Do I really need a van?

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Steve28

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Do plasterers really need a van? I know they're great to have but is it an unnecessary expense? I can comfortably get all the tools in the back of my car, the only problem would be plaster boards so I was thinking getting them delivered whenever I needed them, does anyone else do this and how does that work for you? How many jobs do you get that actually need plaster board?
The thing I was worried about was not looking professional when turning up in a car and might put some customers off.
 
ive done plastering 4 five years using a car (306) thats only doin it parttime,starting up 4 myself now defo gettin a van,i never had a roof rack for my steps and that so had to cramp it all in,i use to park round corner of job ha ha...
 
If you're just doing foreigners for friends and family etc then a car may get you by. A van does look a lot more professional though and you can fit a lot more in and a van with a side door makes loading and unloading a breeze (I sound like a van salesman now  ;D)

You'll use plasterboard a lot more than you think. It's ok paying delivery costs on 20+ boards (well it's not ok but you can pass the cost on to the customer in most cases). The problem comes when you need just a couple of boards for a job or have boards left over which you obviously will want to take away with you. I have a fiat Scudo which is big enough for my needs....couldn't go back to working from a car though if I'm honest  :)
 
dif went pop on my lwb tranny last year and i bought on old mondeo estate to get me out of the s**t...
still got it...i can get 6x3's in the back, buckets, tools, hop up, bout 10 bags of whatever, ground sheet, dust sheets...just empty the gear out, go down the merchant, load boards first flat, bags on top, go home, load tools, go to job...i make enough to start on site at 9, be off by 4.30...all private though..
i just cant afford 8 grand+ for a decent enough van at the moment, only trouble is hoofing all the gear out every day but i get the car close to the shed and do the admin on a ground sheet, even break up any left over plaster lumps which i scoop into a bag on site and take away, shove em in bin liners with any snapped up plasterboard and take em down the tip at the weekend...
empty bags get burnt..
i aint the urban pikey for nothin!

me old dad gave me the best bit of advice ever..."no such word as can't"
 
Thats sound advice, thanks.
I'm looking at a escort estate that I think I might go for.
I suppose it gives me a chance to advertise on the side as well.
I dont know if i'll trust the plaster board to be delivered on time and it would be a nightmare if I was sitting waiting for it to show up for a few hours.
Thanks again
 
if you gunna get an estate why dont you just get a escort van??must be around the same price??i would advise anyone who is gunna use the vehicle for work to get a van...it just makes sence...you dont wana look like a pikey when you turn up for a job or have to park round the corner to avoid the embarrasment..lol ;D ;D
 
wots wrong with lookin like a pikey?? I do wear a pair of dickies work trousers though...
quality of finish mate!! when im done they tell their mates and i get repeat work, i clean up, dont make a mess of their drive, dont leave empty bags for em to get rid of...
i 2 coat everything, usually fresh mix for topping, dont overcharge em and work round their shedule if at all possible...
ive seen blokes turn up in shiny white vans, all new(ish) tools, do a shite job, charge the earth for it and leave the place lookin like a sh*t tip...
just dont...
leave...
your...
tools...
where...
i..
can...
see em....
hahahahahaaaaaaa
:D
 
in all seriousness though, i thought about the escort/peugot partner size van but for a decent one i could have a reasonably decent transit..
the way i see it is this...
my mondeo cost me 500 quid, sod all wrong with it, never been 'worked', not let me down yet...bit heavy on juice though..
500 quids worth of escort van buys you a damn near mot failure unless you got inside info...
so..for a reasonable escort van your talkin 1500...
you can get a semi reasonable tranny for that...
difference is...a transit will take 8x4 sheets on edge or flat...
rack it and you can slide em in on edge...
get a semi high roof and you can get jewsons to fork a ton bag of sand in the back for rendering...
then you can get your mixer in the side door inc shovels, opc, all your tools on the rack..whisk etc...
you can basically shove a couple of ton in the back...
escort van is basically an escort estate with slightly different roof/rear doors/suspension...
yes you can get a mixer in...just...but their as much as a pain to load as an estate car...you still gotta kneel down and shuffle along to get a 25kg bag behind the seats....no side doors dont forget...

all that said, you can see im a transit nut...but ive seen quite a few lads usin them lwb vw's for plastering, they can get 3m boards in em, and they go like racing cars...

a van is bloody handy, but if i was in the market for one right now, today, id sooner wait a bit and buy a tranny than a little tiddly one...
 
wots wrong with lookin like a pikey?? I do wear a pair of dickies work trousers though...
quality of finish mate!! when im done they tell their mates and i get repeat work, i clean up, dont make a mess of their drive, dont leave empty bags for em to get rid of...
i 2 coat everything, usually fresh mix for topping, dont overcharge em and work round their shedule if at all possible...
ive seen blokes turn up in shiny white vans, all new(ish) tools, do a shite job, charge the earth for it and leave the place lookin like a sh*t tip...
just dont...
leave...
your...
tools...
where..
i..
can...
see em....
hahahahahaaaaaaa
:D
Click to expand...


you are rite mate it is about your quality of workmanship..its no good aving good van and not being able to plaster..but a nice clean (or even a new van ) makes it look like you doing well and if you doing well you must be a pretty good plasterer?????
:-? :-?
 
in theory....
but a man is only as good as his last job...

a nice clean van does send out the right signals, good for image advertising, and yes, signwritten up a van can generate a lot of work...
when it comes to word of mouth advertising though, shiny van or not, what counts is the right attitude...
all im saying is, you dont NEED a van, but ill agree on the point its better to have a clean one than a scabby old knacker...
 
if it gets you from a-b and youre happy with it then good for you theres a choice of prob 50 cars to 10 vans if you look in your local rag
if youre doing stints of site work you can leave 80% of youre kit on site and put the valuebles in the garage when you get home
the only downside i can see of a car is poss the load weight? and all youre tools will be on display  :o
if it was my choice i'd have a swb tranny with a decent roof rack for boards and a decent alarm so you can keep all youre kit in and DEFFINATELY an lpg if you can find one for the price
 
ive never found a car that you could fit in 10 8ft planks 8 3ft tressels 3 big buckets 5 splash buckets 3 tool boxes 2 metal hop ups double crates spot and stand feather edges 6,4and 3ft levels hardwall bath wheel barrow mixer 2 whisks transformer shovels tubs feb pva beads etc etc you'd need a limo!
 
Its like anything you will make do with the hand you are delt, our van got written off a few months ago by some women driving like a lune ::) it was quite a large toyota van and we could fit 8x4 sheets in as well as water butt all our kit ect ect ect.....but now all we have is a small astra van cant get F**K ALL in it so have to do a few trips getting tools to and throw from jobs but we make do.
 
these youngsters ey?? push come to shove i could leave mi tools downt' jewsons, gutter work on a skateboard, gerrem to deliver mi plaster and while therattit drop mi tools off...
then ad load mi tools back on mi skateboard and push em downt m1 hard showder, none o'this stayin in digs malarkey... :P
 
We've got a jumbo Transit and its got everything in it including the kitchen sink. I hate turning up to do a job and find you don't have what you need to finish, then have to piss about going for materials. A lot of our jobs are for regulars and we are walking in blind. Usually load up van with about 20-30 multi and 5-10 Bonding at start of week, this keeps us going most of week. We had a swb Citroen Relay and it was a nightmare as you could'nt swing a cat in the back, had to empty van to get what you wanted as it was guaranteed to be right at the back. What do you do if you need 3m beads or coving?
 
i can get 3m beads and 3m coving in my mondeo! ha! not 3.6 cove though...bit of a bitch that...
 
If u can buy a van you can get 8-4's in.

Dont rely on delivery.
They will only try to off load the sh@@ boards onto you.Broken corners water damaged dented etc
When will they turn up ????
If you use roof rack -what will you do if it pissing it down?what if its really windy ?
what will you do if ur just one board short of finishing the job
What if theres extra boards left over and you have to get rid of them ?
The only downside i can really think of is the extra fuel you gotta pay and the extra cost involved in buying the van over a car,but you will soon save this is delivery costs.
 
I have an escort van, I dont have any probs with it, good enough size and as far as bags of dust I put them right near the back of the van so you just drag them out.

I found with big vans is that you just cary more shite and takes longer to tidy up.

I used to do plastering jobs out the back of my corsa but you look like a plank....

Danny
 
if it's got 4 wheels and an engine and youre earning good money you'll always have the last laugh ;)
 
me old dad gave me the best bit of advice ever..."no such word as can't"
Click to expand...

Best of advice i got when I started was off a m8

"How hard can it be"
 
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