up against it here

[stevee]

works still slack for me, was doing ok until a month ago , only had one call

then last week i heard the manager from the local topps tiles has started up his own tiling outfit with a mate, he lives in the same town as me

then ,in the local tile shop yesterday getting a few bits, the owner tell me he`s had plumbers ,plasterers, builders ,chippys ect... in buying addy and grout

got quite a bit in pipeline,but its when , oh well ,keep ploddin on for a bit longer i suppose......lets hope it picks up in the spring........

[paulyoung666]

not good , do you advertise or could you advertise ?? , would it be worth doing your own leaflet drops in your area ?? , small advert in your local papers classified section ??

[stevee]

hiya bud ,alredy do that and yellow pages, gonna have to think of other ways too

[marky]

Hi stevee i now all about it,been bad for me to(West Midlands),about 6 tilers going for 1 job,if price is right you get it people do not wont to pay O WELL

[Bolter]

hiya bud ,alredy do that and yellow pages, gonna have to think of other ways too

Scrap the yellow pages, get a website (doesnt have to be big or expensive, in fact talk to Dave) and have it optimised for google. You will get way more phone calls that way. Only other thing I can think of is to get some cheap business cards, and just go out posting them. If you get 5 calls from 500 drops, its getting worth it, especially if times are tricky. Pick the right areas and post post post.

Best of luck!

[Sean fsy]

works still slack for me, was doing ok until a month ago , only had one call

then last week i heard the manager from the local topps tiles has started up his own tiling outfit with a mate, he lives in the same town as me

then ,in the local tile shop yesterday getting a few bits, the owner tell me he`s had plumbers ,plasterers, builders ,chippys ect... in buying addy and grout

got quite a bit in pipeline,but its when , oh well ,keep ploddin on for a bit longer i suppose......lets hope it picks up in the spring........

The manager as probably been sideing the work off for his mates for a long time, maybe why you have been quiet, the other thing is if builders and joiners are doing tiling around your way, dont think it will be long before the phone starts ringing " excuse me are you Steve the tiler, was just wondering if you could come and fit some tiles that have been started by someone else"

[mikethetile]

then ,in the local tile shop yesterday getting a few bits, the owner tell me he`s had plumbers ,plasterers, builders ,chippys ect... in buying addy and grout
this is happening all over and is due to people taking work that they would usually pass over to a tiler

same thing is happening with decorating

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

i would deffo go for a web--siter over the yellow pages, i had big ads in the y-pages for years and they are a load of rubbish IMO and now out of date, if you want to buy or do anything these days you go on line don't you!!!

[TF Ed]

yeah but the upside is, the builder and the plumber and the plasterer and the candle stick maker will probably do a substandard job and use the wrong materials or wrong procedure, so warn any potential clients of the risk of using non professionals and warn them of the overall outlay when you have to rip out what they have done and re-start!! or better still, send them on here to read and take a look and some of the horror stories .....its frustrating stevee, so let them all know what can happen, i do

ed

[aqua blue]

The manager as probably been sideing the work off for his mates for a long time, maybe why you have been quiet, the other thing is if builders and joiners are doing tiling around your way, dont think it will be long before the phone starts ringing " excuse me are you Steve the tiler, was just wondering if you could come and fit some tiles that have been started by someone else"

Yep, and they may be bigger jobs than they were originally.

Everyone loves a knight in shining armour, or a white dull van.

[Phil Hobson]

Hang in there Stevee, things will pick up. As after every reccesion the good guys are kept busy, putting all the cheap shoddy jobs right

[andy allen]

in the same boat here (gloucester) got work tommorow, thurs, 2 days next week, thats it. most of the builders, plumbers i know are doing it themselfs, even people in me local tile shops are bying the tiles but d.i.y . just keep hopeing next week the phone will start to ring again. i remember 4 yrs ago comeing home from work praying for no messages on me answer phone because i couldnt cope with all the work, we can only but hope the good times are round the corner

[whitebeam]

I see alot of guys buying tubbed gear from topps, can't be that many splashbacks

[Scott]

The problem lies in that the plumbers, chippies builders probably dont have that much work either so will 'give it a go' as they have the time whereby previously they would have left it to a tiler.

Steve if Thanet isnt too far to travel why not give bathstore a call? I get fitting from them round my way and maybe worth calling in. They will have a list of fitters that you could ring to see if they want/need a tiler? Just a thought

[Ajax123]

have you thought about tying up with some local underfloor heating installers or screeders. Most underfloor heating needs screeds and most of this is tiled. It is a good way of supporting each other with work whilst offering a complete package to the customer which is usually attractive both commercially.

[stevee]

cheers for the pointers lads, i think ive just landed a good job ,4 rooms in a big house

[hillhead]

good stuff stevee

[Dave]

Excellent news.. Good luck.

[Sir Ramic]

cheers for the pointers lads, i think ive just landed a good job ,4 rooms in a big house

I dunno what happened today but i have 3 quotes to do this week and a few jobs lining up and the promise of more to come.....lasy week i was sat at home and the phone never rang !

Maybe people have got Feb out the way and decided to get things done

[mikethetile]

ive found the feb paydate to be significant my works all booked in from this week on

[Phil Hobson]

cheers for the pointers lads, i think ive just landed a good job ,4 rooms in a big house

Give us a shout if you need a lift, Stevee

[Scott]

Things should start to get better now. The sun the last 2days (if you had any in your area) should wake people up now and get them thinking about all the jobs they want done on the house, at least thats what im hoping for!

[Bolter]

Great news Steve, just remember to always keep pushing forward mate!

[paulyoung666]

cheers for the pointers lads, i think ive just landed a good job ,4 rooms in a big house

nice one , did you get the work then ?

[stevee]

i got the contact thru a mate, who has spoken to the fella a few days ago,and told him he`s gonna ring me about meeting with the builder to c what substrate i want in the new shower cubicle

im hopin he`s gonna ring this week paul

[stoner]

Same boat here, i did 2 weeks from new year upto beginning of march. Then got a job repairing 50m2 of shellstone with about 300-400 holes in it. (no kidding). 25m2 of trav last week and 4 bathroom floors of china black this week and a small splashback then nothing again. I was doing ok until the bloody recession ended. Got a nursing home in pipeline but not heard anything and 80m2 around a pool but again not heard anything. Just moved and got bigger mortgage to boot too. Not good!!