Bricklaying Gold Coast to Byron Bay
"I still lay bricks every day. I still really love it as it is not just a job, it is my design."
Tony Steenson
WHAT IS BRICKLAYING?
If it’s worth building, it’s worth building beautifully
The imprint of bricklayer is left behind them long after the project is complete. Tony Steenson has been in this trade since he was sixteen, learning from his father in the way that really sticks — standing beside him, watching how he worked, picking up not just the technique but the mindset. Today, Steenson Brick & Blocklaying works across Byron Bay, Tweed and the Gold Coast on commercial construction and residential builds, including architecturally designed homes and decorative work that command expertise, skill and precision.
The bricklaying range is broad: face bricks, blocks, long-format European bricks, mortar finishes from flush to raked, feature walls, arches, curved work, ornamental screens and much more.
What doesn’t change across any of it is the standard. Whatever goes up has to be something Tony can stand in front of and feel genuinely pleased with. That’s not a throwaway line — it’s just how he’s always worked.
OUR APPROACH
Not just a boss, Tony is one of the gang
Most builders who work with Steenson know what they’re getting, because Tony doesn’t run things from a distance — he’s on the tools beside his crew. He’ll often stay back after the working day to organise the site for the morning, so the team can be laying from the start of the day rather than having to spend the first two hours on set up.
A clean, well-organised is a core part of his philosophy — it’s easier on the body, less prone to mistakes or accidents, and a reflection of a crew cares that cares about what they’re doing.
While Steenson routinely works with known builders across Byron Bay and the Gold Coast if you are a new client, the process of getting a bricklaying quote is simple. Any access challenges or creative complexities are discussed upfront.
THE CRAFT (OUR PHILOSOPHY)
"Nothing is difficult in 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 working on job sites since he was in school. He learnt the trade from his father – also a bricklayer. The thing he kept coming back to stayed with Tony for thirty years: quality comes first. Speed then follows.
When you work with Tony it’s not just competence — it is a genuine love for the work. Unlike some brickies who resent complex design features, Tony most enjoys curved walls. There’s no string line on a curve — it’s all done by eye and level and a kind of feel you can only develop over years of doing it. Whether a curve flows or doesn’t is something Tony knows before he can explain it in words.
Luckily working as a bricklayer in Byron Bay through to the Gold Coast architects are genuinely ambitious about what brick can do. Modern brick formats. Deliberate shadow effects. Ornamental brick walls. Tony finds that interesting. He always has. “You give me a monkey and I can teach him to lay a brick in a week,” he says. “But the ornamental work — that takes skill to be able to pull it off.”
CONSIDERATIONS
Face brick or render — which way is the market going?
Face bricks have been making a real comeback over the last decade after a long period of rendered finishes. House bricks are back in. Long, thin European-format bricks, feature arches, and decorative details convey style — particularly across the high-end homes of Byron Bay and Gold Coast. If you’re building or renovating, it’s worth a conversation about what’s possible with brick.
How do you spot quality brickwork — and the warning signs?
A trained eye can quickly tell good quality work. Consistent joint sizes — horizontal bed joints and vertical perp joints — are the clearest sign of careful work. Tony’s philosophy even extends to the way a crew keeps their workspace – a tidy site tells you what there planning to leave behind.
What mortar finish suits your project?
Mortar can be kept flush, smoothed with a sponge for a softer look, or raked out to create depth and shadow between the bricks. White mortar with fine, clean sand is currently the most popular choice on the far north coast — bright, clean, and well-suited to the local aesthetic. Oxides can change the colour for something more specific.
Supply and lay, or labour only?
Steenson works both ways. Most established builder relationships run on a known labour rate, but supply and lay is available for private clients or new builder arrangements. Either way, what’s included is clear before work starts.
Face brick or render — which way is the market going?
Face bricks have been making a real comeback over the last decade after a long period of rendered finishes. House bricks are back in. Long, thin European-format bricks, feature arches, and decorative details convey style — particularly across the high-end homes of Byron Bay and Gold Coast. If you’re building or renovating, it’s worth a conversation about what’s possible with brick.
How do you spot quality brickwork — and the warning signs?
A trained eye can quickly tell good quality work. Consistent joint sizes — horizontal bed joints and vertical perp joints — are the clearest sign of careful work. Tony’s philosophy even extends to the way a crew keeps their workspace – a tidy site tells you what there planning to leave behind.
What mortar finish suits your project?
Mortar can be kept flush, smoothed with a sponge for a softer look, or raked out to create depth and shadow between the bricks. White mortar with fine, clean sand is currently the most popular choice on the far north coast — bright, clean, and well-suited to the local aesthetic. Oxides can change the colour for something more specific.
Supply and lay, or labour only?
Steenson works both ways. Most established builder relationships run on a known labour rate, but supply and lay is available for private clients or new builder arrangements. Either way, what’s included is clear before work starts.
WHY STEENSON?
Work he can drive home feeling good about
There’s a feeling Tony knows well — the one at the end of a job where everything is right. The joints are consistent, the line is true, the site is tidy. It’s what builders across Byron Bay and the Gold Coast have come to count on.
Tony is on the tools every day, beside his crew, with the same care on the last course of the afternoon as the first of the morning. It’s not a process or a pitch. It’s just the way his father worked, and the way he’s always done it.
If you’re building something worth building, get in touch.