6 week course

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Col27

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how do all, ive been a groundworker for 6 years and ive had a gutsfull of layin kerbs, slabs and drainage etc in the freezin cold and wet valleys of south wales! ive always had an interest in plastering or wall tilin but i never had the fundings to do it, but now i have. so ive decided to do a 6 week city and guilds 6217 nvq level 2 plasterin course startin march 8th! the only thing im worried about is getting work as i havnt got much experience under my belt. i know i'll pick it up well as im good with my hands and got a really good eye. a good thing has come in my favour, when ive finished my course my mum wants me to plaster 2 rooms and my wifes auntie wants a room done! how would u guys recomend to get work?

many thanks col
 
Get van(Sign written),T shirts with your logo and phone number,good business cards(Dint scrimp on paper quality,park your van in B& Q on a sunday morning,you'd be amazed how much work you will get.Be polite,clean and tidy and do a good job and referalls will come in sooner or layer and repeat business.Leaflet dropping is so so,have done on odd days here and there and had a few jobs out of it but put the hours in.

A good website with before,during and after pictures is a must,mine cost a £100.00 off a mate who does website design and have had loads of work off it.
 
do the course first and read through some posts on here, you dont want to adverttise just yet incase you get a job to look at then you wont know what to do.
 
Its all about building a reputation , don't look at every job like its going to earn you mega money cause you will lose money on some jobs at the the beginning but that is the business of working for yourself and living while you learn .
 
IMO you will learn more on the two jobs you got booked in than the 6 week course you will be doing. NVQ is great for knowledge and technical specifications of raw materials you will use each day but you can never match the power of experience
 
I'd say keep your normal job and try to get plastering at weekends, that way you can build up skill, speed, general knowledge and customers, while still earning a wage.
 
I agree with Nelly. Don't jump in balls deep keep your day job and build your skills and rep in the evenings and weekends. If you get plenty of work go for it but if not you havn't lost anything. Also use your jobs for your Wifes auntie and your Mum as evidence towards your NVQ 2 and take as many pictures as possible doing the different units!

Good Luck.
 
as above mate it s not the right time at the minute to make a change try to get experience with a plasterer as well
 
dont jack your job just yet mate

get areputation build it up....

build a business on good foundations

Danny
 
In reality I reckon the six week courses are the only way in for anyone looking to get into plastering at maybe a later age. It's all very well saying work for a plasterer but chances are if you've never seen a trowel before you wont get to hold one for years anyway. At least on the six week course you're chucked in the deep end and forced to get on with it surrounded by people covered in the same amount of s**t as you and generally making a t**t of themselves in safe surroundings. If i was taking someone on I would defo choose someone who'd done a six week course as it shows an interest if nothing else and basic stuff like 'I wont mix up a bucket full of piss wet skim because I remember the time at band camp when I made it like that and I ruined my trainers'. If you can afford the time and money do the course mate. Were on a mono job in cardiff if you wanna come and have a lookski butty
 
if you paid another spread to teach you in his spare time from another area you would benefit from that more
 
Phone around see if you can get a start labouring for some plasterers you will pick up more that way and you can still do the course if you feel its necessary.
 
ha agree with above,

as if the worst slowdown in recent years isnt bad enough there are more and more chancers doing these courses and turning poor work out. you only have to look at how the amount of how many spreads have cropped up in yellow pages in recent years. prices wont ever go back to what they was, because of competition chasing limited yardage on sites and knobs working for peanuts, i know lads have morgages to pay and mouths to feed but go do something different from plastering then there doing the trade no good. over the last few years the amount of lads that ive seen turn up on site with there new tools and there down road by lunch time.

ive nothing against lads wanting a trade or wanting a change in career in later life but go and learn with a spread or if your a young lad go and do your time and actualy learn a trade.

just had another chancer tried it with us this week after being given a start after hed done a 6 week course[i wont mention were in uk] there is work about but you have to be at the top of your game to get it, its a
reputation that gets you most work im afraid.

rant over back to the cans of ale :p
 
I'm working for a builder we do a fair bit of plastering but i dont get much of a chance on the trowl,buisy knocking up and cleaning up,get to do a bit but not enough so may think about a city & guilds or nvq course then maybe might get jobs of me own to do.....cheesed of a bit cus i bought all the gear(marshalltown stuff) but spends most of the time in the van.
 
wilber said:
I'm working for a builder we do a fair bit of plastering but i dont get much of a chance on the trowl,buisy knocking up and cleaning up,get to do a bit but not enough so may think about a city & guilds or nvq course then maybe might get jobs of me own to do.....cheesed of a bit cus i bought all the gear(marshalltown stuff) but spends most of the time in the van.
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get your stuff out of the van mate! you should be able to mix & clean and put a wall or two on each hit, its all about preparation mate ;) get all your water and powder ready for the day, get the job spotless to start with and it shouldn't be too hard to keep on top of it in between trowels. if this dose not help then you need to go FASTER! ;D
 
I've got to agree with Kirk :mad: you should be able to labour on a couple of spreads and still get time to put some on yourself this is how just about every spread my age (old) started, we had to be fast labourers to get to plaster and that's why most (not all) of the quicker spreads are from my eara, well to be fair we may have slowed a bit now but we were fast ;)
 
Trouble is the guys i work with dont want you to learn,i think the thought is if i get any good thats work i could take off them....if ya get my drift. :-\
 
Makes me laugh sometimes,some of you guys give some good tips about diffrent things and i'll sometimes mention these but its like water off a ducks back they take no fukin notice...
 
wilber said:
Trouble is the guys i work with dont want you to learn,i think the thought is if i get any good thats work i could take off them....if ya get my drift. :-\
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I had it the same. Youve just got to push to get to have a go. Keep sayin "shall I put that reveal on" Be a pest mate and dont back down. If you want it your gonna have to fight for it so to speak.
 
hi all

started my 6 week course today. done health and saftey and form filling, was a bit boring but at least thats over and done with. im skimming tomorrow, really looking forward to it! thanks for the replies lads. my plan of action is, when im done is to do my jobs to get experience then phone different companies for work! with a bit of luck i get a job plus do hobbles on the weekends
 
hi all, there were 10 8ft/10ft rooms that we had to scratch coat render. the tutor split us into two men per room. i finshed my wall fairly quick, i come natural to it and a tidy job. the tutor came in saw wot id done, he sent the other guy to another room and said that i can have the room to myself. so i finished the room today and looks good. puttin beeding around window and second coat tomorrow wth feather edge ready for plastering thurs. i'll be plastering for 6 weeks solid with very little paper work. then go on site for nvq.
 
im on 2 year apprenticeship most guys did 5 years.................. 6 wks aint enough and im just a kid, keep yer day job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! give me a chance theres enough cowboys out there
 
I really wouldn't bother with the 6 week course mate as there are 2week, 1week & even weekend courses now ;D
I think there is a 1 hr skimming DVD out now aswell.
;D ;D ;D ;D
 
Nisus said:
I really wouldn't bother with the 6 week course mate as there are 2week, 1week & even weekend courses now ;D
I think there is a 1 hr skimming DVD out now aswell.
;D ;D ;D ;D
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u tube can teach u in 5 mins :D
 
i think in an ideal world there should be 3 year apprenticeships or similar.but this aint an ideal world not many plasterers or any other trades are taking lads on. yeah i would rather see someone trying than sat at home getting depressed majority will jack it in when they realise it knackers you and dont pay the vast sums of money they think it will ,
 
i wouldnt be jacking regular job on a whim to learn to plaster if i was you.
Plasterers ( skimmers ) are 2 a penny,painters,general builders and handymen can and do skim on regular basis and you will be competetinmg against them.They have been doing it a long time have contacts in the trade and existing customers,wher you have none once you finnished the 2 freebie jobs where will you get the work from??????
by the end of 6 weeks i agree you will be able to skim a wall for sure to a good not great standard,from this within 6 months regular work you will gain more experience and be a capable skimmer for sure.
The thing is,you will have to learn to price and quantisise materials understand backgrounds suction control and much much more you can not learn this at a college.
The truth is mate if you got a brain and willing to learn you could skim a wall to half decent standard with a weeks practise,but in the real domestic world there lots more to it than that and after 20 + years i still have to ask guys on here things at times.
To learn all plastering cannot be learnt in 6 weeks maybe at a push 6 years.
Ask your self where am i going to get the work from??????
Have a look on ebay and see the amounty of 2-6 week coursers like you that are selling there kit becuse they cant make it pay.
Theres even plastering companys that have been in buisness for years going bust becuse there no work!!
 
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