Bricklayer Byron Bay
"I was born to do this."
Tony Steenson
ABOUT BRICKLAYING IN BYRON BAY
If it stands for a lifetime, it should be worth looking at
The imprint of a bricklayer stays long after the project is complete, especially in Byron Bay – where architects are pushing the boundaries of what brick can do. It takes a craftsman who has spent years learning to read the client, the home and the land and how to work with each in equilibrium.
Steenson Brick & Blocklaying works across Byron Bay and the surrounding shire – Bangalow, Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby, Suffolk Park, Lennox Head, Ballina, and Tweed Heads – on residential and commercial projects of all scales. That covers face bricks, blocks, long-format European-style bricks, arches, curved walls, ornamental feature screens, hit-and-miss brickwork, and everything in between.
OUR APPROACH
Not just a boss – Tony is one of the gang.
Tony works with some of the best builders in Byron Bay because they know what they’re getting. He jokes he is rebuilding Wategos – one block at a time.
One of the reasons his business has been so successful over 40 years is that Tony still loves what he does, he is there each morning early to site and is hands on with his labourers, his brickies and his builders.
If you’re a new builder or a private client, working with Tony is simple and fair – give him a call to talk through the job and send through plans, get a clear price, and discuss any complexity upfront.
THE CRAFT (OUR PHILOSOPHY)
“Nothing is difficult in the building industry to me. I don’t have to work out how I’m going to do it. I just know.”
Tony has been around bricklaying his whole life. His father was a bricklayer – a quiet, quality-first tradesperson who taught him early that speed is something that follows, not something you chase. By the time Tony finished his four-year apprenticeship at twenty-one, he was proficient across every aspect of the trade. Over thirty years later, that foundation is still as solid as the day it was laid.
Byron Bay suits the way Steenson Brick and Blocklaying likes to work. The architects, and their clients, are genuinely ambitious – long, thin European-format bricks, deliberate shadow effects, ornamental screens, feature arches, and curved walls that offer artistic challenges. But for Tony curves are one of his favourite things to lay: if it doesn’t flow, it doesn’t work.
DECISIONS
Things worth knowing before you hire a blocklayer.
What are the trends in Byron Bay bricklaying?
Face bricks are back. After a long run of rendered finishes, house bricks have been returning to style in Byron Bay for the last few years. Long-format, European-style bricks – up to 460mm long and just 50mm high – have become a marker of architectural ambition in the shire.
What mortar finish suits your project?
White mortar with fine, clean sand is the dominant look on the far north coast right now – bright, clean, and well-suited to the Byron aesthetic. But mortar can also be kept flush for a smoother face, raked out to create depth and shadow between the bricks, or sponged for a softer finish. Oxides can shift the colour if a specific tone is needed for the coast vs. the hinterland. What you choose affects how the wall reads in light, so it’s worth thinking through before work begins.
Byron’s Obsession with Curved Walls, Arches, and Ornamental Brickwork
Decorative brickwork requires a different skill level and takes more time than standard laying. Curved walls are done entirely by eye and feel – there’s no string line – and tight curves often require bricks to be cut into halves or thirds. Byron Bay and the surrounding hinterland, shire and Norther Rivers are currently obsessed with brick curves.
Contact us for a quote if you are building a project in Byron Bay and surrounds.
What are the trends in Byron Bay bricklaying?
Face bricks are back. After a long run of rendered finishes, house bricks have been returning to style in Byron Bay for the last few years. Long-format, European-style bricks – up to 460mm long and just 50mm high – have become a marker of architectural ambition in the shire.
What mortar finish suits your project?
White mortar with fine, clean sand is the dominant look on the far north coast right now – bright, clean, and well-suited to the Byron aesthetic. But mortar can also be kept flush for a smoother face, raked out to create depth and shadow between the bricks, or sponged for a softer finish. Oxides can shift the colour if a specific tone is needed for the coast vs. the hinterland. What you choose affects how the wall reads in light, so it’s worth thinking through before work begins.
Byron’s Obsession with Curved Walls, Arches, and Ornamental Brickwork
Decorative brickwork requires a different skill level and takes more time than standard laying. Curved walls are done entirely by eye and feel – there’s no string line – and tight curves often require bricks to be cut into halves or thirds. Byron Bay and the surrounding hinterland, shire and Norther Rivers are currently obsessed with brick curves.
Contact us for a quote if you are building a project in Byron Bay and surrounds.
WHY STEENSON BRICK AND BLOCKLAYING?
Work he drives home feeling good about
Tony takes great care with his work, his clients and his team. By the end of the day he checks the work, leaves the site tidy and drives home feeling genuinely stoked about the work that’s been done.
Builders across Byron Bay and the shire who work with Steenson come back month after month because they know what they’re getting – quality. If you’re building something worth building, get in touch.