Bricklaying for the Do-It-Yourselfer

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 Stands to support your mortar pans or boards — cost: about $35 each. Substitutes include anything you can improvise that would be about 16" high and big enough to safely support your mortar pan. Stands are necessary to keep the mortar up high enough so that you can comfortably reach it with your bricklaying trowel. Some masons use a couple of building blocks for a stand and others like to use plastic dairy crates.

 Long-handled shovels need two and they'll cost from $6 to $20 each. One will be used to place the dry ingredients used to make mortar into whatever you are making mortar in; the other will be used to place the wet prepared mortar onto the mortar pans. Never use a shovel stained with wet mortar to handle any of the dry ingredients.

Long-handled hoe — cost: as much as $30 for a professional model to as little as $7 for a garden-variety purchased at any hardware store. If you are going to be doing a lot of mortar mixing, I recommend the professional mixing hoe with the two holes in the blade. It allows the mud to mix quicker and it is not as hard on your back.

(Optional) Two brick tong — cost: about $20 each. These are adjustable packs that can carry six to 11 standard sized bricks. I like to set them to carry seven. just place them over the brick you want to move and pick up with the handle. When you reach the spot where you want them stacked, set the tong full of brick down, let the handle relax and pick the tongs Lip by the shaft, holding the ends and the handle in the relaxed position.

 Rubber pails — you'll need two.

 Pencils, marking crayons (called keels by the pros), and a good chalk line for snapping lines will complete a basic list. You're finally prepared to make the monument to your ambition that you've always dreamed of.

Bricklaying for the Do-it-Yourselfer

For small jobs you can buy dry mortar mix in 25, 40-, or 85-pound bags for a nickel or less a pound; just add water according to the directions on the bag. Dry mortar is caustic stuff. Wear goggles and gloves all through the mixing process. Cheaper, more satisfying, and more tradesman-like is to mix your own. You'll need an equal number of 50-pound or 80-pound sacks of Portland cement and hydrated mason's lime (not the lime you put on the garden) and two or three times as much fine clean sand as lime or cement. You also need clean water-half as much (by weight) as Portland cement. A pint of water weighs a pound. So you'll want 25 pints or 6 1/4 gallons of water for each 50-pound sack of cement. For a practice mortar that builds like the real thing, but won't set up, leave out the Portland cement; combine one part hydrated lime and three parts sand with enough water to make a lovely buttery mix. You can practice, then tear down your wall. Hose off the brick and discard the practice mortar.

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