Senior Refractory Bricklayer
Prairie Industrial Refractories · Sioux Falls, SD
Mar, 2021 · Present
Lead lining crews of 4–8 on planned outages for cement kilns, heat-treat furnaces, and package boilers across SD, MN, and IA.
Install firebrick, insulating brick, plastic refractory, and ceramic fiber modules to OEM and engineer drawings within ±1/8 in tolerances.
Tear out spent linings with pneumatic tools and needle guns while protecting adjacent equipment and maintaining confined-space protocols.
Mix and place castable and gunite refractory; oversee curing schedules and post-install heat-up coordination with plant operations.
Cut material waste ~12% by nesting brick cuts and reclaiming reusable shapes; zero recordable injuries on crews led since 2022.
Refractory Bricklayer
Midcontinent Furnace Services · Sioux Falls, SD
Jun, 2017 · Feb, 2021
Built and repaired refractory linings for foundry furnaces, aluminum melt shops, and food-plant boilers.
Anchored ceramic fiber and IFB systems; set expansion joints and expansion paper per manufacturer specs.
Supported emergency hot-patch and cold-repair callouts with typical on-site response under 4 hours for regional plants.
Mentored two apprentices on brick bonding patterns, mortar consistency, and safe scaffold/work-platform use.
Completed OSHA 30 and company confined-space/rescue training; served as temporary crew lead on overnight outages.
Apprentice Mason / Refractory Helper
Dakotas Masonry & Heat · Sioux Falls, SD
Aug, 2014 · May, 2017
Assisted journeymen with material staging, mortar mixing, and demolition of spent furnace linings.
Learned firebrick cutting with wet saws and hammers; practiced running bond, herringbone, and arch work on practice walls.
Maintained tool cribs, PPE, and jobsite housekeeping to jobsite audit standards.
Completed ABC refractory apprenticeship coursework and on-the-job hours toward journeyman status.