So You Want to be a Steeplejack Quiz

Answer: Bell tower

In addition to bell towers, work on spires, clock towers or chimneys would also need a steeplejack. Believe it or not they also work on steeples.

Answer: Bosun's Chair

Bosun is short for boatswain. The boatswain on a ship supervised the work on deck. The crow's nest is the lookout station located on the top of the main sail. Fo'c'sle is an abbreviation of forecastle, the portion of the cabin that is the furthest forward. A gollywobbler is a type of sail.

Steeplejacks also use ladders, scaffolds and suspended cradles called swing stages.

Answer: Rock climbing

Steeplejacks use fall arrest systems and abseil equipment that are the same as, or similar to, what mountain climbers and rock climbers use. Fall arrest systems utilize a brake to stop a person who is using a rope from falling. The system is designed to catch and hold the rope. Abseiling is descending on a fixed rope. Sometimes a steeplejack will have to abseil down the side of a building to work on something.

Answer: Ward bond

A steeplejack would do brickwork on chimneys. Flemish, Herringbone and English are probably the most common brick patterns. In the Flemish bond, a brick is laid lengthwise, the next brick is laid so the end is facing out, and then the next brick is lengthwise again. The pattern repeats and subsequent courses are laid so an endwise piece always has lengthwise pieces above and below it. In English bond, one row will be laid lengthwise; the next row is endwise, then lengthwise again, repeating. Herringbone bond has bricks laid at alternating angles in a herringbone pattern. In addition to Chinese bond, other patterns include American bond, Spanish bond and bushel bond.

Ward Bond was a movie actor of the 30's, 40's and 50's who appeared in a variety of films including "Gone With the Wind" and "It's a Wonderful Life."

Answer: Infan tile

Barrel, or Mission, tiles are half-round. They look like barrels that have been split in two. Roman tiles are flat in the middle and curved on the ends to interlock. Tegula files are flat and imbrex tiles are half-round. The tegulas and imbrexes interlock forming a roof covering with channels for rain to flow down.

If you say "infan tile" fast you might see why that could not be a real tile.

Answer: Fear of heights

There are no educational degrees required for someone to be a steeplejack. The ideal candidate should, however, enjoy working out-of-doors and have absolutely no fear of heights. They can have a little fear of birds. Birds are not generally a problem when doing steeplejack work, unless you are working around an active nest.

Then they can get kind of cranky. The candidate can have a fear of fire because if there is a fire where a steeplejack is working, something has gone dreadfully wrong and the steeplejack needs to realize he or she needs to get down.

A fear of acrobats is absolutely not a hindrance in this type of work. Steeplejacks encounter acrobats on the job even less often than they encounter fire or birds.

Answer: All of these

Where it is impractical or physically impossible to use a crane, someone who is skilled at climbing would be needed to work on all of these as well as cooling towers and other structures--especially if they are located on top of a building. That kind of work calls for a steeplejack.

Answer: A steeplejack

Of course they used a steeplejack for this work. Jim Phelan, a third generation steeplejack from northern California, was contracted to hang banners on the Ferry Building prior to the 2007 MLB All-Star game. The game was held in San Francisco at AT&T Park. According to a March 17, 2007 article in the Oakland Tribune, Phelan has had his share of close calls.

He was removing a flagpole from atop the City Hall in San Francisco in cooperation with a US Marine helicopter crew. The helicopter crew had to cut the cable holding the pole when it got caught in an antenna.

The pole crashed to the roof below, narrowly missing Phelan.

Answer: Jack-of-all-trades

A steeplejack does need to be a jack-of-all-trades. The job requires knowledge of construction techniques including welding, brick masonry, cement masonry, and tile masonry; window repair and installation; painting and cleaning plus a general mechanical aptitude.

Answer: OPCMIA

OPCMIA stands for Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association of the United States and Canada. Their letterhead stationery must be about a yard wide.