Newbie could do with some advice!

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Stevey25

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Hi all, this is my first post on the forum im 25 years old from Cambridge and basically need some help and advice with my current situation.

I've always wanted to learn a trade since I was around 18 but could never get an apprenticeship since there just were not many around for guys like me who are not school leavers and dont really have any experience.

However I recently found an advert for a trainee plasterer in the local rag! The ad read something like- trainee plasterer wanted to labour at first and slowly learn the trade of plastering £100 per week.

I applied for the job and got it! The guy is just a one man band working in the surrounding area doing plastering and rendering but heres the thing. Ive been working with him now for about 2 months and i've just really been labouring the whole time, i've learnt to mix a good bit of muck up and prep rooms, walls, ceilings for plastering and rendering. I have helped with the odd bit of scratch coat when rendering and a small bit of bonding but since i only make £20 a day do you think this sounds fair? I mean could this guy just be taking me for a ride or is this a good way to learn the trade?

I did suggest to him that maybe we could set up some boards that I could practise getting some plaster up on and he just sort of laughed it off and said well that would be wasting my time I don't have the time to do that. "you might not feel like your learning anything but you are".

Is it worth staying? we hardly work a full week so i hardly even make £40 a week sometimes, I was thinking maybe i could learn abit more with him and then apply to some other companies once i have abit more experience.

Would like to see what you guys think, thanks for taking the time to read this and i will look forward to hearing some of your advice!
 
hes taking the piss to be blunt.

so your 25 and making 40 quid a week sometimes, how are you surviving on that.
if you were on a structured learning scheme and a teenager on an apprentice scheme you could justify the low income because youd be learning but in your case it aint on.
id be leaving to be honest, youd get more if you went on the books for a firm labouring/improving.

youve got the right attitude towards the job, so im sure youll find a decent outfit to take you on or maybe a member off here.
if you were in north yorkshire id start you monday, cos your attitude seems bob on if not a tad gulible.
best of luck with it.
 
I agree mate you have a good attitude willing to learn etc and it is the best way to learn the trade you don't learn to plaster overnight he's right in what he's saying believe it or not you are learning and 2 months isn't a long time at all it takes a few years just to master the basics of skimming if youre keen and hes only skimming you could ask him to flatten in behind him ...at the end of the day if you're not happy get another job before you leave but don't be impatient trust me it takes years to learn properly good luck
 
Just bear in mind it might happen with the next chap you work for it's nothing pearsonell but you're expected to do labouring duties and even if you do get on the trowel you need to do you're labouring duties and trowel up a good labourer makes a good plasterAnd p.s stop ******* moaning and get on with it lol
 
it does take years mate,not months.if youve never laboured on anybody before,there is alot to learn.you might not think youve learnt alot but i bet you no alot more than when you started.ive only bin on the tools a couple of years,an its not easy.but i laboured on plaster for years previous.and you do learn alot.it just takes time.stick at it for 6 months an try get on a course a couple of days a week at least yourl be able to have a go there.good luck
 
floats said:
it does take years mate,not months.if youve never laboured on anybody before,there is alot to learn.you might not think youve learnt alot but i bet you no alot more than when you started.ive only bin on the tools a couple of years,an its not easy.but i laboured on plaster for years previous.and you do learn alot.it just takes time.stick at it for 6 months an try get on a course a couple of days a week at least yourl be able to have a go there.good luck
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Yeh gotta agree with above and what spunky said, it also sounds like hes takin the piss if your only gettin a couple of days some weeks you need to sort out a different rate for the days.
 
Some good advice offered i would have to agree as well ask for more money we always started our 16 year old lads at £30 a day minimum.
 
Nick flynny bod n spunky are all right. I'd say 30 a day was fair. It doesn't matter if you're 16 or 25, you still only know how to mix up, sweep up, scrim etc. I think I had to wait around 10mths till I even looked at a trowel. And they only let me have a go cus I was bugging them. If I could offer you 1 bit of advice it would be this, become a good enough labourer where he doesn't have to tell you to do things. Get things prepped before he tells you to. Get the right tools out the van etc. Even down to moving the hop ups ready for him as he's going along if he's doing a ceiling. Things like that won't go un noticed. Then once you've mixed up/washed out. Get everything that needs doing, done. That way if you do ask to have a go at flattening he can't moan that you've got things to do. When I was a lab I got to the stage where I could mix up for 3 spreads and be stood round waiting till they needed more. then when they were finished putting it on, I'd get washed out and swept up asap and nag them to let me have a go.
 
the thing is, say ur on price, and for aguments sake ur on £3 p/m/ a spread has got to put on another 10m just for the pleasure of having you there. so no ur not worth much more than £30 just to put a few tubs on a board and sweep up. ur lucky ur only labouring for 1 guy. i had 3. and really u have to learn to get the gear out and set up asap, knock up whilst putting a bit on, then get cleared up and be on ur wall in time. labouring for one guy its easy, but iv had a few labourers that after a couple of months still take 10 mins to clean out a tub, when it should take no more than 1/2 mins. if you cant do that, then u wont be able to put on a decent gauge on, knock up for yourself, clean up for yourself, scrim and bead whilst ur gear is on the wall etc and be finished at a decent time havin put on enough to earn a wage. labouring is as important as plastering. and the main thing is showing initiative. dont wait to be told what to do, already have it done
 
The lab I use at the minute is pretty useless. Employed by the firm, not me. Been in the game nearly as long as me. Doesn't drive. Sits at home smoking weed whilst playing his ps3. Doesn't move the hop ups unless you tell him. Everyday. Takes 5 minutes to mix a bag of finish. Then when he's loading your hawk he'll stand there talking about the game he played last night while I'm shoving an empty hawk in his face. he uses a 20 year old mis shapen trowel that was given to him. Only just bought a hawk a few months back. They are the only tools he owns. If we were in a room that was empty bar a radiator/washing machine/door you can guarantee he will mix up right next to it. He can trowel up to an ok standard but is very slow and is even slower putting it on and twice as messy. He hasn't got the get up n go required to be a plasterer. If he did the opposite of everything he actually does, he'd be the one plastering and have his own lab by now.
 
No he wouldn't if he did he'd be sent skimming earning the boss more money he'll do one in a couple of months when everyones ****** off with him or he'll be another s**t spread who didn't learn the full ropes
 
He'll be a lab all his life mate. If I could be arsed to empty/ load the van, hold boards up, wash out etc I'd do it all myself but when we have to spend half the F*****g day covering up all the s**t the customers couldn't be arsed to move, its easier to have him.
 
if a lab isnt outting anything on, id rather have the £150-£250 a week, £600-£1000 a month in my pocket and work half hour later each day, and knock a few gauges up
 
You tight **** nick ......I price my lab into private jobs even if I only earn 120 quid ......I get loooooooonely
 
Hey everyone, Im 20 years old from Sheffield and currently looking at becoming a lab. If anyone has any info or advice or jobs nearby, please let me know. Thanks
 
If you're only labouring on one spread there's no reason you can't have everything done before the days out. If you can get to the stage where there really isn't anything else for you to do then he's got no excuse not to let you have a bash on the tools.
On the other hand, there's no excuse for a labourer not to be able to keep in front of the spread.
Buy some decent tools to prove your willingness to him then get to the point where he can't find you anything else to do. Even if you just start following him round flattening the bottoms of walls, it'll give you a feel for the tools and the stuff as it sets.
No point learning to put on if you don't know how to trowel it.
As others have said though, your attitude is commendable...even if it's not with this plasterer don't give up and stick at it. This is not a job where you have a eureka moment and can suddenly plaster, it really is a learning curve. Good luck pal
 
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