just out of interest. mainly for benifit of new and thinking of becoming a tiler ,id like to start a list of advantages (of being a tiler ) disadvantages (of being a tiler ) if you can list 3 for each doesnt matter if someone else
lists the same could be interesting ill start .
advatages
1 ,you see a lot of new houses
2,tou meet nice people
3.job satfaction
disadvantages
1.no set hours (ex 9 to 5)
2.sore knees back and wrists
3,organising work (when jobs are not ready by agreed date with no warning)
thanks

This sounds like an excellent thread topic Jay, thank you for starting it.

Come on guys, don't be shy. Tell us what you like about being a tiler and what you don't

Good points

1. No boss, otherthan the wife.
2. Work how you want to work and when.
3. Satisfaction looking at a completed job knowing you did it.

Bad points

1. No paid holidays.
2. Having to drum up your own work and not having the guarantee of a weekly wage.
3. Having to often deal with really odd people.

good points

1 not working in the cold and rain
2 can earn a good wage when the work is there
3 no boss

bad points

1 waiting around for jobs to start
2 people saying im not paying for that to b done because the man at #&# said
3 the work christmas partys are rubbish

good points:-
1.doing something you enjoy
2.you get some great customers
3.the best point is meeting so many people on the forum to share experiences and advice

bad points:-
1.customers that know more than you
2.it can be quiet
3.sore knees

Good points:
1. Being your own boss(i go home when i want,lol)
2.Making your own money for a change(when you have work.lol)
3.Meeting lots of new people(you soon notice you have hundreds of numbers in phone,lol)

Bad points:
1. Usually more bills to pay(you have more confidence spending)
2.No holiday pay !!!!
3.Pressure if no work in pipe

good :

1) As a finishing trade..you get the 'oh wow!' factor when customer sees the end result
2) Always something new to learn..however long you've been at it.
3) You're not a groundworker! (only joking groundworkers!)

Bad :

1) Everyone is actually a tiling expert (or so they'd have you believe)
2) "The bloke from the yellow pages reckons it would only cost" etc. etc. etc. conversations
3) Black grout..satans very own sputum

Good:
Being your own boss
Meeting lots of people
Being able to say "I did that"
Bad:
Lack of money when its quiet
Its not as easy as people think
Its more physical than you think

Originally Posted by Richardk

Good:
Being your own boss
Meeting lots of people
Being able to say "I did that"
Bad:
Lack of money when its quiet
Its not as easy as people think
Its more physical than you think

r u my Knight in shining armour!

Good point - Seeing a great big gleaming bathroom, all grouted and polished, and thinking 'I did that.'

Bad point - a big hard blister thing on the palm of my hand which never goes away. Not good when playing with boobies...

The Good:

Mudding a bathroom, floor and walls, and setting the tile, knowing that you are doing work the same way it has been done for centuries (setting materials a bit different of course). Building it solid and building to last.

The Bad:

Damn this is hard work!

The Ugly:

As said before, it's hard to compete sometimes against the hackers that don't have a clue and only give a "30-30" warranty, and sometimes the customers can't be made to see the difference and hire the other guy based on price alone.

good
1 no boss to mess with your head.
2 taking pride in your work.
3 getting to meet lots of new people

Bad
1 no set hours, can over work yourself.
2. know it all customers
3. Customers who dont make coffee lol but the ones who make square sausage rolls cancel them out!

It's creative and gives a real sense of achievement.
You can never know it all and learning is fun.
You can take pride knowing your a professional.

You have to fix some ugly tiles from time to time.
You have to put up with customers pets and messy houses.
Every one you know wants a freebie.

when times are hard.. take what you can.
never do a bodge, your reputation is worth more.
what takes years to achieve, takes minutes to destroy..

i could go on but ill get banned!

on the upside you can work where and when and for who you want!

lets face it, we have all met the "potential" customer we dont like!

Good points
1 the flexibility of working for yourself
2 meeting loads of people (lots who treat you like a family friend)
3 job satisfaction
4 the Forum, never, ever, stop learning
5 i'm not stuck in a factory!!

Bad points, nothing to give me an ulcer but
1 worrying when the phone stops ringing!
2 black grout
3 having to cover your backside when you do a big quote

Good points:
Take about six holidays a year
Finished early for a round of golf
Having your mates jealous ya work for yourself
ya must be good if ya get all your work from word of mouth , Thats my moto

Bad points:
Having a dusty van and not a nice car
Skinny the tops of your fingers from grout
Never get to work wit some pretty ladies

the good points:
not one job is the same,
travelling about in the beutiful lake district doing something i enjoy,
relly nice customers who make you feel like one of their family,
seeing people who really appreciate your hard work,
making peoples dreams come true,
finishing a job earlier than anticipated and having a long weekend off.

Bad points:
no regular income so to speak off,
unpaid holidays,
customers who have done a bit of tiling before,
working with a plumber who is lazy and wants to only make one journey on the job you are on.(first and only fix) you know the ones.
and the worst one for me is when you are working in a house when the occupants are smoking!!!!!!!

what im about to show you is a real life customers house. the occupants smoked about 60 cigs a day for over 40 years without decorating!! i kid you not, so be warned pics are truely shocking: and yes that is pure nicotene

OMG! that's shocking

Yuk

The pictures are awful

Sean that is repulsive!

Why on the top picture has there been water runs, did someone try and clean up

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Why on the top picture has there been water runs, did someone try and clean up

I think thats how it builds up. worst I've seen by a long chalk.

Their lungs must look really good!

Originally Posted by Rob Z

Their lungs must look really good!

i didnt say they were still alive, unforunately her husband passed away with respitarory problems, same as her cats and dogs!! its not water dripping its nicotene!!

a few pics of the bathroom before and after, as you could imagine she was over the moon with her new nicotene free bathroom.



the line going down the next picture is the pull cord for the light!!



and after my magic:

does it still look that way Sean?

Originally Posted by GirlRacerRed

does it still look that way Sean?

to be honest i done the bathroom and after that havent been back, it was last summer that i done it so it might have been cleaned up. if there was ever a reason to give up smoking this is it. people tell me i should show the pictures to like anti smoking groups and goverment health people.