Why do people do tiling courses!

[brian c]

Personally the courses especially the good ones can be life turning for many people and i for one attended a course which was very informative and taught me how to set up my business which i am greatful for.Like Pete says because people are time served does not necessarily mean that they are better tilers,i know of a few tilers who spent years grouting and polishing the grout (DRY POLISH WITH CLOTH ON GROUT LINES,LEAVES FIRST CLASS FINISH)before they even got to lay a tileand having served an apprenticeship in another trade we all know that a lot of time spent at college is no better than being forced to go to school because you have to and when we are on a job we are standing watching bored out our heads.ON the otherhand people who attend a course and pay attention to everything then go it alone in tiling may be better and more eager than the aforementioned,so it has its pros and cons and i am open minded about all short courses. Bri.

 

[Yorkie]

Every Friday we cover business start up and today was no different, I got out the projectors put the internet on widescreen 150x150 (brilliant for watching the footie !) And clicked on connect. We have a new class that started this week and as always we start by showing everyone some really useful sites that they can have a look at ,this site being one of them . As I showed them how to navigate around I noticed a private messages from Dave asking if I would like to comment on the above post, so I flashed the thread up for the whole class to see read and discuss. And as everyone who’s replied to this thread so far have pointed out the reasons why individuals will choose to do a professional Tiling course as opposed to the traditional methods Vary .Below are just a few examples of the type of students and reasons that they decided to take the alternative route and opt for an intensive course ( I’m speaking for ex students the ones who I spoke to today can answer for themselves)

Older /mature students: They find it near impossible to attend a college course as its just not practical! They can’t afford to have little to no income for an extended time and need to be earning as soon as possible.

Redundancy. No such thing as a job for life is there ! Individuals may no longer want to rely on employers to earn a living so decide that they will be better of taking care of their own future by retraining.

Emigrating: We have taught many students who are leaving these sunny shores and going somewhere rainy and miserable like Australia who need to satisfy the entry system by showing they’ve been trained to a professional level by an accredited centre and have the correct certification to prove it.

Resettlement: Armed forces personnel that are leaving the forces (this one speaks for itself)

Theres many other reasons besides the above but i'd be here all day listing them lol

I can see your point about trying to work with another Tiler but this is flawed for many reasons such as:

The Tiler that is training you on the job is in fact showing you the wrong techniques and applications. If this happens your buggered from the start really aren’t you as your going to be a mini me of that Tiler and pick up and then put into practice all of his bad habits as you find that you stick to the way were taught. By being professionally tutored you know the methods are correct and that all relevant standards are being adhered to.
Also Majority of Tilers aren’t willing to take people on as 1, they haven’t got the time and 2 Why would they teach someone who will end up becoming competition?

In my experience most people either underestimate the amount there is to learn or more fatally over estimate their own Knowledge.
Its not just dot dot dot and dab!!!

 

[Raja]

i have been tiling for 6 years and worked with my partner who has tiled for 17 years i can assure u that i have and will in the future go on tiling courses to enhance my knowledge they are an invaluable asset to the comunities they servce i would recommend them to any one. In my tiling career i started off in 2001 at the sheffield college gaining an nvq level 2 in wall & floor tiling and a tiling course lasting 1 year. I then went onto a week long in 2004 by henry boot training and recently tried to go on a course with BAL but no joy yet.
There r some dodgy ones out there wont say no names but 1 in doncaster lol finally we are all very opinionated in our own ways BUT i think is was very unfair for the earlier tiler to say people shouldnt have to come on places like the tilers forum to find out what adhesive to use. EVERY DAY IS A SCHOOL DAY and it takes a brave man to set up a site like this i know i could't do it.

 

[Jimmy Boy]

I'm an experienced driver of over 25 years (time served driver? lol) but I could not teach my wife to drive the correct way in a month of Sundays.

Yeah, you could go with an experienced tiler for a year or two but how many people can actually instruct another person in a way that makes them understand. I doubt many time served tilers as you call them could teach anyone in informative way.
Teaching in a clear and understood way itself is not as simple a task as most believe.

 

[Dicko1973]

i agree serve you time ,or make mistakes and give tilers a bad name.People

Great comment Shaney.

Working on sites with tilers all the time I see the standard of work so-called time served tilers produce. And 70% of the time there back on site putting it right come the end of the job. I'm not saying quick course tilers are better than time served tilers but a rough tiler will be a rough tiler no matter how he learnt it.
But don't think for a minute that it is just the quick learners who will give tilers a bad name.
You would also be surprised by the amount of knowledge you can get from a weeks course,clearly not the vast amount of knowledge you have i'm sure but I have enough to feel confident to do any job anywhere on any surface using any tile.
I am also extremely conscientous about the work I produce and haven't had a call back yet.
Not bad for a week learner giving the rest of you a bad name.

Rich :furious3: :furious3:

 

[Yorkie]

I'm an experienced driver of over 25 years (time served driver? lol) but I could not teach my wife to drive the correct way in a month of Sundays.

Yeah, you could go with an experienced tiler for a year or two but how many people can actually instruct another person in a way that makes them understand. I doubt many time served tilers as you call them could teach anyone in informative way.
Teaching in a clear and understood way itself is not as simple a task as most believe.

Excactly especially if it was my wife lol

Everyone learns on different levels its finding the one that works for you.
I personally have even taught a deaf guy believe it or not who works within the disabled community dhdesigntiling.co.uk

 

[DevonChris]

I think that most of you have missed that I was asking a genuine question and have had the answers I was looking for and was never dissing this site.
I have made some observations from the replies:
Most of you are very defensive and have defended things that weren't mentioned.
People do courses to launch a new career without having to learn properly but it's ok because they don't have time or money to do it right.
Some can't get enough of the courses because they can't learn by themselves.
Some believe that full time tilers are usually rubbish so aren't worth learning from anyway.
Coincidently, I met an apprentice at work today who spent £1200 on a course and said it was a total waste of time and money as he was in no state to tile on his own afterwards which was the point of the course.
Luckily. he's now learning the proper way.
By the way, good tilers don't mess around doing domestic rubbish, they do 100s of metres of commercial and need apprentices to help lay it and bring home £300-£1700 every day. (And you lot probably wont believe that because you can't bring yourselves to).

 

[quick draw macgraw]

I attended the couse to do jobs for myself and have done work for friends at a good standard and had no comebacks only recomendations. I work for rolls royce producing aero engine components worth anything upto £50,000 with tight tolerences and feel i could teach any one of you to produce the same part within maybe two weeks without any prior knowledge but when i'm asked to apply 25 pence tiles onto a kitchen wall i get all nervous and thats because i want to do a good job and not get slagged off, its all down to the person as there are those that give a toss and those who only think of themselves, i'd rather refuse a job than make a hash of it.i'm not up my own backside thinking i know it all, and thats why i havn't chucked my job yet cos i dont consider myself a full blown tiler that comes with years experience as does being an engineer (sorry two weeks).:whatchutalkingabout

Cheers Steve.

P.S. flying a plane is a piece of pee as well i tried an hour trial and found its not as hard as it looks!! Just takes practice like everything else.

P.P.S still trying to please the wife after 17 yrs and got nowhere

 

[tfs]

Chris,

I din't take offecne to your post mate. Hope I got my point of view across though.

kris

 

[Raja]

Some can't get enough of the courses because they can't learn by themselves.
lost for words here we have an expert

 

[Dicko1973]

Chris

People probably missed the point because of the way you write .

Your last comment starts off like a well meaning one then you finish it with comments like the domestic rubbish one and then the one where none of us are able to believe what you tell us.

Is it really any wonder people think your dissing them. I'm sure people on here pay mortgages with the domestic rubbish you're on about. And maybe we do believe you on how much they earn maybe some of us Particuarly me don't care if joe bloggs can earn £1700 a day, good luck to him.

I don't know if you can bring yourself to beleive this but it is not all about the money.

And I don't think anyone has missed your point Chris you're making it crystal clear.

 

[Raja]

thank u dicko

 

[Yorkie]

People do courses to launch a new career without having to learn properly
I find this comment extremley offensive.

Coincidently, I met an apprentice at work today who spent £1200 on a course and said it was a total waste of time and money as he was in no state to tile on his own afterwards which was the point of the course.
Luckily. he's now learning the proper way.

Unfortunatley theirs the Good the bad and the ugly in every Industry, Training is no different.

By the way, good tilers don't mess around doing domestic rubbish, they do 100s of metres of commercial and need apprentices to help lay it and bring home £300-£1700 every day. (And you lot probably wont believe that)

People can judge this comment for themselves and make their own mind up

Anyone would think that youre trying to put of new tilers attending courses? ulterior motive maybe? Scared of competition? etc...

 

[tfs]

Ok,

I think this post has given Chris plenty of feedback on his question.

Time for us all to stop now I think.

lol

kris

 

[DevonChris]

Sorry to annoy you all but my last reply was a wind up as I felt some of you did over react to the first question.
That's annoyed you again hasn't it!