Bonus

Hi,

I've been interested in a career in tiling for a while now and have read many reviews and tiling sites/courses. My main concern is that it all sounds too good to be true, learning a trade in 8 days seems impossible. Is it really possible to take on the world of a self employed tiler after an 8 day course?

I'm really keen to add to my current income and feel the job satisfaction i'd get from tiling is second to none. Is it possible to be an evening/weekend tiler that provides a decent additional salary?

I'm eager to attend a course (namely at NETT as this seems to be the one with the best reviews) (although any reccommendations of courses around the north west England would be most appreciated) but also feel that the money involved in the course provides a bit of a gamble, that unfortunately is holding myself back from attending and taking the step forward.

What would be the best course to take, if i want to become a self sufficient tiler immediately after training (if its possible)?

Apologies for all the questions, but my interest is being stifled by the thought of gambling money on a potential pipe dream.

Thanks for reading, any responses would be most grateful.

p.s any help regarding forwarding my ambition to become a tiler would be most appreciated

Captain Slow

Hi Bonus,

I can't speak for the NETT course as I haven't done it, but............

I don't believe that you will learn enough in the space of 8 days to pursue a full time career in tiling. However, I did a 4 week course and embarked on a successful full time tiling career only to discover that I knew about 30% of what I needed to know.

It is possible to launch a business after a fastrack training course but be under no illusion that it is not a walk in the park.

Have you done any tiling before? Are you sure that you want to do it for people other than friends and family?

And don't forget that even if you are tiling part-time you will still need public liability insurance; don't take chances as it will come back and bite you.

Good luck in your decision making.
I made the decision to switch career to become a tiler and have absolutely no regrets.

beanz

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you mate, but my impression is that you'd learn enough to get you started on a course, and the rest you have to pick up as you go... Any problems, post on here and 'Hey Presto!!' sorted!

faithhealer

Is it possible, YES. But read the forum for a few weeks and read up on how other lads get on. If you find someones post interesting send them a pm and ask how they did it. friendly site this. Good Luck

Fekin

It all comes down to how well you pick it up during your 8 days.

If possible, have some friends or famlies bathrooms or kitchens to tile afterwards, or even your own, as the first bathroom after the course is like being dropped into the deep end... what with having no one there to ask what to do with any problems.

Fekin

nickj

It is possible but part of it depends on you and how hard you work at it. Scroll through as much of the old posts as you can on this website as it is a massive help and it will teach you things that not even the 6 weeks courses can as it's from guys who have tons of experience.

A big part of it i feel is about peoples standards as well as knowledge, i've seen some peoples tiling that have been doing it for years and feel even i could have done a better job although i'm new to the industry and i've seen people that are new to the industry who have an attitude of 'that will do' and can't spot where lines have run out etc. One of the hardest things is to realise that you are defintely gonig to be slower so one of the biggest tips i can give you is not to rush jobs, take your time and the customer won't care if it's taken you 1 or 2 days longer as long as the quality is there.

As Fekin says, tile a few friends and family to start with as you will learn loads from it.

davy_G

you wont learn enough to be a pro in 8 days but you should learn enough to get by. Then do as the other folks say and tile for friends and family and check these forums out. Alot to learn and to put into practice.

Good luck

Dave Gibson
Ravara Tiling Services

top tiler

you can`t learn any trade in 8 days it took me 4 years to do my apprenticeship [or am i just a slow learner] it takes at least a year to get your eye then theres screeding and rendering or you could become a half decent sticky fixer in about 2 years but if your going to just do private work your get by because if there not happy you dont get paid

LM Ceramics

i agree with top tiler i served a 2 year apprenticeship in tiling so maybe im a little biased on the time served lads although i hear some really good stuff about some courses like the NETT course i dont believe that you can call yourself a tiler after 5 days tiling a full bathroom is different from tiling a bay in a workshop most of it is experience id go for at least a 4 week course at pts warrington ive been and had a look myself and i was quite impressed.

i think you would be better tiling for family and friends first before jumping in at the deep end remember if you go to someones house there a paying customer and the want the best quality work. also agree with captain slow public liabilty insurance is a must it will cover your arse if anything goes wrong

Oli

Firstly Welcome to the forum....

You will get out what you put in mate, if your prepared to listen and work hard, then practice, practice, practice you will get there, but rome wasnt built in a day. A course will teach you the basics, and it's up to you to progress from there, if you need any advice you can always come here and ask. I dont think there's much that between all the members of the forum, you wont get the answer to.

SST Tiling - www.sst-tiling.co.uk - Tiler Wakefield

"Let the caterpillar of learning be the butterfly of skill"

"Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" - James Dean

My Tile Bible

CJ

I started out part time.

5 years worth

Took that long to work up the bottle to av a go

Bonus

Thankyou all for your replies. I think i'm going to give it a whirl and dive in. I might try the 8 day course, then as you say work up confidence and expertise by working on small projects (i.e via family and friends). Although my knowledge of tiling is very minimal, i think if i work hard at it, i hopefully could eventually make it into a full time career.

One more pesky question, do you think after the course i'd be able to take on domestic jobs to a good standard? Therefore be able to focus on a market of simple jobs?

Oh and one more for good luck, how do alot of you guys start out? Do some of you try the way i originally thought, by taking the gamble and diving in at the deep end, hoping to gain as much knowledge to be able to perform the basics which would complete a job to a good standard?

As i said earlier, thankyou all for your responses and assistance. Lets hope this time next year i'll have advanced myself towards becoming a tiling professional!