i was looking in my local newspaper this morning looking through the job section there was a tiling course ad that read in just 4 weeks become a professional tiler & earn £45k +per year. does anybody on this forum earn that kind of money from tiling not many if any i would say

That's a misprint i would say...more like £45.00

totally misleading,especially if doing domestics.

Realistically you could earn about 30k per year TOP. Especially with the amount of competition out there now. 3 or 4 years ago I think this would have been very achievable.

45K, not as your average SE tiler. Not even close to my turn over...and im busy!

I worked for a guy that used to charge us both out for the week at around £1500 - £2000 and we'd get it. We'd do a bathroom for 2k from top to bottom with new suite (not in with the price obviously) and electric underfloor heating and all sorts - we'd actuall make on all products and materials too. Costing the customer between 3k and 5k - with my gaffa making about 2k and me the 500 quid lol.

It is achievable if you sell extras like tiles and adhesives etc on every job you can and you have good contacts, you can up sell to adding design work into the job for extra money, what people forget is that you have to be a salesman before you are a tiler, if you dont sell your work, doesnt matter how good a job you would have done, someone else is doing it and making your money. Think every way you can on how you can earn exras from the job, thats what i teach, thats when you will notice the money comming in, had a lad ring me last week to say that he made £150 profit on the tiles and £60 on adhesives before he even started doing the job, Think like that.

you,ll never earn 45k bathroom bashing thats for sure

now site works a whole different ball game

Big Floors is what you need to get the dosh in, ive just given a job to two tilers who are on a 1200 metre shopping centre floor in aderdeen at the moment, they are pulling in about £400 per day each, £18 per metre, 600x600 tiles, no grouting to be done as well, they are getting the polish in to grout up. Plenty jobs like that is what you need, again have the right contacts is the key

Very good Darren, any chance you could get me one of those

People ring me all the time for work to be done, next one in Scotland, its yours mate

45 k per year in any trade is possibel but it requires planning, contacts, experience, and a real will to work hard and be very motivated. we are facing a tough few years so maybe it will be harder to achieve than in the past. if this kind of money is to be achieved then i believe high end domestics, ie wetrooms, natural stone fixing, bathroom design supply and fit is the key. or site work with no obstacles and decent meterage prices but speed is a big big factor and the older pros will make more than the newer brigade due to their experience and technique.

one word of advice i would give to any new tiler/plasterer whatever is....dont listen to tiling training centers when it comes to 'how much can i earn a year'. these guys are in the business to make money from you!!!!!! they will happily profess all day long to the amount you can earn becaue they want you to jump on board and train with them. honestly, if they were so happy and fulfilled tiling, then why did they stop doing it and decide to fast track train people. the answer is, there is far far more money to be made making money from newbies than there is in tiling!! isnt that right darren?

listen to the people who are on the sites or who are tiling for a living , who are actually out there with years of experience like dave, pj, mz etc etc.

hope you do make your 45k, just be open minded and look to expand when the opportunity arises..

I thank you all for sharing your opinions with us all.

Though I know it's possible to earn far more than even £45k - though I know when you start up in the tiling game it's hard to earn £10k per annum.

And the reason is it's a new business. Many businesses fold within their first three years of trading. If you can get past that time you know you'll be booming with referals alone - let alone pushing your business to a new level.

I think site-work pays the least personally. And the work isn't nice work, and you're often using the wrong gear due to price-wars.

I think you'll soon find the markets steady off here in the UK. And the good tilers will be getting good work.

As I promise you this: TILES ARE BEING FITTED TODAY - AND TOMORROW - AND THE DAY AFTER - so is it you that's fitting them or somebody else?

B&Q sell the most tiles in the UK. Even more than Topps. Even more than Topps and the next few big guys even! And they're still selling the same amount of tiles this year as they were last year and the year before! And I think they'll be selling MORE tiles next year too!

I dont think burden was having a pop at me because i know him well, Thing is anything is achievable if your self employed, its when your employed you are restricted, if i tell you you can only make 15 k per year and you done 16 grand in that year, you would be happy, on the other hand if i tell you, you should be earning 50 k per year and you tried for that and only made 25 k, well thats better than the 16 you were happy with before.
I say on my website that you can earn up to 40 k per year as a tiler and i stand by that, i dont say that you are going to do it in the first year as any new business has to develop but you have to strive to get there and have the motivation in yourself to get there, anyone that has been on my course including burden will tell you that i go in heavily on the business skills you need to make the money, just being a good tiler is not near enough to make plenty money ,The first 4 months of running my training centre i just broke even, its only with hard work and long hours that my reputation has made me do well. So all you tilers out there start thinking like a business man and not a tiler, look for avenues that will make a difference, if it was easy everyone would be doing it, said it before, networking is the answer, the ones who listen and have the drive will do the best

well you can earn a lot more than 45k a year but not very easy on your own you need a good name good contacts and be very good at what you do and the the bigger the risks the bigger the money but also the bigger the fall :Pete

should we have a poll on what the average wage is ?

i remember when i first started had to work a good 6 days to average 100 sq yards which would net you about £2000 at todays prices doing a mixture of jobs so it must be possible :Pete

the add said tiling nothing else

Lets also not confuse "turnover" with what you are actually left on the bottom line. These are 2 entirely different things.

I assume these "Earning" are referring to "Turnover"?

All down to business head and speed,
i'm not quick but have a good head.
I once made £720 by just supplying addy,then a lot of££ for using it,
another time used my 5% agreement with tile shop to net me £900 for spending an hour with a customer picking tiles.
There is ways and means,this evening i arranged a supply and fit,more profit for little effort.
The joys of tiling.

I was talking profit figures. The turnover would have been quite impressive if I ever sat and worked it out - though I was young and naive and taken advantage of so I didn't. I'd like to see somebody try to employ me and do the same now! I'd be taking all their business lol. We were VAT registered, and we had more than the average Tiler's Tax bills I'm sure (again - didn't deal with it at the time). Though we used to do plumbing, bathroom / kitchen fitting and tiling of the most bespoke for all the right people in the trade (architects specifiers and other tile firm high flyer's to say the least).

essex tiling training

i stand by my comments...

i wouldnt listen to tiling centers when it comes to what you can earn. i want my advice to come from people who are out there earning, not teaching. impartial is the word i am looking for ;0)

as for darren, well i have waxed lyrically about the man on many an occasion. he's a great tiler and business man and hes where he is today through what hes achieved. his feedback far exceeds any compliments i can pay him. his integrity is part of his success imho....now thats all your getting out of me darren or your head will be too big to squeeze into that porsche!!


finally finally finally,,

of course you can earn 45k

10 meters a day at £20 per meter is £200 a day
multiply that by 6 days and thats £1200-00 per week or £60k per year (50 weeks)

so there you go 45k can be smashed!!! trick is to get the quantity and the quality, thats the bit that takes time. marketing is a science and it needs to be learned. its all about statistics and psychology. tiling centers should concentrate on what they do well which is teach tiling. ok, darren has a strong business background running through his family so he's the exception but marketing and selling is harder to learn than tiling thats why there are so many tilers and tradesman under achieving when it comes to earning potential....

cook a man a fish and he eats for a day
teach a man to fish and he eats for life???

thank you essex and all the forum sponsors for the money you pay to keep this forum free......

Originally Posted by tiler burden

essex tiling training

i stand by my comments...

i wouldnt listen to tiling centers when it comes to what you can earn. i want my advice to come from people who are out there earning, not teaching. impartial is the word i am looking for ;0)

as for darren, well i have waxed lyrically about the man on many an occasion. he's a great tiler and business man and hes where he is today through what hes achieved. his feedback far exceeds any compliments i can pay him. his integrity is part of his success imho....now thats all your getting out of me darren or your head will be too big to squeeze into that porsche!!


finally finally finally,,

of course you can earn 45k

10 meters a day at £20 per meter is £200 a day
multiply that by 6 days and thats £1200-00 per week or £60k per year (50 weeks)

so there you go 45k can be smashed!!! trick is to get the quantity and the quality, thats the bit that takes time. marketing is a science and it needs to be learned. its all about statistics and psychology. tiling centers should concentrate on what they do well which is teach tiling. ok, darren has a strong business background running through his family so he's the exception but marketing and selling is harder to learn than tiling thats why there are so many tilers and tradesman under achieving when it comes to earning potential....

cook a man a fish and he eats for a day
teach a man to fish and he eats for life???

thank you essex and all the forum sponsors for the money you pay to keep this forum free......

Essex doesn't sponsor us. Darren (NETT) does though.

i know ;0)

Originally Posted by grumpygrouter

Lets also not confuse "turnover" with what you are actually left on the bottom line. These are 2 entirely different things.

I assume these "Earning" are referring to "Turnover"?

net i would think grumpy turnover dont meen nowt then 1% 100 mil wouldent be bad lol

hi howard im a domestic tiler in tameside and this amount is not impossible to earn
this is what i expect to earn.

have you made £45k yet

through my books max 25k. off the record 45k is not hard to get mate

Wise words from the Burden

I like it Andy.