Starting out

**Bizla** · 16-07-2008

Hi there, I was just knocked backed from a 2 year Floor and Wall tiling course at Telford college. I was gutted as I had set my mind on it. I have found a tiling centre near where I live. It is only 4 weeks long and will cost nearly £2000. Is it to the same standard? Is it worth persuing? Thanks in advance.

**Turkish** · 16-07-2008

Hi mate, you could have a look on the course feedback thread on here to see if the centre to which you`re refering is on there?

Good luck!

Turkish

**cjbombero** · 16-07-2008

Hi Bizla & welcome to the forum.

I completed a four week wall & floor tiling course in May and I was happy with the amount of training I received. My course was in Luton, was BAL certificated and cost £1600. My advice would be to take your time choosing where you learn as there have been others on the forum who have been dissapointed with the training they paid for. Shop around, go and visit the centre befre booking and speak to some ofthe centre's on the site (on the right hand bar)

You have to be realistic and understand that you will not learn everything in four weeks but it should be enough to get you started, use the forum to ask questions and read other peoples posts to expand your knowledge and learn from other peoples mistakes

Best of luck with whatever course of action you take,

cjbombero

**whitebeam** · 16-07-2008

Hello bizla and welcome, Agree with what cjbombero says, If you do go down the training course route you may want follow it up with an nvq, May cost you bit more but if your young and thats the career you want to follow your,ll need it for site work

**tysfoot** · 16-07-2008

i did a rubbish course for £300. didnt really learn anything apart from puttin a tile on a wall. got all my experience fom reading on here, starting out doin my own bathroom and learning as you go. Most of it is common sense.
I ant understand why anybosy would pay so much for a tiling course.

Its a lot different if you wanted to be a sparky or a plumber

**salmonfisher** · 16-07-2008

Originally Posted by tysfoot

i did a rubbish course for £300. didn't really learn anything apart from puttin a tile on a wall. got all my experience fom reading on here, starting out doin my own bathroom and learning as you go. Most of it is common sense.
I ant understand why anybosy would pay so much for a tiling course.

Its a lot different if you wanted to be a sparky or a plumber

what did you expect for £300 and you certainly didn't gain any experience from this site advise yes. and yes you learn as you go and yes most is common sense but don't slag of courses until you have done them a 4 week course will probably cover more aspects of the business side, advertising etc. where reading your posts over the last couple of week you are lacking
and don't expect to be a plumber or spark on a 4 week course

**grumpygrouter** · 16-07-2008

Originally Posted by tysfoot

i did a rubbish course for £300. didnt really learn anything apart from puttin a tile on a wall. got all my experience fom reading on here, starting out doin my own bathroom and learning as you go. Most of it is common sense.
I ant understand why anybosy would pay so much for a tiling course.

Its a lot different if you wanted to be a sparky or a plumber

I paid for a 4 week course Tys and I am doing fine.

**tysfoot** · 16-07-2008

just my opinion that a 4 week course is a waste of money. the reason why im not fully set up is because of other commitments. all the jobs i have completed in the past have been great and so do the customers think as well.
The only things i cant do is undrfloor heating and total bathroom refits but that covers plumbing skills.

I ask a lot and learn alot from that and in my eyes you dont need £1800 for a course and £5000 to set up

**bj F** · 16-07-2008

Hi m8 I did both I have completed the ICA at college and done an advanced course at a training centre in brum. Although I am not knocking the ICA it is all about portfolio building and the advanced course was practical hand on work. I still have to get evidence to get the NVQ but seriously doubt if I would have the skills to get the evidence without the practical training from the privet centre.

**kilty55** · 16-07-2008

hi bizla,im in edinburgh mate,,pity about telford college not giving you a spot ,i done the course at edinburgh tiler training and thought it was great,theafter course support you get is second to none also.well recommended from myself

**tactile** · 16-07-2008

i paid £500 for a 1 week course at NORTH EAST TILING TRAINING in south tyneside. you can read the reveiws on this site. you wont find a bad one. theres a link on the right of this page i think!

you can learn to stick a tile on the wall properly in about 10 mins!
the rest of the week you spend learning all the preperation, cuts, pricing etc.

once you get all the knowledge and background info you need, you can go home ,buy a bit of ply and practise till your hearts content as im sure thats all you do for the further 3 weeks on other courses.

and if you do encounter any other problems, the answers are always on here.
honestly, i never lifted a tile in my life. walked straight out of this course and tiled a bathroom a week later.
you'll also be able to answer most of the posts on this site after the course.
a mountain of knowledge is drilled into you in the form of a well thought out text book which will be your bible for the first few month!

**whitebeam** · 16-07-2008

Hi bizla, The biggest subject for me is the substrate, You could be the best tiler in the world but if you don,t know what your putting tiles onto big problems can accure, So go for a course that teaches you from ground zero

**tysfoot** · 17-07-2008

yeah i agree with tactile. i did my course leaned everything i needed to tile walls floors and difficult cuts and all the preparation, also done a plastering course.
I did my bathroom that looks great and did dozens more without negative feedback and a tip on most jobs

There are areas that i wont do like underfloor heating, swimming pools, large commercial and industrial projects but where live customers seem to want only ceramic or porceliain and there only small aeas no bigger than 35ms so its suites me

If i find that the tidies change and there is work out there ill invest my money in doing an advanced course.

**cjbombero** · 17-07-2008

I felt that it was important to get some proper training behind myself rather than just wing it, I had done a bit of DIY tiling previously but as Whitebeam say's knowing about substrates, primers, adhesives, grouts, trowels, tile types, setting out large format area's etc are all invaluable to help you getting started.

In my four week course I tiled a full kitchen (45 diamonds) and bathroom (with borders, mosaics and a wonky window), used ceramics, travertine, porcaline, a had a play with some slate.

I suppose it's all about the service you plan to provide, I work in one of the most expensive areas in the UK and recently tiled a bathroom that the owner had spent 15K on, so my quality has to be spot on. If you think your going to be putting up crappy B&Q tiles every week then just wing it as no matter how much training you do they still look rough!

Best of luck

cjbombero