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Painter/Paperhanger Helper  What They Do

Just the Facts


Helpers - Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons Career Video



Helps painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or stucco masons by performing duties of lesser skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

This career is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster Construction pathway.


A person in this career:

  • Cleans work areas and equipment.
  • Performs support duties to assist painters, paperhangers, plasterers, or masons.
  • Applies protective coverings, such as masking tape, to articles or areas that could be damaged or stained by work processes.
  • Erects scaffolding.
  • Fills cracks or breaks in surfaces of plaster articles or areas with putty or epoxy compounds.
  • Supplies or holds tools and materials.
  • Smooths surfaces of articles to be painted, using sanding and buffing tools and equipment.
  • Mixes plaster, and carries plaster to plasterers.
  • Places articles to be stripped into stripping tanks.
  • Removes articles such as cabinets, metal furniture, and paint containers from stripping tanks after prescribed periods of time.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

  • You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
  • Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupations requires climbing things such as ladders, scaffold, and poles more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
  • Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves kneeling, crouching, stooping, and/or crawling more than one-third of the time
  • Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
  • Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
  • Work at heights above 8 feet more than once a month on structures such as ladders, poles, scaffolding, and catwalks

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

  • Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
  • Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
  • Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
  • Seeing clearly at a distance
  • Seeing clearly up close
  • Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
  • Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
  • Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

  • Irregular hours

Specialty and Similar Careers

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:

  • Exterior Insulation and Finish System Installer (EIFS Installer) --
  • Painter Helper --
  • Plaster Helper --
  • Plaster Tender --
  • Scaffold Setter --
  • Stucco Laborer --
  • Wallboard Worker --