Good post Phil.
Anyone who thinks they're ready for tiling bathrooms solo after a two week course and be able to produce the same finish of an experienced tiler is putting a bit too much faith in the course. :lol:
Can remember how I used to get very annoyed and disheartened when I was an apprentice and it was two years before I was allowed to stick a
tile. Looking back on it, it was the right way as I had to master mixing buckets, then cutting, then grouting, then spreading etc whilst watching the tilers the whole time before I was ever allowed to lay a
tile. It meant building your skills right from the bottom so that when the time came for you to fix tiles, you had been observing and asking questions for so long that you had a better idea of layouts, fixing techniques and how to get out of a problem.
Wouldn't fancy letting someone loose on my house that had only a few hours of tiling 6x6 diaonal on plasterboard under his belt.