Tiling Courses Hope this helps - Tile Advice

[Proper Job]

Private Training

There are loads of private tiling courses providers out there who offer you a good understanding of general tiling and the courses range from £250 for a week up to £2500 for a 6 week course. Are they any good yes and no?

They show you how to use various tools; they also show you how to set out your work to perfect walls and floors.
Most private course doesn’t use marble, slate, mosaics, granite and porcelain and it’s a whole different ball game when using these materials.

I did a course at chase tiling academy and went down the 4 week route for a £1000. Was it money well worth spent yes at the time and I learnt enough to be able to tile and do various pattern work. Do I think it was worth it now no.

College Route

Nvq route through College cost anything from free to anything between £1100 - £1500 per year and to gain your NVQ its either two nights a week for two years or 2 days a week for a year This will give you a level 2 it’s an extra year for level 3. You also get your CSCS card to work on site and huge amounts of discount on tools depending on who the college makes a deal with which you can get stuff at just little above cost.

I got invited to walk around south Birmingham college earlier this year and what they covered was amazing compared to my four week private course. They have about 20 or more bays with different set outs you get to tile round baths, shower trays, toilets, sinks and tile around walls from one room to the next using water levels, tiling odd shaped walls and also floors going from one room to the next and offset. You learn Victorian pattern work, tile arches use mosaics for swimming pools which come on big rolls not sheets and use all kinds of tiles from ceramics to natural stones.

You learn how to level floors, box pipes and whole load more stuff so for bang for buck College route is the best.

Don’t forget you still need to gain experience no two jobs are the same in the real world.

The other route is learn why you earn with a tiler, If you can work with a very experienced tiler who does a proper job and does varied work you can’t go far wrong you and can be Assed while you work and you can gain a NVQ level 2.


So there are your options



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Oh i forgot to mention these books are well worth a read
Ceramic and Stone Tiling: A Complete Guide
Complete Tiling by stanley

I have seen some of the dvds out there too and don't bother with the following its well **** The How To: DIY Guide To Tiling

Also i forgot to say a big thanks to the forum, Its full of expert advice and loads of useful posts.

 

[Home Tiler]

Some great advice there proper!
I went on a four week course and thought it wasn't worth it...but saying that i did learn the basics ..was expecting alot more with differant materials but we only got a few hours here and there explaining what adhesives were best to use on differant materials ...and even then it was with ardex stuff..which i don't have a supplier that sells it round here....

now i reckon if people are serious about tiling then they should go to college ...i'm hoping theres a course at my local college ...
i'm deffo gunna try that..
and at the same time ...keep plodding on with my part time work
steve

 

[Proper Job]

Its hard to get in to a college for tiling i believe there is a 2 year waiting list at south birmingham college it might be even more now. I don't know about other parts of the country.

 

[Home Tiler]

yikes...lol....
i'll check it out any way

steve

 

[Fekin]

College may be a good way to go, but a lot of people just can't either afford it, or as my case would be, can't attend the same nights days every week, that's where the 4 day courses come in handy.

Yes they may be very short, but if you can take it all in and you actually have the ability to pick things up quickly then a 4 day course can be very helpful, and give you enough to allow you to go out there and tile for payment.

Obviouslya lot of people will do their course, then tile their own bathroom\kitchen, maybe do a couple of jobs for friends etc, then start doing customers, and make a good job of it.

 

[penno]

I did a 6 week course and at the time thought "this is the dogs". Come back to the real world on jobs with customers saying "i would like these fitted plz" (nat stone mosaics) and end up learning how to fit things like that through this forum because the course when u sit back and look taught me bugger all. It cost me £4500 (well cost the Army as it was my pre release course) including accomodation. Be careful where you choose to be taught your trade.

 

[Home Tiler]

Yes penno i think these courses are pretty naff....but i suppose we have to start somewhere ...

steve

 

[ChaseTiling]

Private Training

There are loads of private tiling courses providers out there who offer you a good understanding of general tiling and the courses range from £250 for a week up to £2500 for a 6 week course. Are they any good yes and no?

They show you how to use various tools; they also show you how to set out your work to perfect walls and floors.
Most private course doesn’t use marble, slate, mosaics, granite and porcelain and it’s a whole different ball game when using these materials.

I did a course at chase tiling academy and went down the 4 week route for a £1000. Was it money well worth spent yes at the time and I learnt enough to be able to tile and do various pattern work. Do I think it was worth it now no.

College Route

Nvq route through College cost anything from free to anything between £1100 - £1500 per year and to gain your NVQ its either two nights a week for two years or 2 days a week for a year This will give you a level 2 it’s an extra year for level 3. You also get your CSCS card to work on site and huge amounts of discount on tools depending on who the college makes a deal with which you can get stuff at just little above cost.

I got invited to walk around south Birmingham college earlier this year and what they covered was amazing compared to my four week private course. They have about 20 or more bays with different set outs you get to tile round baths, shower trays, toilets, sinks and tile around walls from one room to the next using water levels, tiling odd shaped walls and also floors going from one room to the next and offset. You learn Victorian pattern work, tile arches use mosaics for swimming pools which come on big rolls not sheets and use all kinds of tiles from ceramics to natural stones.

You learn how to level floors, box pipes and whole load more stuff so for bang for buck College route is the best.

Don’t forget you still need to gain experience no two jobs are the same in the real world.

The other route is learn why you earn with a tiler, If you can work with a very experienced tiler who does a proper job and does varied work you can’t go far wrong you and can be Assed while you work and you can gain a NVQ level 2.


So there are your options



----
Oh i forgot to mention these books are well worth a read
Ceramic and Stone Tiling: A Complete Guide
Complete Tiling by stanley

I have seen some of the dvds out there too and don't bother with the following its well **** The How To: DIY Guide To Tiling

Also i forgot to say a big thanks to the forum, Its full of expert advice and loads of useful posts.

A very interesting point that should raise a lot of debate here, as I know that 90% of the guys on here are from a 'short course' background.

College courses are good in their own right if you have the time to get them done. Also providing that you are willing to sit around 16-18 year old apprentices that do nothing but mess about all day.

The problem is, is that most adult learners are from a background of work already and are at the edge of desperation with their current job. Because of their financial commitments, they want a rapid career change to help get them back a feeling of job satisfaction again. They cant wait 2 years to get that. So they choose to pay for the privelige of getting a new skill in rapid time. And yes, there are a few centres that do make you pay 'dearly' for this.

Another problem that potential learners are faced with, is the fact that their are now nearly 50 private centres in the UK that provide tiling training. And only 2 of them are accredited to provide City & Guilds Level 2 training (ICA & NVQ). We are one of them.

Our non City & Guilds courses are also accredited by th NOCN, and are progression awards to help in the creation of your portfolio for your NVQ.

This has come from constant Tutor, Curriculum and Centre evaluation, and with a positive attitude towards ensuring that learners are getting value for money and the correct training. Not getting learners to pay £4500 for a 'course attended' certificate, and getting a poor standard of training.

Course after course, we get learners that have done tiling courses elsewhere and have come to top up what they didn't learn, wishing they had come here to us in the first place. Its shocking to hear what some of these people have paid for what they got.

In summary:

College for those that can wait.

An accredited tiling training centre for those that can't.

Best regards
Chase Tiling Academy

 

[Proper Job]

cheers for the reply chase tiling and it makes a lot sense what you said i did a course with you and thought it was really good at the time i had no experience in the field at all and what you offered compared to other private training centres was good value for money. But people think they can go a tiling course for a week and there ready to tile and make a business out as some training providers advertise and it gives people the wrong idea i took the option of a 4 work course which i would say covered the basics of tiling.

Tiling is a massive field !

I personally think the tiling course need to cover the following

Explaining and tiling to different backgrounds not just wooden board in a bay
Walls are never perfect and you need to know what can be tiled and how to over the problem.
Floors are never perfect either and you also need to know how to get round these problems i.e using self levelling products or screeding the floor.
Preparing the background your going to tile to i.e priming the walls and floors and Normal PVA just isn’t good enough.
Wet rooms e.g setting the slopes in the floor, sealing the floor and so on.
Mosaics and i mean proper mosaics not just tiles cut in half and saying there mosaics. Mosaics are a skill in themselves you need to know what your doing.
Tiling around curves or arches.
Learn about the different grading in tiles so you know what application there suitable for. For example you could use the right adhesive for the floor but the customer has brought some tiles for the outside porch and there not frost resistant and they start cracking ??? There is a lot to go wrong is this game.
Different types of trims and how to use them
Different types of grout epoxy grouting is not easy and lot can go wrong
Victorian Pattern work, staggered tiling, diamonds and so on
Using different size tiles and types Ceramics are easy to cut marble, slate, travertine, lime stone, porcelain are much harder.
Using tile nipper correctly so you don’t need a wet cutter for example
Tiling different room layouts.
Pegging off so your grout lines are perfect not just going over with a sponge

The list goes on J

For a lot of colleges now they have mature classes what’s classed as 19 +. So your not with school leavers who can **** around all day.

South Birmingham college run courses 5 days a week.

Full time courses

1 day a week Mon
2 days a week Tues and wed only takes a year to get NVQ2

Evening courses

2 nights a week

They do run these 4 nights of the week not sure what nights of the week and i think its 6pm till 9pm

So there very accommodating these days.

And at the end of the day you will only get back what you put in to the course.

And no i don’t work for south Birmingham college.

 

[ChaseTiling]

Its a fair comment you have put there. And reinforces what I have put in my last post. It boils down to making an informed choice whether to choose the longer route of college, or go the rapid skill route of a private training provider.

Either way, you need to make sure that the course is accredited by a recognised awarding body who's certificate will help you create your portfolio for an NVQ. (There are plenty out there that won't - fact).

Regards,
Chase Tiling Academy

 

[McP77]

I've heard that TTA are going to approve private training centres so that should help to weed out the not so good ones.

 

[Proper Job]

it’s about bloody time all I can say is that I just hope the training provider is not informed before the visit so they get to see what really goes not some st triilan disguise. After spending £1000 for my training i'm a little nift and most the people i met on the course are no longer tiling because they found out its different in the real world.

 

[ChaseTiling]

Proper Job,

We are always sorry to hear at the centre here that potential tilers that have trained here have realised that tiling is not for them and have decided to pack it in.

There are a number of factors that we have picked up on with why this is, with input from our friends at the other centres across the UK. The main ones are:

1. Lack of Confidence
2. Lack of Logical Thinking
3. Poor Problem Solving Skills
4. Poor Communication Skills With Potential Customers and Bad Marketing
5. The Recall To Mind Of Instructed Information
6. Poor Practical Ability

Its not just our centre that experience this, but with our networking with other centres, we know that this is the case across the UK.

We have tilers that have trained here currently working for developers and holding contracts for the next 12 months, with other tilers teaming up with each other to help spread the work out and form companies to meet demand. We have also just qualified 4 tilers that trained here a number of years ago through their NVQ2, which they passed with flying colours.

We are more than happy to ask them to be a reference to the level of training they received (the same as you) and to publish this on this forum.

With your permission, we would like to publish your training record and feedback sheet that you have signed, to say that you received all the training needed to become a newly trained tiler. We would like this published for all to read on here and make an informed opinion of the non accredited courses we were running at the time of your training.

Just to reinforce what I have previously said, all our courses have been developed further to accommodate and ICA award and NVQ. And we haven't had to change hardly anything to our curriculum for this to happen.

Once again, we are sorry to hear that a very small number of individuals that pay to train are finding that tiling is not for them for what ever reason.

Best Regards,
Chase Tiling Academy

 

[grumpygrouter]

I have to say that when I went to do my training earlier this year, I went fully expecting to come away fully armed to take up the profession. I realised about 3 days into the course that there was much, much more to the trade than I had thought. It was made quite clear during the first week of the course that tiling was very hard work and needs a certain level of competence to make a living.

If subsequent to the training, people fall by the wayside, then so be it. The world revolves around business and, like the animal kingdom, only the strong survive.

To blame the tiling training establishments for peoples inability to make self employment work for them is, I feel a little unfair. Neither can a fast track establishment fully train, in 1 course, all that is required to be competent in every aspect of the trade. It is, as was mentioned in a previous post a "massive field". My training provider told us of the additional courses available to trainees wishing to further their knowledgeof such things, mosaics for instance, but like ANY trade, craft, skill, knowledge only really accumulates with experience.

Maybe the people that "packed in" the tiling, did so not because they were unable to tile to a satisfactory standard but because they did not have the business accumen to succeed in their chosen venture. Getting and NVQ from college would have little effect on this, I feel.

Grumpy

 

[ChaseTiling]

grumpygrouter,

You have hit the nail right on the head on one of the factors I mentioned for people's failure in the industry....

It's good to see a sensible response on here on an issue thats been flying around for a while now

Best Regards,
Chase Tiling Academy