A bricklayer and his labourer will lay about a thousand bricks, or two cubic yards of brickwork, in a day. The tools used for _tiling_, or placing the tiles on a roof, are the lathing hammer, the iron lathing staff to clinch the nails, the trowel, which is longer and narrower than that used for brickwork, the _bosse_, for holding mortar and tiles, with an iron hook to hang it to the laths or to a ladder, and the _striker_ a piece of lath about ten inches long for clearing off the superfluous mortar at the feet of the tiles. [Illustration] THE PLASTERER AND WHITEWASHER. [Illustration: WHITEWASHER AND PLASTERER.] When the walls, or what is called the carcase of the house, have been built, the roof made, the inner walls and partitions set up, and the joists and woodwork of the floors laid down, the work of the Plasterer begins. He covers the brickwork and bare timbers of walls, ceilings, and partitions with plaster, to prepare them for painting or papering: he also forms the cornices for ceilings, and the mouldings and decorations, which are usually made in plaster or cement. The materials which the Plasterer uses for these purposes are:—1st. _Coarse stuff_, or a paste made with lime, much in the same way as common mortar, and afterwards mixed with hair, which is obtained from the tanner’s yard, after it has been removed from the skins, which are there made into leather. This hair is raked together, and mixed with the mortar, with the _hair hook_, and a sort of three pronged rake called the _drag_. [Illustration: Hair Hook. Fine Sieve.] 2d. _Fine stuff_ is made from pure lime, slaked with a small quantity of water, after which enough water is added to bring it to a state in which it resembles cream; it is then left to settle, the superfluous water is poured off, and the mixture is left in a tub, till still more of the _water_ has evaporated, and it is thick enough to use. This stuff is often used for ceilings, and then a small quantity of white hair is mixed with it, to help to make it firmer and more binding. For these finer kinds of plaster it is necessary to use the _fine sieve_, in order to sift the lime and other ingredients, that only the portion which has been reduced to powder may be retained. 3d. _Stucco_, which is made by mixing fine stuff with cleaned-washed sand. Stucco is used for house fronts, or other finishing work, which is intended to be painted. 4th. _Gauged stuff_ is used for forming cornices, which run round a ceiling, and for mouldings; it is made by mixing fine stuff with plaster of Paris, which is a fine white powder easily made into a paste, and drying very quickly. These are only the ordinary materials used by the Plasterer for his work, but there are a great number of cements, which are also applied in the course of his trade; such as Roman and Portland cements, and mixtures made and sold for special purposes of decoration, and the manufacture of ornaments.