Wanting a New career

[tiler21]

Hi,
at the moment i am working in a printers as a programmer and i am looking for a new career , i just thought i would ask a few question ,

firstly is there still alot of demand for tilers ?
are these 2+ week courses any good ?

how would i go about getting into tiling ?

cheers

[garythetiler]

you will be coming into the trade at a very difficult time , but there are two ways of looking at it, by starting now you will see the reality of what being self employed is like, struggling for work, being undercut on price, battling against foreign labour that does not have the over heads you will have but that said things will get better ,you will struggle right now if you are just starting out but even in good times a beginner will struggle at first,bottom line being self employed in the tiling game right now is tough and you will not have the comfort of a steady wage coming in, i would reccommend that do your trianing and gain experience tiling for friends and family at first maybe doing it at weekends, once you have decided if you think you can make a living at it give up your printing job and make a go of it , good luck whatever you decide and choose a good training centre,to answer your question about a 2 week training course I say no, you cant learn to grout properly in 2 weeks let alone tile ,a 2 week course will just give you a insight into tiling

[365drills]

There are 26,000,000 million houses in the UK so thats a lot of potential bathrooms that need re-tiling plus of course commercial tiling and new builds.

There's always demand for trades with skills (Plumbers, Sparkies, Roofers, Plasterers and of course tilers)

So yes get on a training course thats local to you. Once you qualify you can do it second income for a while to build up your trade. Evenings and Weekends.

Then when you're ready - take the plunge!

[Daz]

I had a basic knowledge of tiling having learnt from my Dad when I was a lot younger, and having done quite a few DIY, friends and family jobs. I did a 4 week course, then launched myself as a self employed tiler.

If after doing a course (minimum 4 weeks IMHO) you think that you will enjoy tiling as a career, then, start slowly with "easy" jobs, i.e. standard / small format ceramics and not too many metres.

As your confidence, knowledge and ability grows then start looking at the more difficult jobs such as porcelain, large format and larger areas. Don't try and take on too much too soon! Too many tilers that are new to the trade think they can work with large format natural stones from day 1 and end up doing a sub standard job

As Gary said, this is not the best time to be thinking about a primary career in construction. You will need to evaluate your overheads as earnings will be slim during your startup period (1-2 years).

But, if you are determined that this is what you want to do and are prepared to graft for what you want then you will be successful. Tiling is a fantastic career and way of life, I love my job even when it feels that the whole world is against me.

One last thought, I don't know your age or physical health but be aware that tiling is a very physically demanding career. If your not lugging heavy boxes up and down stairs or 20kg bags of adhesive from shop to van to customers, then you will be trying to fit into the most awkward small space and contort yourself to be able to mark cuts, or scrabbling around a floor on your knees or stretching to mark and fit that last cut to the ceiling. I not only lost weight when I started from the physical side but found that my weekends were spent sleeping as a means of recharging after a bloody hard week working! Still love it though

[Fred]

Stay in your job mate. I'm in south west London, and getting no calls with all the ads I do! And thats alot of money on advertising. Its only for a bathroom fitter I was recommended to, that I'm getting by. Think about it in a year or so. Its taken me over 7 years to get contacts!

[whitebeam]

If you do make sure your marketing is top notch

[LM Ceramics]

i can only echo on what gary and daz say not really the best time to get into any trade at the moment it is extremley hard for all of us and especially us newbies id stick with your job but take the course aswell if thats possible learn the basics and start small friends family etc ie kitchen bathroom splashbacks then your confidence will build and by the time were out of this mess you should have the confidence to be a competent tiler whether you choose self employement or employment with a firm.

As for self employment be prepared to work hard your profit will be low, awkward customers, waiting on payment not an easy life and aswell competing against cheap workers not easy

[smurf21]

Get yourself on a good course but dont think for one minute that at the end of that 2/4 week course you'll know it all coz you wont but it is a good starting point as there arnt many apprenticeships about then start slow and dont expect to earn to much at first and be prepared to wait for your money not everyone pays the moment your tools go back on the van we have been doing it 25 years and just worked six weeks solid and not a single cheque come through the door but its nice to be owed it so weigh it all up and if you think its for yu go for it...