is this a tilers forum

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

is this a tilers forum where tilers talk and exchange info or is this a site where we help every diy merchant we have worked very many years to gain our skills and knowledge and give this away for free a tiler once told me if i tell you how to earn a penny thats a penny thats a penny i wont earn .put a value on your knowledge.if people need our help they should pay for our knowledge.we did:mad2:

 

[doug boardley]

we didn't have the internet then Ray,we are here to help advise and discuss tiling related subjects imo.

 

[widler]

also we are here to help each other if we come across a problem,which we all do and scratch our heads now and again,no matter how much experience we have

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I think Ray has a valid point here, I try to guard my advice, if I think the OP is a young, up and coming tiler I may give a few tips. If I suspect they are a builder, plumber, diy,er etc, I will not share my knowledge. Times are hard atm. and we should not sell our skills cheap.:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Spud]

some business people think giving away trade secrets is commercial suicide

 

[doug boardley]

I look on it as trying to promote good tiling practice, maybe giving someone even a newbie or diy'er some good advice might save the end user/customer some heartache in future. As I say, that's just my take on it.

 

[Spud]

Bs 5385 parts 1-5 costs over £700 to buy and they enforce the copywrite

 

[Ian]

It's one thing giving advice and knowledge, but another putting it into practice. Someone could post a step by step guide on how to remove an engine from a car but, I'd still **** it up. What we do on here is no different to that you would get told on a 2 week course, not many speak very highly of them. Practical experience is what makes us all great tilers, not reading posts.

 

[strummerman]

I think Ray has a valid point here, I try to guard my advice, if I think the OP is a young, up and coming tiler I may give a few tips. If I suspect they are a builder, plumber, diy,er etc, I will not share my knowledge. Times are hard atm. and we should not sell our skills cheap.:smilewinkgrin:

but then you are a trusted advisor :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

i have all the time in world to help an up and comming tiler to pass on what you know and watch them grow in skill and confedence .but every bit of knowledge they have to earn with hard work and dedication to a trade over 3000 years old .thats 3000 years of knowledge dont give it away for free the lay brothers did not .

 

[Ian]

The thing is Ray, I've learnt more from the people on this forum in the last 18 months than the rest of my tiling career in total and, as far as I'm aware, I've not taken any work from them. This reason alone is why I try to give as much as I can back. This is just my view and I do understand where you are coming from, it's just without this place I wouldn't be half as good as I am and I've also had quite a substantial amount of work from here. The more you put in, the more you get out in my experience.

 

[Spud]

we all bang on about chancers mucking up tiling jobs and getting the trade licensed and then give away advice on how do OUR trade to non tilers, its madness to be honest

 

[Dan]

I think all is fair. You don't get paid for providing advice so if it's a DIYer then perhaps understandably many will rather not help too much. Though as a whole it's obviously a good thing to educate people. I think the amount of products some bathrooms need these days, telling a DIYer about how so many are used and you need to make sure the right ones are used in the right places, will often put them off doing.

It's the kitchen splashbacks you'd perhaps lose out on. And only if they're in your area.

Obviously the main task for me is to try and get you all extra customers. And when the forum is busy with professional posts. You're the guys that stand out to the general public. Whether DIY or a potential customer. And it's not always easy to tell.

You should all use the forum to your advantages. If I were on here as a tiler I'd probably have in my signature "If you would like to request a free estimate and are within the X, Y and Z area's then Private Message me by clicking HERE with the job details". Then when you just provide advice, you're not pushing it in anybody's face. But everybody you helped has your details and a chance to make a point of contact, right there and then. That sort of thing.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I am Mike, and feel very privileged, I am also passionate about this trade, and have witnessed the dilution of skills over the years. By people who have had little or no training, we do need to protect our trades. All trades, I think I have tried to give good advice to people new to the industry, we need them for the future.

But I do wonder sometimes if we give out to much advice, and therefore put ourselves out of work. I hope I do not come across as being negative, if I am allowed, I will continue to give advice on this forum (which I love) I hope I do not upset anyone with my take on things.

 

[Stewart]

I don't see anything wrong with giving advice to someone starting out, customers, DIY'ers or an uneducated time-served fixers. With nearly all the information available on line anyway in one form or another including the BS, it's good to share to some degree. As Bri has said already, putting it into practice is a whole different ball game.

Untill tiling is properly registered and regulated, then everyone's a tiler if they want to be. Untill then, It's just a form of snobbery if you think time-served is better then a well read and practiced self taughter or 6 week course taker. If the knowledge that is available is gleaned and put into practice properly, then the trade benifits as a whole........

Just my take on it!


Created on iPhone.....

 

[doug boardley]

we all bang on about chancers mucking up tiling jobs and getting the trade licensed and then give away advice on how do OUR trade to non tilers, its madness to be honest

that's because they usually find the forum after the job is done (and mucked up). It'd be a boring forum if all we were doing was slapping each other on the back, again this is just my view on it and what I think the ethos of the forum is all about.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Sod, sorry Mike my slow typing again.

 

[kendo1]

If someone is going to do their own tiling- they will, with or without our help. They might as well do it properly.
I don't have a problem with helping others in the trade with suggestions/help, and I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have gained here. It's up to me to make that knowledge in to skill.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

hi bri this is what a tilers forum is for helping each other out no one knows it all . should our well earned knowledge be given away .to anybody the only way to make our trade stand out .is to stand together.its about time we had a trade body .tilers should be rated starting at inprover .then going on to tiler .then to master tiler .as long as we give free advice to anyone and there dogs we will be under valued are we happy with that.

 

[doug boardley]

I suppose actually the solution is very simple, if you don't want to give someone advice who's asking for it, don't post in that thread.

 

[Ian]

Ok here's another way of looking at it, when I send out quotes to clients I give a full detailed list of works to be carried out and materials that will be used, this gives them reassurance that the correct methods and products are being used and, in reality, they could use this information to do the jobs themselves. Giving out this type of information, more often than not gets me a job because I have won the confidence of the client and given them details that they can check out online.

 

[Spud]

Any one can talk a good tiling job doing a good tiling job is another kettle of fish that is where experience and pride in your work comes in, some tilers are naturally gifted some just are so determined that they will rip down a days work because they are not happy with it and redo it until it goes in right and dont care if they loose money by doing it again

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I think the main attraction of this forum is, we are mostly, like minded people, who have the future of this industry uppermost in our thoughts. We can all have different opinions, and agree to disagree now and then, but we all have the same goal, to improve the skill levels in our industry, and promote excellence as much as we can.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

talking to a client and giving them the info is one thing .giving the info to anybody is another. we need to put a value on our skill and knowedge.and who gets it .

 

[Colour Republic]

I think openness of how skilled you are will gain you work not turn it away.

I know a very successful kitchen painter who publishes an incredible amount of info on his website Painter and decorator in Cheshire & NW, specialising in hand-painting kitchens & listed building redecoration. | on how to go about it. Far from losing him work it gains him work All over the country! Potential customers or DIYers realise that he knows what he's talking about and understand it's not as easy as they once thought. It also establishes him as an expert and an authority on the subject for which people are willing to pay a premium for rather than let loose any old fool with a paint brush. It has also lead to starting a national network of highly skilled kitchen painters ensuring high standards and top end work for them too. Hand-painted kitchen specialists in UK |

I'm sure many have gained work from TF and have been approached by customers who have sort them out after reading their posts.

This forum can give someone the knowledge to complete a task but it can't give them the skill to undertake it. I think by giving the info out will have resulted in the general public employing a decent tiler (as they know how to spot a fake chancer ) just as much as it would have empowered them to try themselves