The title.
Feel free to ask me stuff. I’m in Scotland, born in Canada. I’ve been a mason for coming on 15 years. And my favourite dinosaur is…not really a dinosaur…the Stenopterygius species. because they’re tubby not quite dolphin looking (apparently) reptiles.
Do you think it’s possible that stone masonry is, adjusted for inflation, more expensive today than it was a hundred years ago despite improvements in technology? I.e. Cheaper, shorter lived building materials/techniques generates reduced demand for stone masonry, causing fewer stone masons like yourself to exist and ply the trade, increasing scarcity and therefore cost.
Edit: also, huge admiration for your trade. I love stonework and wish it were more common.
I don’t really think so, my business partner back home was getting $50/sq.ft when he started on his own in the early 80s. Now you’re going to struggle and fight to get paid $20/sq.ft, at least in Vancouver. So the masons are being paid less now than 40 years ago not even adjusting for inflation. And our wages used to include beer basically everywhere in the world, through all time periods until around the 1900s.