen floors "in me hod."
- The song "Seven Days of the Week" by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger mentions "the poor old sod who'd built the world and carried the hod."