Gold Trowel 6 week City & Guilds Qualification including a Krend (Rendering) Certific

Members online

Total: 599 (members: 7, guests: 592)

Share this page

Status
Not open for further replies.
Spunky, a lot of s**t was said yesterday. Everything you said in your last post is true and correct. And if and if you look down to how this started you will see that I never said anything to the contrary.

With everything said we should all just live and let live and realise that there is a place for these courses as a stepping stone to getting in to the job.

With all that has been said I am happy to put my money where my mouth is and labour for anyone here including nick, beddy, and spunky. I wouldnt work for free, but something very close to it... a few quid petrol money, and a sandwich and crisps at lunch....I think thats fair. PM me if interested.

You wont come away thinking that I am a great plasterer or labourer, but I am sure that you will see that I am keen, strong, able, and mildly proficient in what I can do. But most of all- I'm in it for the long haul. What more do you want.
 
I can't find it so maybe it wasn't you. If that's the case I apologise. Are you saying you're prepared to come and work for us to prove yourself? Shame this want 10months ago at brize norton, eh nick?
 
beddy said:
I can't find it so maybe it wasn't you. If that's the case I apologise. Are you saying you're prepared to come and work for us to prove yourself? Shame this want 10months ago at brize norton, eh nick?
Click to expand...

It wasn't me mate, I just read it. Brumplasterer said it. No offense to him though as no one here knows how good he is. Apology accepted though, cheers. I think a few others may have made the same mistake.

I'm prepared to travel within 45 mins from cambridge to labour for anyone here for a few days for petrol money and lunch.
 
Nice to see that we take on each others arguments :)

You get good ones and bad ones you only ever hear about the bad ones.....

So spunky.... you going to take on an apprentice this year then?
 
Ill be looking for a lad in the new year it's too close to Christmas to start someone just yet
 
wow i turn my back for a sec and its all gone off lol
I had some kid ring me this week to come and help for free, who had been on a course a while back and had run out of walls to skim in his house and had a job to do for a neighbour. Now ive got a few choices do i say **** that im not trainin some kid (he was 25) to price against me? Do i say ive not got time? or do i say yeh come down tomorrow and you can pick my brains and i will give you some experience. Well i chose to have him come down he was 25, 2 kids and a missus and a really nice guy with a really good attitude OH and there was plenty of metres to go at, no H&S and i was in a good mood. He passed to me for a couple of days, trowelled up and put on a few bits and within 2 days i had ironed out most of his problems which he had been taught and he was really pleased with what he had been showed and was very thank full. I said to him tomorrow you can spend a half the day with my lab just to learn how to mix proper and he said that they never shown him how to mix finish in the two weeks he was there lol he said he started a couple of walls in his house then thought how do i mix the gear HAHAHAHAHA They had a lab mixing for the lot of them and the instructor also told him when it looks like this its mixed. Now your probably thinkin this kid is gonna steal my work well i guarantee if he does i will be either putting it right and laughing as im doing it. What i got out of it is ive met a nice kid who is keen and willing to learn and realises he is nowhere near the finished article and i can call on him for a hand and maybe even get some work through him which he can help on. So its all down to the course you go on or who is teaching you on site as to how much you will learn and more importantly is wanting to learn. He didnt go to goldtrowel for his course so i cant comment on there trainin but im off there monday so will have a good idea what is being taught, im doing the venetian course for two weeks and i will be doing a review :)
 
im starting to feel like this could be the beginning of a loving relatioship between me kingpin spunk and beddy. its funny how u rasnt after a few beers. i think we should all just have a big cuddle then give the labourer a wedgy
 
Im currently doing the 6 week course with Goldtrowel. Having never before plastered I feel i have come a long way since starting 4 weeks ago. Apprenticeships are a good way to get into the trade but you have to understand for older learners is isnt as easy! So this is a better route for me personally.

Not knocking anyone on here but all the plasterers here who think the courses are a waste of time without even seeing the facilities and what is taught here should....and im sure you would have a different opinion.

Cheers
 
I'm not knocking anyone doing a course Andrew but regardless of how good the facilities are how good the tutors are you are not a plasterer after completing a six week course and you shouldn't be plastering peoples houses and getting paid for it after a six week course
 
Disagree with you there Spunky. Id be quietly confident of doing someones house, but i'll be playing it safe and doing my own house and a few family/friends errands!

I dont think you can say after 4-5 years of apprenticeship (i.e general labouring, making tea and wiping arses) that you would be a qualified, bonafide plasterer either. In any job you learn and will continue to do so.
 
you dont just make tea and clean up etc on a properly followed construction apperticeship, maybe intially but not in the latter stages. your level 3 is complex internal plastering and external work which you need site evidence at and are assessed at college.
I agree you are constantly learning in your working life as there are new products and techniques that are changing all the time.

I aint a fan of courses for the simple fact, there a waste of money. you will learn a lot more practical experience on site with a plasterer under different senerios, so therefore you are only doing it for a recognised qualifcation which aint worth a great deal, maybe to get a basic cscs card but thats your limit, or to look at on your wall on completion of the course when your sat around with no work on because the market is saturated with 'skimmers'
A course should be only used as a stepping stone no more,ive had some right jokers start with me that have completed a courses.i would personally save your money.
 
Last edited:
owls said:
you dont just make tea and clean up etc on a properly followed construction apperticeship, maybe intially but not in the latter stages. your level 3 is complex internal plastering and external work which you need site evidence at and are assessed at college.
I agree you are constantly learning in your working life as there are new products and techniques that are changing all the time.

I aint a fan of courses for the simple fact, there a waste of money. you will learn a lot more practical experience on site with a plasterer under different senerios, so therefore you are only doing it for a recognised qualifcation which aint worth a great deal, maybe to get a basic cscs card but thats your limit, or to look at on your wall on completion of the course when your sat around with no work on because the market is saturated with 'skimmers'
A course should be only used as a stepping stone no more,ive had some right jokers start with me that have completed a courses.i would personally save your money.
Click to expand...

I understand your point. But for an adult learner it isnt really feasable to get an apprenticeship (even one which isnt properly govened etc..etc..) I dont think going off with a tradesman to learn is a good way to learn on the job either. Too many cowboys out there cutting corners these days and are not so passionate about doing it.

I think a course is a good way to get into plastering! Granted you won't know everything but that comes with experience. If you are given the knowledge and are pushed to use that then you can more or less do anything with time! I dont think you can judge a course without actually understanding what actually goes on

I'm probably wasting my breath.....
 
andrewt15381 said:
I understand your point. But for an adult learner it isnt really feasable to get an apprenticeship (even one which isnt properly govened etc..etc..) I dont think going off with a tradesman to learn is a good way to learn on the job either. Too many cowboys out there cutting corners these days and are not so passionate about doing it.

I think a course is a good way to get into plastering! Granted you won't know everything but that comes with experience. If you are given the knowledge and are pushed to use that then you can more or less do anything with time! I dont think you can judge a course without actually understanding what actually goes on

I'm probably wasting my breath.....
Click to expand...


That's where the courses fall short, you can't be given the knowledge in six weeks.
 
Hey beddy get your arse down there ive seen first hand what goes on and believe me you will be shocked as i was, im back on site for a few days this week and sent my lab home today at 12 ive had enough of him he isnt interested and hes still putting to much water in the mixing bucket after over a year with me and another spread. The lads right its difficult if not imposible to get an apprenticeship and if your lucky enough, very rare these days will you get to finish four years. Its a way in to the trade and i didnt think after 6 weeks you would be capable of plastering but its opened my eyes to the fact its not rocket science. There was lads and girls skimming ceilings on their first day i kid you not and also to a decent standard compared to what ive seen on site, by the end of the first week they had floated and skimmed a decent size room its F*****g unbelievable ive had lads weeks who still cant tape up, mix up or even scrape a floor. It is a way into the trade if not the only way these days and if you think of another way please say coz i cant think of another way. xxxx
 
bubbles65 said:
That's where the courses fall short, you can't be given the knowledge in six weeks.
Click to expand...

you can be given a lot of knowledge in 6 weeks, its how the individual takes it on board, no one gets it straight away, im a bloody good plasterer, still on the tools and i am still learning after 8 yrs of professional plastering, what it does do is give you a platform that will enable you to start a career .... im not gonna go and argue about this .... ive been there and done it ,

some guys cant do it, and we are honest with them, its not for everyone.... and they get there money back.... its not fair to let them out of our gate with them thinking they are good plasterers when there not.... some of these guys have mortgages and families for christ sake..... we are not a money making machine .....i absolutley will not put my name to an assessment if the person is not good enough at that time

i also teach the school kids, its a fantastic start for them into the real world, if you could hear some of there stories you would feel for them, broken homes and such .... they dont just do plastering, its also embedding into them maths and english, how to quote, how to talk to customers, working out areas , pricing materials, i do there CV's with them.

guys .......... i have a lot of respect for 'time served' plasterers ........ if there any good ..... ive seen good and bad, ive seen guys with 20yrs plus and they were s**t, i dont know how they made a living, a lot were brilliant, ive worked with guys with 5 yrs experience and there were bang on..... i worked with a few..... its about the individual. i got guys on the course hitting 30 M2

i invite all of you to come down , have a cuppa and look around you are more than welcome, we aint got anything to hide, Flynny did, hes a top bloke, knows his stuff....needs a new van though ...lol

dont slag it off until you have seen what happens at our place ...... it aint an easy course

Les
 
We are in an industry where plasterers are two a penny most of them s**t and you think putting lads on a six week course and getting them out there is good?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top