Part time plumbing

[london2345]

Hi all, looking for some basic advice on the feasibility of training and working as a plumber part-time.

I'm in my mid twenties and have a 9-5 job in a fairly precarious industry. It's fine, but slightly volatile (good pay but the work's not massively skilled so easy to be made redundant) and not always fulfilling. I've always wanted to learn a 'useful' skill and would love to work part-time (i.e. evenings and weekends) in plumbing - partly to manage employment risk (i.e. if the poo hits the fan with the current job, I've got a skill that will always be valuable), partly to get some extra cash and partly to keep me busy.

I'm aware that becoming a plumber requires a significant investment though, both in terms of money and time. My ideal scenario would be to get qualified and then be 'on call' for work outside 9-5 on weekdays. The advantage would be that even if I didn't get any work for a few weeks, I'd still be fine as my usual job pays fine.

I'm basically looking for your opinions on whether the idea of qualifying and working part-time is ridiculous or is whether exploring further.

Let me know what you think - any feedback would be really appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[Dotty]

The trouble with that scenario is that you need to be able to come up with some weird and wonderful solutions based on your wits and what you have in the van.

And unfortunately that comes with experience.

you would also find there are things you can't fix there and then. The punter would be expecting you back the next morning which, with your primary job, you wouldn't be able to do!

I can see your thinking, it just has a lot of problems attached.

 

[SimonG]

Ridiculous imho

 

[Masood]

There are a lot of qualified full-time plumbers who are currently only managing part-time!

As croppie says, experience counts for a lot. The less you do, the longer it takes to build up that experience. If you only work out of hours you'll need to carry a huge range of stuff on the van as you've no chance to temporarily make safe then nip to the merchants.

I'd say it's not financially viable on the terms you describe, but if you want to retrain as a permanent career change, then go for it, it's a great profession.

 

[london2345]

Many thanks for the responses all - really useful and there's definitely a lot that I hadn't considered!

All the best

 

[kay-jay]

The sheer scope of fittings and parts you would need in order to do this would be mind boggling.

If you have garage space at home and a couple of grand spare, you could perhaps make a mini merchants at home to nip back to.

Failing that team up with a plumber who works days only and no evening callouts.
You then charge for the callout to make safe. And he pops round in the am to complete repairs.