How we all doing for work..?

[charlie1]

think i have around 100 m2 in front of me at mo so cant complain, but i want a new challenge. Maybe work as part of a team with lower £per m2 but more meterage, I have been lucky enough to be doing more high end work with stone and porc but id like to just do more meterage, think it would enhance my cv. Im not and never have done tiling to become rich so the money is not as much of an issue, need different life experience me thinks!

 

[Spud]

I don't play pricing games with people either Gary, I spend a decent amount of time on quotes to make sure I'm offering my best price to the customer and at the same time looking after myself.

Funny thing is Brian ,I tiled the customers 2 previous houses and they like my work ,the builder wants use this other tiler as he thinks he is his mate ,the tiler is a good fixer but subs out most of his work these days and cuts his prices to the bone to try and keep his subbies working so the finish will be okay but the customer wants better than good

 

[Ian]

think i have around 100 m2 in front of me at mo so cant complain, but i want a new challenge. Maybe work as part of a team with lower £per m2 but more meterage, I have been lucky enough to be doing more high end work with stone and porc but id like to just do more meterage, think it would enhance my cv. Im not and never have done tiling to become rich so the money is not as much of an issue, need different life experience me thinks!

You probably need to get into the commercial side of things, I'd prefer to do less metres and more intricate work. My ultimate goal is to charge £200 per metre and do 5 metres a week :lol: but seriously, I love stone work so, hopefully one day 100% of my work will be stone related.

 

[Ian]

Funny thing is Brian ,I tiled the customers 2 previous houses and they like my work ,the builder wants use this other tiler as he thinks he is his mate ,the tiler is a good fixer but subs out most of his work these days and cuts his prices to the bone to try and keep his subbies working so the finish will be okay but the customer wants better than good

If they want perfect, then it's all probably going to end in tears. Has the customer not requested you? Or maybe they are expecting you to do the job!

 

[Peter]

think i have around 100 m2 in front of me at mo so cant complain, but i want a new challenge. Maybe work as part of a team with lower £per m2 but more meterage, I have been lucky enough to be doing more high end work with stone and porc but id like to just do more meterage, think it would enhance my cv. Im not and never have done tiling to become rich so the money is not as much of an issue, need different life experience me thinks!

The big floors can be satisfying when you have a squad who work well together. We had about 7 men on some jobs and were wiping out 500m out in 3 days. :lol:

 

[BoldreChris]

We're still very busy here, booked solid into mid-April then patchy until July. None of it's tiling, though ! Shame, it's the most enjoyable part of the job and I haven't had a chance to try out my new Sigma yet !

 

[charlie1]

The big floors can be satisfying when you have a squad who work well together. We had about 7 men on some jobs and were wiping out 500m out in 3 days. :lol:

had brief experience working in squad, well just 2 of us, we got carried away and lost our line, had to redo arround 5 m2. think 2 of us done about 70 m2 in one day though, just plain 30 x30 porcs, but as you say, very rewarding just being part of the graft i suppose!

 

[bugs183]

It's so easy to loose your line working with other chaps, really important to use string lines and gauges just to check.
Also if you follow another fella's tiing they could hold the notched trowel at a different height and will be at a slightly different height.
The big floors used to be great, but the money is so tight it's not even worth it, we were asked to price 2500m2 of 600x600 polished porcelain, turned out they wanted us to come in at £8m2!!!!!! You'd need to lay 18m2 to earn day rate!

I've got about 6 weeks work ahead of me, but this week is a right off due to being messed around, so i'll earn nowt this week.

To be honest i'm getting really disilusioned with the whole tiling/self employed situation. I've not been paid for months, the customers on the whole are just a total pain, you spend hours after work quoting for them to totally change the tile so you have to requote or take a hit, not to mention the Anhydrite screed farse, and most of my work was big floors so thats gone for the chop. Missed weekends, price of Diesel, the list goes on.

Looking into retraining in April and dangling off ropes, Dad and i compared their day rates against last years books and after all the messing around, working weekends and the whole stress i may as well have worked for someone else doing a hassle free job.

 

[darren pealing]

worst january ever,people pulling out at the last minute,which really gets my goat,they dont realise they are playing with peoples livelihoods,thought feb might get better,starting to turn out like january,I've had enough of people wasting my time,in all my years its never been so bad,still,i no im not the only one.

 

[bugs183]

You can count on me to have a moan Darren!!!!
To be fair the next job is a big house Cheltenham for a lovely designer and her ace team, lovely work and great pay, so it will recharge the bank balance, but it is very difficult at the moment to make it all run smoothly both with cash flow and the diary.

 

[cam_low]

I have just got myself a new jobs, Topps Tiles has been good to me and I have made a lot of contacts. Of whom I start working for on friday is Belfry Plumbing / Devonsbrook bathrooms.

High end stuff over St Johns Wood area down to site tiling in bumpy whites. Also looking to further my plumbing skills with them. Its a family ran business and I can not wait to get stuck in ! MOT has just cost me £400 so thats me having a quiet drink on Saturday at White Hart Lane rather than a massive session !!!

 

[charlie1]

Only thing that keeps me going with tiling is the fact that i love it. Gives me a chance for me time. If i was doing this as a job i that i was not really interested in then id have packed it in long ago, as you say bugs, you don't really earn that much when you consider everything plus it can be stressful. Just had customer call today to change her mind on tiles so more time lost for me but i will take it on the chin this time.

 

[EverDon Tiling]

Got to much on I've had to stop taking on work I'm booked till August looking to take on but its finding someone I can trust do do a decent job.

 

[Perry]

i am thinking of putting up screens and working behind them no one will be allowed in if i loose any more work to copycats :incazzato: :ban:come up with a good idea everybody thinks that's good i will start a new business laying brick slips :incazzato:

 

[Alan.P]

i am thinking of putting up screens and working behind them no one will be allowed in if i loose any more work to copycats :incazzato: :ban:come up with a good idea everybody thinks that's good i will start a new business laying brick slips :incazzato:

It's hard mate, what to do, we'll see how it pans out.