have heard that Leeds & Bradford are getting quite flooded with foreign tilers - especially Polish - by all accounts these guys are cheaper - but also do a damn good job.
Well thats my point, is it not a bit worrying that we allowed 500% more into the country than we predicted and allowed for. What a politicaly embarrasing country I live in. :-(
Now now - you don't want anyone declaring holy war on this forum do you ????
Anyways, thought you had the same problem in your neck of the woods ? Or is that Blackburn ?
there isnt an issue with how many tilers are out there ,its more to how easy the tiling is and how attractive the wages can be thats whats making everyone want to do it,i know a couple of chec tilers that have only worked for agencys and they think its a peice of **** but i dont think they could go any further within the tiling market .
i read a story the other day about two fellas that went out to somewhere like chec and opened a tiling school and charging to train checs so they have a trade for when they come here because its that easy but they dont teach anything extravagant on them courses anyway so they can only use council whites like on the courses over here with the odd diamond pattern thrown in to make you feel qualified
im not knockin these tiling course either but i served my time with pro tilers working in the commercial and domestic sector and i had so much to learn that i didnt even consider going on my own for years! during that time i made many contacts within the trade and now i get a constant stream of work from em !! the trick to making plenty money at this game tho apart form being good and reliable is to be reasonably fast! if you take too long to tile bathrooms no fitters will take u on and speed comes with years of experience!! so to answer the question my earnings are going up but to new tilers coming in i think some will struggle and probably give up!
im not knockin these tiling course either but i served my time with pro tilers working in the commercial and domestic sector and i had so much to learn that i didnt even consider going on my own for years! during that time i made many contacts within the trade and now i get a constant stream of work from em !! the trick to making plenty money at this game tho apart form being good and reliable is to be reasonably fast! if you take too long to tile bathrooms no fitters will take u on and speed comes with years of experience!! so to answer the question my earnings are going up but to new tilers coming in i think some will struggle and probably give up!
I don't think it takes your average person years to get tiling down completely. Fair enough you've come up the right way and been under someones wing for years and no doubt you know your stuff very well, so respect. Yet the basic fact of tiling is that it isn't rocket science and as said by someone else is part of the attraction. Alot of people like myself who've just decided they want a change in life from my long term career and beable to take on a trade that doesn't require lots of training, college or sitting on a **** wage for ages while training under someone. Tiling is one of those trades fortunately and will attract. I agree some will struggle but if your willing to find the work, unless your crap at it success if quite possible.
im not knocking guys like your self in fact major respect to anybody who can change career and make a go of it!! i was just trying to point out that its not as easy as some seem to think to make a good wage out of tiling!!
I worry that many guys are paying good money for sub-standard training. I have seen for myself the results when people come off a training course - some are not too good.
What is needed is some kind of accreditation for these guys who do the training.
Lets face it - anyone who thinks they can tile can set up a course.
Sorry for being the black sheep here, but this needs to be said
