Just plumbing

[philtheflush]

would any of you say u can make a decent living just plumbing or do u need a gas qualification as well .eg.GAS SAFE cheers

 

[Henno82]

Phil it depends on what you want to do, i do not as yet have my gas quals but i am working towards them, if you want to be a bathroom fitter, domestic plumber then stay as you are if you would like to broaden your horizons then go gas too, i do ok with just plumbing but want to learn more anyway so will do all i can to learn and earn : )

 

[philtheflush]

i have the oppertunity to do my portfolio for my gas safe but its to expensive £3,570.00 quoted plus books and instruments as i will have to pay my self cant get funding so i was going to continue with my plumbing for a year but just seems dead out there

 

[Henno82]

Stick with it mate, others will tell you the same. Personally i know what your going through as i was made redundant and put my money into my training and working for myself and still doing a full job in the morning to keep food on the table and now i can finally see light at the end of the tunnel with business picking up slowly but surely, i agree it seems like a lot of money but in years to come you would have got this back tenfold, plumbing will pick up again so don't fret too much.

 

[philtheflush]

thanks very much for that ill get back out there tomorrow posting my cards again cheers henno82

 

[Henno82]

no worries and good luck

 

[Dannypipe]

You can make a nice living just wet plumbing. There are so many areas to be experienced in, unvented systems, thermal stores, waste, soil, drainage,solar, ground/air source, grey water, bathrooms. I made a tidier living 5 years ago just concentrating on wet plumbing than I do now and I'm more qualified than ever.

My ex-business partner who stuck to bathrooms still makes a good living doing just that.

 

[Henno82]

Phil did you go out and post some cards? hopefully you got a good response, maybe you should try your local pubs aswell and offer to be thier plumber for any leaks etc as i did that when i used to live in London and did a good trade in one certain pub that was renowned for its trouble and was always being damaged and vandalised so i cheekily offered them a reduced rate if i was to be thier main man and actually did ok out of it, now i'm back to civilisation anytime i go past a pub i drop a card in there on the off chance that they might need someone and i have had a few calls, so maybe you can do the same and doctors surgeries etc..

 

[fuzzy]

i have the oppertunity to do my portfolio for my gas safe but its to expensive £3,570.00 quoted plus books and instruments as i will have to pay my self cant get funding so i was going to continue with my plumbing for a year but just seems dead out there

HOW MUCH!!!!!!! what do you get for this?

 

[fuzzy]

plumbing is a trade in itself mate, if you like it and good at it stick with it. if your short of work last thing you wanna do is fork out for more quals at that price, build on what you have first

 

[justlead1]

Hi. I would agree with Fuzzy. Have held corgi registration for many years at a great cost, i often wonder why i bothered. Working in a rural area the skills and knowledge are used so little it would have been cheaper to get my work written off by some one with a ticket than the cost of keeping my own. Coupled with the fact that unless playing with boilers on a day to day basis, one's retaining skills seem to fade. However there are many qualified gas fitters who struggle to do plumbing and heating installations, but get enquiries from their clients regularly. Which can create a nice little business opportunity. Having a knowledge of gas can be gleaned via books at a very low cost and at your leisure, especially domestic stuff. You may not be legal, but able to talk the talk when dealing with gas fitters.

 

[philtheflush]

thank you all for your advice it gives me alot of confidence to keep getting out there and touting for work so cheers

 

[dontknowitall]

If you want to add something you could learn and qualify in the electrics. I'm told good combination plumbers/electricians in Liverpool can earn £500 a day sorting out heating systems.

 

[Puddle]

If you want to add something you could learn and qualify in the electrics. I'm told good combination plumbers/electricians in Liverpool can earn £500 a day sorting out heating systems.

Seems strange to me,adding a trade to your skills and taking a drop in pay

 

[doug]

Thats just cracked me up !!

 

[dontknowitall]

Me too!!! LOL LOL

 

[pmac10]

'add electrics', sounds like your struggling as it is, crawl, walk then try running!

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

I worked on a lot of boiler maintenance and repair for perhaps 10 years in Liverpool for big social and private landlords doing hundreds of houses a year and never saw wages approaching £500 a week let alone a day.

Lets not get carried away, service work is not usually a means to get rich. You may get one or two private clients who pay well but unless you can live on one or two jobs a year you have to make do with what you can get.

Lets not forget people usually buy mostly on price. You have to get the right mix of fair price and good work.

The state of the market at the moment is obviously bad with all the cut backs. I would say to those wanting to get into the trade at the moment, its extremely tough out there and would recommend you try another trade in another industry, unfortunately there aren't all that many you can get into without a degree it seems and even with a degree its tough, despite what the government says.

All I would say is to make yourself as multi skilled as possible and diversify into any related branch of Plumbing or construction work you can, to earn a crust. The thing not to do, is bite off more than you can chew in a desperate rush for cash. Accept low income and take it easy until opportunity presents itself to get a better income. Anyway I doubt many people will be given a choice about that they will just have to if that is all they can get.

I must admit though this "training" lark seems to have become a giant scam. And its not necessarily the training providers "ripping off" after all government regulations force people to have to get the qualifications.

It all needs looking at. It is affordable if the companies who make the most out of the industry paid into a training scheme. They could be made to do that by the government.