I have the same problem
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- Thread starter cr0ft
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View the thread, titled "Help Me Lord For I Have Sinned!" which is posted in UK Plumbers Forums on UK Plumbers Forums.
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I have the same problem
If you could see my only attempt to plaster a wall in my bathroom you would understand!!
K
kay-jay
im thinking of doing similar.
all the plasterers round here seem to be getting really greedy/expensive
all the plasterers round here seem to be getting really greedy/expensive
Lol there is a guy near my that has everything on his van from cp12 to grass cutting ,the sides of his van look like pages from the bible.
R
Ray Stafford
Jack of all trades ... master of .... <cough>
🙂 Just kiddin'
🙂 Just kiddin'
E
erpkid
We do plastering but don't advertise it for this very reason.
I was going to go on a plastering course a few years ago about £350 ,I mentioned it to one of the guys on site and he said I could go work with them for a week but I wouldn't get paid best thing I did as the time didn't cost me my brother is a sparks so i do his patch up bits etc,I have done a few fair sized walls over the years so it's been worth it..
L
lame plumber
being able to skim, means you can carry on a refit without any reason to stop and leave site, bloody silly idea really 🙂
LOL that thought did cross my mind before booking it to be honest. My view is master of all trades = richer person! That's the theory anyway!
I admire you going out and trying to get more skills. Personally though, I prefer getting someone in who solely does one trade, I generally find you get a better overall result even though it can be harder to organise etc. All the multiskill people I know are average at a lot of stuff but excellent at nothing except telling everyone how many different things they can do. That's not a dig at you, you could be the person to prove my personal findings wrong.
I understand what you are saying. To be honest I am the sort of person when I feel comfortable doing a particular trade I like to learn something new. I couldn't imagine doing one trade for the rest of my life to be honest but we are all different. This certainly isn't me saying that I don't find the odd plumbing/electrical issue that stumps me - we all do of course.
Personally I don't think it matters whether someone does one trade or 5 or 10. What matters is the attitude and commitment they bring to their work and the desire to genuinly learn a new trade. If someone has the right attitude and desire to learn then there work will be good irrespective of the amount of trades they do. If someone doesn't want to learn or just wants to say they do 3/5/10 trades then there work is likely going to be crap.
To be honest adding plastering to my business' skillset just makes sense as it goes hand in hand with rewiring properties and stops my customers living in a shell house if there plasterer lets them down which has happened a couple of times. The other huge plus is you can wire in 1 room completely, fill the chases and plaster it and the customer can be moving furniture back in very quickly. This is very difficult to co-ordinate (I would say nearly impossible to) with 2 separate businesses. This makes rewiring a house that is being lived in so much easier, both for me and my customers.
I certainly don't expect to be able to sell my services plastering after a 1 week course but then because I have my main trade to fall back on I don't need to really. I will be plastering the rooms in my house first and won't be charging out any plastering work before I can get a 100% great finish in my own place.
I have, like many, repeatedly really struggled to find good subcontractors I can trust to A - turn up on time and B - do a good job. By there nature subcontractors are always going to put their business before mine. These subcontractors are people solely focussing on just one trade and on every occasion I've taken on a subcontractor I've been disappointed within 3 jobs or so max. The latest one was on a large house renovation we were managing for a customer over Xmas period. We got a plasterer in for what was around £10k of work for them. The plasterer got most of the money off the customer and then just stopped turning up. So this is someone we've given a fairly substantial job to (I say we, we got them the job but they are dealing with the customer directly for payment) and they couldn't give a crap about looking after one of our key customers now.
Most of the bathroom/kitchen installation companies around here subcontract out electrics and plumbing in particular. From the installs I've seen these 2 parts are without fail the worst parts of the install. In some cases the electrics are actually lethal and customers have called me after getting proper electric shocks off metal socket plates that haven't been earthed at all. The tradesperson doing this just worked as an electrician.
I do appreciate what you are saying is your personal opinion but I wonder how many subcontractors you use and what your experience has been with them?
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I can see why you are doing it and it does make sense. The only thing you need to be careful of is finishing to a high standard. From your posts on here you seem like someone who works to high standards and probably has a reputation as such in your local area. Adding a new skill and trying to maintain that level could be difficult. If you can do it and do it well, which I am sure you will be able to in time, then fair play. Just be aware that the ease of being able to do everything in house may cost you if standards of work slip due to a new variety of skills needed for all the tasks.
When doing bathrooms I have plasterer's, chippy's, sparks, tillers all come in to do there bit as needed. I have managed to find a few people who work in the same way as me and to a good standard. I am 100% sure that using a group of people who specialise in there own trade will get a better result than if I were to train and try and do it all. It does probably take longer and end up costing more though, but most bathrooms I do are high end where the customers aren't overly worried about cost as long as the finish is top notch.
When doing bathrooms I have plasterer's, chippy's, sparks, tillers all come in to do there bit as needed. I have managed to find a few people who work in the same way as me and to a good standard. I am 100% sure that using a group of people who specialise in there own trade will get a better result than if I were to train and try and do it all. It does probably take longer and end up costing more though, but most bathrooms I do are high end where the customers aren't overly worried about cost as long as the finish is top notch.
Keiran will you be offering it as a stand alone service or part of making good for wiring retrofits and bathroom replacements?
Hi KB. Initially just as making good for rewires and bathrooms. I have a plan to convert my garage into a business office once the shed arrives and is built today. That will mean boarding/insulating it and then skimming it which will be very good practise for me! Also all the rooms in our 'new build' home already need skimming. Lots of practise for me in my own home before I start selling plastering work on it's own.
I will definitely not be selling plastering work on it's own till I am 100% confident in my finish. Patching a wall and skimming a whole room are entirely different things in terms of difficult imo.
Have decided to bring one of my apprentices along on the course too. May be handy to have someone else doing it and also you never know, he may pick it up better than me!
I will definitely not be selling plastering work on it's own till I am 100% confident in my finish. Patching a wall and skimming a whole room are entirely different things in terms of difficult imo.
Have decided to bring one of my apprentices along on the course too. May be handy to have someone else doing it and also you never know, he may pick it up better than me!
Good on ya.
set some boundaries on what you plan to do though!
because customers will Recommend you as a handy man or builder!
set some boundaries on what you plan to do though!
because customers will Recommend you as a handy man or builder!
Can I be your apprentice!! Plumbing, electrical and plastering hope they appreciate you.
LOL if you had seen my plastering to date you would understand why I am taking him on the plastering course too. If I can't pick it up I'm hoping he can!
Bet its not as bad as mine. Just plastered a couple of walls at home and now they've been painted looks terrible. There deffo an art to it, or at least a lot of practice.
Who taught you the electrical practice?
Was that part p then?
E
Ermintrude
We just had a letter from drip busters ltd, they would like to enrol on the drive laying, roof painting and ridge tile pointing courses, it's gonna cost them £6.95 a month for 3 years but they will be roof safe, drive makers too.
Keep up good work. I hate plastering. It's really hard work ( polishing, )
When u want to check your work before some one paints it and screams. Get a torch and lay it on , or next to if wet the wall. Rotate torch in arc, it highlights all irregularities . That's how we used to inspect walls y
Keep up good work. I hate plastering. It's really hard work ( polishing, )
When u want to check your work before some one paints it and screams. Get a torch and lay it on , or next to if wet the wall. Rotate torch in arc, it highlights all irregularities . That's how we used to inspect walls y
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