Hey Tilers,

Sorry if your sick of these sort of posts but im just having a look around the site getting a feel for things. I am looking to throw commitment at becoming a tiler at the grand old age of 36. Trying to make sure im doing the right thing, because when i do commit myself, i do it properly otherwise im wasting my time and that of others. I remember a tiler coming to my apartment and doing a relatively small tile job in the kitchen, but he did a very good clean finish and i always admire a good job, no matter what it is. It cost £150 cash. I thought it was reasonable money given the fairly short time it took him, but it was well worth the cost. It inspired me shall we say.

Anyway im a manual lad myself, having worked in roofing yards when younger and worked on the roofs so im no stranger to graft and think id be suited to this.

Problem is im near Warrington and having had a good look ont net, there is only stc (previously pts) and im not keen as there is no recognised accreditation on completion of a 4 week course that costs £1,500. Thats no good to me.

Is there anywhere in Manchester where you can complete a 4-6 week course, whereby upon completion you obtain a recognised qualification, or a unit of progress towards one ?

If not then where are the recommended course locations which meet the above requirement ? Is it going to be Chase tiling or the construction skills college in staffs ?

Thanks in advance kev

Hi Kev
Have you looked at our courses, we have loads of feedback in the feedback section, we can fast track you into what you are looking for, i teach the tiling myself and although the course is fast paced it delivers the goods in half the time and cost, Decents digs up here cost about £23 a night, we get people from much further away than you are travelling in for training, got a lad on thats come in from Ireland this week, 2 weeks max is all we need to get you where you could start a career in tiling

Regards
Darren
www.learntotile.co.uk

Hi and welome..

Hi,
PTS no longer have a centre in Warrington even though it is still mentioned on the web site. Unless they have re-opened in the last couple of months.

hi kev mate,

im local to you myself (liverpool)

i would personally recommend nett in newcastle. i know theres closer as i searched them all myself and trust me when i say that the extra distance is worth travelling to. if your serious about it book with nett and i promise you wont regret it.

paul

hi

Im an old school tiler, learnt my tade on site with a tiler my uncles. Im 36yr and my best advise is to do the same as me. There is to much to know, 2 weeks hmmm. 6 month before I was aloud to put a tile on a wall. Grouting and more grouting 6 months of it. there is more to it than level line and spreeding the wall

try CITB web site learn at collage get your NVQ

Thats a great way of learning to tile over a 2 year period when your 16 at £50 per week wages, unfortunatly when you get older with commitments you need to learn in a much more fast track way, also your mind is different when your an adult and you learn differently, some apprentices at 16 struggle to make the coffee never mind produce tiling work and lets face it when your 16 -17 your not interested in learning anything unless it drink or sex related, we get people producing fantastic results in no time at all, just got to look at some of the work produced after 2 weeks on our website, makes some more experienced tilers blush

Originally Posted by Simmo35

hi

Im an old school tiler, learnt my tade on site with a tiler my uncles. Im 36yr and my best advise is to do the same as me. There is to much to know, 2 weeks hmmm. 6 month before I was aloud to put a tile on a wall. Grouting and more grouting 6 months of it. there is more to it than level line and spreeding the wall

try CITB web site learn at collage get your NVQ

It was the same for me mate lol, endless unloading tiles, putting them in the right place for tiler, making tea, getting sandwiches, putting bets on lol, mixing grout, adhesives and sand/cement for fixing and not forgetting endless grouting.

After a few months the fella i worked for used to leave me with all the grief, he would put up all the full tiles and leave me with the cuts.

Looking back i probably did not appreciate it at the time but it was a fantastic way to learn and i am glad i did it that way.

Unfortunatly the opportunity to learn this way is now quite rare.

blush dont think so , somewhat insulting really 2 weeks become a tiler , still the job is easier today with wet cutters ,lasers, spacer pegs,access to the internet and thats just touching the subject
met many new tilers they are very limited in want they can do which i would expect,

I know some tilers that have been tiling for 40 years and there work is absolutly terrible, just got to look at a lot of work done by council tradesman that fall into the old school ways of tiling, there is good and bad in all cases, some people pick things up quickly and can be taught very easily others cant.
How many people have been driving cars for years and are an absolute liability on the road, so doesnt mean that longer is better,
The courses myself and Max run is far from what you believe is taught on a fast track short course, it aint a case of putting 3 rows of tiles on and thanks for comming, we go right down to the depths of everything, probably a lot more info and detailed knowledge than a lot of tilers trading out there will know, the experiance will have to come from outside work but the methods we teach and the situations they train in are close to the real thing

So i think you are commenting on course what you have never been on and know nothing about other than your assuption of them, I take your way of thinking on board though on why you might think like you do

Regards
Darren

Darren

i dont want to get into a slagging match and iam not insulting you fast track tiling is a way to start in the trade, so you give me a detailed summary of how you make so many fast track tilers ,
Grouting time spent
adhesive spreeding
prep walls
prep floors
cutting dry
cutting wet
using grinder
how to use nippers
setting out floors
setting walls
forming falls in commercial wet areas
trims
expansion joints
drita matting
what products to use on different substrates
epoxy grouting
epoxy installation
tanking systems
heated floors
stair- case installation
travertine flooring
marble flooring
stone installation
and thats just the start

but in 2 weeks lets break that down 10 days 80 hours
common sense but then what do i know 34 years in the trade and still learning commercial work , private sector , swimming pools, and never stop learning new produces ,
regards
marbleman

We can keep this light hearted, When did any training centre say they produced expert tilers with 34 years experience in 2 weeks, never, what we do is give people a great understanding of all the subjects above, which we cover by the way, then they can go out and gain their experience and learn same as you have and are, All i know is that thet are going out there with a good start

A lot of methods are repetitive like cutting angles for trims or spreading adhesive etc, once you have been shown how to do something and done it then you would do the same thing again. Take one of your points above, setting out as you mentioned, had a tiler in a couple of weeks ago doing the plastering course, 20 years experience tiling, still sets out with a tape measure, not sure if you use this method but its a joke, i know this method inside out by the way, way over complicated and far too slow, ive got much quicker, faster more accurate ways of teaching people how to do setting out which can give you all the cuts in even the most complicated bathroom or multiple room floors in under 5 mins

I can and have shown thousands of people and get them to cut every shape perfectly out of tiles in 2-3 hours on the first afternoon of the course, not with a crappy pair of nippers like you and I were taught in the old days off some tiler that was shown the same method 40 years prior, my ways are modern inovative ways that get the job done far more quicker and more accuratly and not with 20 cuts in a wet saw or any other electrical cutting tools


Have a look at this pic that a learner did in the first couple of days on the course, no prior tiling experience, The angel was cut from 450 x 450 9mm porcelain then re cut back into a set of tiles, took the lad about 45 mins to do the whole lot

If you live close you could have poped in, you say you never stop learning, well you would learn something from the ways that i do things, different modern methods that i have created, i respect the fact that your a seasoned tiler but ive had seasoned tilers come for the other trades that we teach and they have been shocked when theyve stuck their head in to see whats going on, i end up showing them methods especially the setting out i use

Anyway, like i said we are setting people on their way into the industry to build up a career, hopefully they are in it for the length of time you have been in the game

Regards
Darren

In the end all teaching as well as all learning is down to intention. Having been active in many career paths and studies, and having taught myself, I recognise good teaching when I see it. I went to Darren's course, and I can honestly say that he is the best teacher I have ever come across, I haven't quite figured out how he does it, but the systematic approach, the steady progression from knowing how to cut a tile from straight to awkward corners and round cuts, round sockets, pipes and basins, by had or with a variety of cutters, how to silicone, what the perfect floor addy mix consistency would be like ( no I won't repeat on here, Darren , how to use the tools, how to use them better... etc etc... it all sticks. As does the business, marketing and book keeping advice and his very sober recommendation to practice what you've learned and practice some more... and tips how to, too. You can no more put an old head on young shoulders than produce an experienced first grade tiler the likes of which we are lucky to know on here, but if you combine the right teacher's intention with the right student's intention, a good deal of honesty and being prepared to continue learning, then the NETT course is a brilliant course to start you off with. It is intense, no doubt, but if you look at my Apple Tree Bathroom project I earned the first ever Job of the Month award for, then you will see what I learned on that tiling course. This was my first 'educated' tiling project - what I had learned before was laughable in comparison. Cowboys come from all corners and backgrounds, going to a course does now guarantee you being either cowboy or expert, it is your own intention that turns you into one or the other.

Sorry I lied I'm 37yrs old now had a birthday on saturday oops keep forgetting.

Darren I can see where your coming from, i should not make judgement. I'm shore you could teach me a thing or two. And yep still use a tape to set out. It's the only way I know. But it suites me fine no problem and lot of happy customer.

You could'nt use the old method of setting tiles in sand/cement in modern houses, I've heard of tenting on new work because of movement and drying out of timber

Thanks for the words Gisela, Hope your OK
Simmo, i will send you a pm of how to set out better than you are doing at the moment when i get a chance
Regards
Darren