Tilers that do plumbing work

[peckers]

I find myself sat at home today because the plumber never turned upto the job to fitt the shower base and bath etc.(im not bad mouthing plumbers as this happens in all trades im sure)

Im quite lucky as i can turn my hands to most things but plumbing and electrics isnt one of them!

Now i dont mind turning off the water supply and removing sanitryware and fitting some temporary stop ends but that is about as far as my so called plumbing work goes.

I have been held up on work before due to other trades not turning up as and when agreed to carry out there part of the job, Most times you can work around it but sometimes you cant!

How many tilers are also plumbers?
Were you a plumber before you started tiling?
Or were you a tiler and then went and done a plumbing course?
If so where did you go to do your plumbing course?
Did this course make you feel confident in carrying out plumbing in bathroom installations?
And what made you decide to do a plumbing course?

Or have you done any other related courses that have helped you with your tiling work?

 

[b30 villain]

was a dry liner then in the jewellery trade now trainee tiler. tried some plumbing before and flooded shop under me flat so leave well alone me:lol:

 

[united]

I'm looking into doing the plumbing course at NETT in the next few weeks. I have no clue about plumbing so I can't even remove a sink with confidence which is why I want to do the course.

I won't be advertising myself as a plumber I just want to do it for my own personal confidence and to make my life easier when it comes to moving and refitting things.

 

[suave]

only done plumbing work in own house,removed and replaced sanitary ware with a few minor adjustments,plumbed in shower,even wired it upno probs whatsoever.
theres no rocket science in plumbing (basic) especially with fixtures and fittings you can buy nowadays

 

[brinkley]

i thought about doing the electrician course to save me a bit of money on kitchens etc but i think the cost of these courses is a lot of money started doing plumbing at college after i left school 2 weeks later i left that for glorious tiling . do i regret it ? nope love tiling

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

I'm self taught, on renovations of houses i have done!! lets face it with all the push fit-stuff,I think domestic pluming is in the reach of us all IMO mate go for it!!:8:

 

[judede]

its not as hard as somoe would have you believe, especially if using push fit fittings and plastic pipe. Same rules apply as always, use good quality gear eg Speedfit fittings & tube (make sure you push them in properly) and do things in a methodical way, ie dont forget the plastic inserts. Check everything twice ie before and after you turn the water on.

 

[mikethetile]

Hi Peckers

Its all trades not just plumbing. you could charge the plumber for your time if you wanted to. I dont bother as it only causes bad feeling and I dont feel its worth it

I got into tiling as I couldnt find a decent reliable tiler for my kitchen installations

the ones I did find were expensive, rough, left a right mess behind them, were rude to the customer and so on

fortunatly things have moved on in the right direction and I couldnt imagine any tiler on here behaving in such a manner

I had learnt basic tiling as a decorating apprentice, the firm I worked for not the college, so I had no choice but to do the tiling myself
Not a brilliant job with poor layout, slither cuts and lippage, but passable and streets ahead of the so called proffesional tilers

I went on a free bal course and never looked back, later on I went to college

Im a master decorator, a fully qualified and experianced joiner and tiling is my third trade, not bad in one lifetime

I aspire to be a master tiler too but I feel im too old now to reach that standard so being the best I can will have to do me

so yes go for it, an intensive plumbing course will teach you enough to fit your own bathrooms and the rest you can learn from the plumbers on here

 

[trevortine]

I find myself sat at home today because the plumber never turned upto the job to fitt the shower base and bath etc.(im not bad mouthing plumbers as this happens in all trades im sure)

Im quite lucky as i can turn my hands to most things but plumbing and electrics isnt one of them!

Now i dont mind turning off the water supply and removing sanitryware and fitting some temporary stop ends but that is about as far as my so called plumbing work goes.
I have been held up on work before due to other trades not turning up as and when agreed to carry out there part of the job, Most times you can work around it but sometimes you cant!
How many tilers are also plumbers?
Were you a plumber before you started tiling?
Or were you a tiler and then went and done a plumbing course?
If so where did you go to do your plumbing course?
Did this course make you feel confident in carrying out plumbing in bathroom installations?
And what made you decide to do a plumbing course?

Or have you done any other related courses that have helped you with your tiling work?

Hi Peckers, this is exactly the reason why i do my own plumbing. I am a tiler to trade but have been doing my own plumbing for about 8 years now. I do everthing from removing sinks to full installs including coring walls for new drains etc. If I find a house in copper I replace in copper, and same for plastic. Once you get the hang there really isnt much too it. Like gooner I am self taught, i was a mechanic prior to this and done a lot of hydraulic work on car transporters so im pretty much hands on. Only thing I wont touch is the gas side of things, big no no unless you are up to code although I did repair my own boiler over the weekend there, faulty pressure vessel! I think once you do a few your confidence will grow rapidly!

 

[peckers]

Another question arises from reading your great responses!

If you are replacing like for like sanitryware in the same locations then i suppose you dont need to have a qualification in plumbing?

But what if you were fitting say a new shower valve (not electric) but one that works off the boiler would you need some sort of qualification in this area? I know if you had to fitt a pump to it you would need a qualified electrician to do the sparks side!

Do these courses offer you any sort off qualification that is recognised to allow you to do a bathromm install? Or do you not need one?

 

[Scott]

I tiled before i could plumb although to be fair wood was always my main background.

I started fitting the bathrooms as i wanted to do the tiling and learnt from a plumber who used to do my installations for me. He was happy to teach knowing that i would eventually stop using him and do it myself. Now and then he rings me to help him alter soil pipes and rip out the bathrooms and i have read and learned a lot of the regs and what not to do's. I do a lot of central heating alterations as well but never gas. Not interested in the gas side of things. I have never considered doing a course, if im unsure of a water or building reg ill look it up or call someone who can tell me.

I use the plastic stuff but only hepworth, dont like the speedfit but have to say its all very ugly and has no place on show. Under floors and in lofts its fine.

I guess at the end of the day its all about comfort zones. If your not happy doing something then leave it alone. Im comfortable doing all the plumbing and everyone gets leaks at some point, as long as you check you work it fine and if it isnt then thats why we have insurance!

 

[TheWrightTiler]

i did the nett course in plumbing last oct peckers, since then ive ripped out a fair few baths and showers etc wih no probs, i feel the course could teach you more bout showers but all in was a good 4 days, made my cash back ten fold

u get a basic certificate from nett but i wouldnt call myself a plumber or installer, i did it cos i got fed up waiting on plumbers to take sink etc out, now i do it myself and i get to keep the extra cash, take time triple check everything and ul b fine

andy

 

[mikethetile]

you can get compliant for a few hundred quid you need part p and part L for plumbing and electrical. if ive got my parts mixed up someone will correct me, you dont need to be qualified you just need to show you are competant, that will cover you for making the small alterations you need to installl showers etc

 

[Scott]

Part P for electrics, although you can just get building control in to sign it off if you know what you are doing. Its about £150 in our area.

 

[Scott]

As far as im aware you dont actually have to be qualified to do it. Its not as regulated as the electrical side of things but im sure thats going to change and was supposed to a few years ago.

Im not qualified in anything i do but im certainly competent. Lets face it if we all followed everything we did to the letter we would never get anything done and building control would be run off their feet!