The 2014 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Regional tour goes to Seattle

Words: Don DodroeThe 2014 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Regional Competition for Washington was held at the Western Washington Masonry Training Center in Seattle, WA on August 8th. Four teams of brick masons and tenders gave their best to earn a spot in the 2015 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National competition held in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is there where they will compete for over $100,000 in cash and prizes including a new 2014 Ford F-250 XLT truck.

Phil Evans, a mason with R&D Masonry, Marysville, WA and his mason tender (and son) Brenden Evans beat out the rest of the competition to take home the champtionship. His net count of 457 brick got the job done. Not only did first place carry the opportunity to compete in the 2015 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 in Las Vegas for Phil and Brenden, but it also came with $600 cash, trowels and a bag from Marshalltown. The second place prize of $350 went to the team from Fairweather Masonry, Jason Larimore and Dave Wieser. Larimore also secured the title of Best Craftsmanship and won another $350 and bag of prizes from Marshalltown. Ben Griffin and his tender Dennis Chessie, from Keystone Masonry held on for 3rd place. All bricklayers and tenders received cash prizes for their participation.

Once again, the SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 Washington Regional was hosted by the Western Washington Masonry Trades, which oversees the local bricklayers apprenticeship and training program for Western Washington. The event sponsors included Mutual Materials who supplied CMU’s and brick respectively for the event. The trade center also hosted a Masonry Day for architects which included the bricklaying competition as part of the event. In pattern with the educational theme that the SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 event organizers envision, architects were cultured on topics such as Brick and Structural CMU Design and Construction, as well as Waterproofing and Adhesive Mortars. Spider Rigging set up a display which included Betamax products, a Gold Level Sponsor as part of the Masonry Day. Multiquip, a platinum sponsor, supplied mixers and mortar tubs to accommodate the mixing of the SPEC MIX Portland Lime Sand used by all the Bricklayers.

Food was barbequed for all attendees and the audience competed in games such as bean bag toss for cash prizes and a heads/tails game where a high definition big screen Television was the grand prize.

Final Results

First Place

Mason — Phil Evans — 457 Brick Tender — Brenden Evans
R&D Masonry, Marysville, WA

SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN

Mason — Jason Larimore — 430 Brick Tender — Dave Wieser
Fairweather Masonry, Bellevue, WA

2nd Place

Mason — Jason Larimore — 430 Brick Tender — Dave Wieser
Fairweather Masonry, Bellevue, WA

3rd Place

Mason — Ben Griffin - 310 Brick Tender — Dennis Chessie Keystone Masonry, Yelm, WA

For more information on the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER Regional Program call 888-SPECMIX or go to www.specmixbricklayer500.com.
Helical Beaming: Your Top 6 Questions on Installation, Cost, and Limitations
March 2026

Although helical masonry beaming is still an underutilized and relatively unknown method in masonry repair and restoration, the number of questions and requests I get on this topic increases every week, which I view as promising. Helical masonry beaming i

MAP Partner
Read More
Wired for Safety: Electrical Maintenance for Fire Prevention
March 2026

Could your company survive if an electrical failure sparked a fire at your business? Electrical malfunctions cause thousands of non-residential building fires annually.1 Proactive maintenance and action are essential to help safeguard your operations.

Patrick Cunningham
MAP Partner
Read More
The Behind-the-Wall Secrets Every Mason Already Knows (But Some Ignore)
March 2026

You’ve been around long enough to know this already: stone doesn’t fail on the face; it fails behind the wall. You can lay the prettiest veneer in the county, but if the prep is junk, that wall’s gonna start telling on you after a couple of winters. Manu

Rob McKay
Technical Talks
Read More
From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry
March 2026

In the record books of Major League Baseball, Jon Rauch is a literal giant. At 6 feet, 11 inches, he remains the tallest player to ever step onto a Big League mound. But today, the Olympic Gold Medalist and 11-season MLB veteran isn’t looking for a strike

Robert Melgaard
Industry News
Read More