Professional Tilers... if you were starting again....

[Cantello]

My son has been tiling part-time for years but he's about to take the plunge and go full-time. So the question is: what do you professionals know now, that you'd wish you'd known then? If you could have a time machine and give your younger self advice, what would you say?

I'm guessing I'll get some fun answers, but I'm hoping to glean to useful tips that I can pass on to my lad so he can get things right from the very beginning of his journey.

Thanks for your time and your input

 

[Jama2z]

Try to do everything belt and braces...Dont say, oh that will do,. Lift the tile and put more adhesive under it to make as flat as possible Ask questions at tile shops...phone manufacturers with queries...try different adhesives until you find the one that you seem to like...we very rarely use ready mixed bucket adhesive( it cant be built out and takes ages, if ever, to dry)...buy half decent tools...look after yout tools and put SBR primer on pretty much everything, even sometimes when it says it doesnt need priming..primer will do no harm....i have been tiling 35+ years and could go on and on....

 

[ttt tiling]

If you do a good job , don't sell yourself short when quoting!

 

[Dan]

Take pride and pleasure in the work. Some tilers are whistling away while working, dancing to a radio, and taking their time and not stressing. Others rushing round with cuts and adhesive setting all wrong and it just adds to the finish of the job. You can tell when a happy tiler is happy with the tiling IMO.

Send some pictures in so we can have a gander.

 

[Cantello]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies Jama2z and Dan; it's very much appreciated.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the business side of things? What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?

 

[Dave]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies Jama2z and Dan; it's very much appreciated.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the business side of things? What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?

I would have grown into a bigger business dather than remained solo.