New products , new methods

[Sir Ramic]

Why is it that some people dont want to move forward with new products and methods. They seem quite content to carry on the way they were taught or what they are used to without realising that these products and methods can be better and quicker.
It beats me as i love new advances

[merlecollins]

I don' think fellas DON'T want to learn new ideas, I think that sometimes they either don't know of relevant progressions or they feel it just easier to stick with what they know.

I remember when certain blokes came back from Germany in the eighties/early nineties with Washbuoys and the lads who hadn't left the UK laughed at them'What a load of rubbish they said' - 'nowt wrong with just using a sponge' they said........


....the same blokes wouldnt leave the house without there washbuoys now

Tilers just need educating slowly , rather than an expectation that they will change overnight

[Dave]

I am one of those washboy guys... i seen one and thought what a gimmick...couple yrs later i tried one.....never looked back....

[Sir Ramic]

I actualy remember that period and the Lochboys hole cutters.

[Sir Ramic]

I never used one until i went to Australia. The floors were so big i thought i would try it but due to the usual error when most people use the washboy at 1st, the floor didnt look to good and my boss told me it was a waste of money and i should stick to the sponge.....2 floors later he came in and said how mmuch better the floor looked by washing the old way. I pointed to the washboy and then told him how long it had taken me to wash the floor. Next week he was trying one and then everyone had them.
The lockboy never caught on as well though.

[merlecollins]

The lockboy never caught on as well though.

Hideous device, unless you're fixing 6x6 white......

[Dave]

Tradetiler sells the lochboy's..

Lochboy


To make holes up to 40 mm in soft tiles (wall tiles) without using a drill, simply clamp the tile into the Lochboy and hammer the hole. This tool removes the tension from the tile so it won't shatter

To be used with the carbide hammer below (not included)

once you have made the initial hole you can open it up with a pair of parrot nippers

Max throat depth to centre of hole 165 mm

[Dave]

OH!! and the pin hammer to make the holes with...

Carbide Tilers Hammer


For use with the Lochboy above

Carbide tip quickly chips away at the tile surface

Square one end - carbide tipped point the other

weight 160 g

[Bolter]

I have a lockboy and use it occasionally. Pretty handy bit of kit, and very neat hole with practice.

What about modern adhesives? I understand tilers used to sand cement fix?

[pjc]

Neale what did you have on your mnd ?

[Ajax123]

Why is it that some people dont want to move forward with new products and methods. They seem quite content to carry on the way they were taught or what they are used to without realising that these products and methods can be better and quicker.
It beats me as i love new advances

Are you sure you work in the UK industry..... You must do it the same way cos that's the way we've always done it....

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

i love new way's of working me, i whent to germany in the 70's and it was a breath of fresh air ,still looking at new way's now, im going to be changing the way pools are rendered /tiled soon in this country with my developments/system that im working on at the mo im sure

[whitebeam]

This I think covers the whole construction industry. Over the years new ideas have come into the realms of working and many guys have stood back and waited to see if others would be the first to use and test.

[jay]

its hard to teach an old dog new tricks or if it workes dont change it some new products are good

[Ajax123]

This I think covers the whole construction industry. Over the years new ideas have come into the realms of working and many guys have stood back and waited to see if others would be the first to use and test.

I also see a good many old fashioned tradesmen who see a new idea and do everything that they can in order to make sure it doesn't work. Frustrates the heck out of me. I love anything that makes my life easier.

[timeless john]

I'am one of those old timers who wont change.
Have you had a washboy - yes every evening when I get in the shower!
You can't beat sand and cement on waterproof paper with a bit of chicken wire - who need flexible fast set adhesives!
I tell the wife everytime I get indigestion - put me ashes in a tub of BAL and screed me on the wall!!!!!!!
Change - why?

[beanz]

I'm only a new guy, so can only go by what i hear other guys saying... The new products/methods seem to cost more than the way they always did it before; and the old adage "If it ain't broken, don't fix it". I have many of these chats with established tilers, and the general attitude seems to be "when my way fails, i'll review it".

[doug boardley]

I try new tools and methods as long as there's no chance of it being detrimental to the job

[timeless john]

Doug - I remember 12 years ago when I started my son with me!
He had only been with me a couple of weeks when I bought my first paddle mixer ( it was actually a paint whisk on a stanley drill - but it was electric).
Well it mixed the adhesive so creamy and easily that I sacked him!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't as though he made a good cup of tea or anything important.

This week he's tiled a 12m Oyster Stone conservatory floor and a 14m cloakroom walls & floor - and in 4 days!
Now that's progress!!!

[Colour Republic]

Doug - I remember 12 years ago when I started my son with me!
He had only been with me a couple of weeks when I bought my first paddle mixer ( it was actually a paint whisk on a stanley drill - but it was electric).
Well it mixed the adhesive so creamy and easily that I sacked him!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't as though he made a good cup of tea or anything important.

This week he's tiled a 12m Oyster Stone conservatory floor and a 14m cloakroom walls & floor - and in 4 days!
Now that's progress!!!

So you saying you sacked him and because of that he went on to become a great tiler?

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

no man can stand in the way of progress

[Ajax123]

Something else to consider I suppose is that the new innovations are really needed these days because apprenticeships have gone and newbies don't get to learn the old ways. They are launched at the industry with a 4 day training course and no experience. I think the old ways often require a good deal more skill. Take my game, screeding......no really someone take my game I want a new one.........any way look at screeding. To lay sand cement screed properly takes a lot of effort but also to get it flat and level so it does not crack and curl takes a good deal of practice and skill. Flow screeding is so much easier it is unbeleiveable but it is much less skillful.

Same with self levelling concretes. Hand floating a 41 concrete slab 10m wide by 5m deep would take a skilled finisher the best part of a day to do. I could lay the same slab in self compacting concrete in less than 2 hours and get as good a finish in terms of flatness and levelness etc.

If apprenticeships were wtill the norm I guess nothing would need to change.

[garythetiler]

I will try any new method that comes out, I really rate backer boards and uncoupling matting but you have to admit a lot of people try to reinvent the wheel at times and there is a lot of hype around new products which sometimes turn out to be poor
we will all be working with 4mm and 5mm thick porcelain more and more and that will throw up its own set of issues

[Colour Republic]

As a multi-trader I'm always up for new ways of working because I don't get too set in my ways for any one trade. I'm also always on the lookout for new innovative ways to work that makes me quicker and more efficient than my competitors.

That said sometimes it's a bit like fashion, methods come round again as you forget how effective old ways of working are. It always tends to happen when i'm working with a traditional material and I treat it like a craftsman would have done many years ago

[Rob Z]

Some of the best work I have gotten has come from knowing both the old methods and the newest methods.

Learning to do old-fashioned mud work on floors and walls has led me to getting many jobs that the other guys can't or won't do.

And knowing some of the newer crack isolation membranes and tanking products has led to great jobs, as well.

I think it is important to be well-versed in both ends of the trade, and be flexible and know when to use which products and methods.

It is a delicate balance to strike between selling and installing what a prospective customer asks for and also leading them to what you know (as the professional setter) that they need for their particular installation.