tiling as a career

[crocotile]

hi

as you know i am new to this forum and i am looking at becoming a tiler.

i hear various things about income, day rate etc and some things dont add up. i have been doing some reseach around the warrington/cheshire area and 15 pound per meter (labour only) seems to be the average price whether its floor or wall tiling. 20 pound per meter if its natural stone. now i know that an average tradesmans wage is anything between 100-175 a day up north but yet if you do 15 meters at 15pound per meter then that 225 a day and thats not alot of meterage. so you top guys must be earning in excess of 300 per day! when i mention this to joiners i know from a local firm , they reply 300 a day? in your dreams. maybe the odd good job will pull in that but not on a regular basis.

so i dont get it. are people exagerating what you will earn as a tiler or can you really earn 300 aday?? other people say you dont price per meter , you price on how long it will take, ie 1 day then 150-175..

i never thought that tiling could earn you that good money. no disrespect when i say that, its just you naturally think of plastering, bricklayer, plumbing and elecrics as the trades where the money is and the complexity.

 

[DHTiling]

I charge a minimum of £150 a day then go onto price per mtr if that earns more money...some jobs can bring in £500 a day depending what you tiling..best money is in floors or areas where you can get the tiles on at a good rate........so if you have a minimum day rate as well then you know you will earn no less than that and more if the mtrge is there to go at.......dave...

p.s. you believe me tiling is a very complex trade ...especially things like mosaics or geometric floors etc....

 

[GazTech]

The more detailed and specialist the tiling,the more dollar

 

[crocotile]

hi dave thanks for that,

so let me just make sure i have got this.

your day rate is the minimum you will work for. so if i go out and theres a kitchen work top to do and theres not many meters and you finish early then its 150..but if you went out to a conservatory and there was 16 meters at 20 pound per meter then you would earn 320 quid for the day, even though its still roughly the same amount of hours

so is 300 a day a realistic regular amount you could earn if you were set up correct and your marketing/advertising does its job??

croc

 

[DHTiling]

Spot on mate....you cant turn out for nothing so charge a minimum price...and if the jobs bigger then you benefit....any tradesmen worth there salt is going to earn what they can.....dave..

 

[crocotile]

so by my reconing..its floor tiling all the way, aim for conservatory companies, shop floors, hallways etc in nice areas..aim for 20 pound a meter , do 15 meters and get 300 per day. and thats over 75k per year!!! i know it sounds easy but its possible, very possible infact. it might take 2 years to build upto via recommendations, yell.com, website etc etc but i really do reckon 75k is achievable.....

thanks dave for the inspiration, i know it wont be easy but if you have a goal, then its a start, something to aim at.

 

[DHTiling]

go for it....but up those prices a bit 15 per mtr is tooo low...20 min and up from there....dave...

 

[formula one]

like dave says price the job right my day rate is £150 it was £125 just done 5 days
at £150 conservatory give me floors

 

[Falcone]

wow... im a newb and am trying to learn a lot before booking my course.

when you say work for no less than £150 per day, does this mean then that if you have a job that should be say £80 then charge £150 anyway?

Should I phone about my local area to find out what other tilers are charging?

 

[crocotile]

no

i think what they are saying is there is no such thing as an 80 quid job in professional quality tiling, the jobs start at 150 ;0)

 

[calculator]

dont 4get there are some jobs out there that only take a couple of hours, you cant charge someone day rate for a 2 hour job you need to break it down to hourly rate sometimes

 

[DHTiling]

dont 4get there are some jobs out there that only take a couple of hours, you cant charge someone day rate for a 2 hour job you need to break it down to hourly rate sometimes

If you book a job in for a day then it has to be day rate..because you could of booked something else in otherwise....dave...

be it 2hrs or 5 hrs ...

 

[Falcone]

Ah I see... lol... now I get it :wink_smile: cheers...

 

[Yorkie]

Theres only one price for a job and thats the "Correct Price" If your new to tiling You can't just charge by the day @ £150 a day as the amount of meterage an inexperienced Tiler will be able to knock out will be a lot lot less than others.
So lets take as an example something like a diamond set kitchen in 4x4's (5sq mtr) including window reveals / box sections etc . An experienced Fixer will be able to complete this in a couple of days so lets say £300 quidish compared to an inexpierenced Fixer who might take twice as long, this doesn't meen you charge Double though as the job itself has a ceiling limit.

 

[AndyLFC5]

Yeah, I'm just starting out, wouldn't feel comfortable charging a day rate, I prefer to give an overall quote for the job, if I take longer (which I will) I see that as my problem and part of the learning curve. My main concern is doing the job right and recommendations should follow. Its highly unlikely that you will be fully booked up when you start out (like me) so if you take longer it doesnt really matter. The speed will come in time, thats when I will be ok with a day rate.