Rooms skimmed for £80

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so £80 - floor protection (£10) PVA/bonding agent (£10) skim £25 Scrim £5 Beads £5 .. Lunch £7.50 Fuel £3-£5 insurance tax labourer? hummmm

how would they feel if i added a 3 to make £380
 
floor protection - dust sheet if you're lucky
pva - £10
skim - no doubt itll be one coat so a couple of bags
scrim - again, if your lucky
beads - £5

if they are doing it for £80 then you get what you pay for. i imagine its just a way of getting people drawn in like everyones said. 'oh no sorry, a room for £80 is a box bedroom, just the walls, no carpets to cover bla bla bla...'
 
No Ahmed it would take you 2 days. A plaster 2 sets.

A few year back i used to advertise average rooms skimmed from £99 once in the door id give them the bad news.Beading extra,materials extra,boarding and backing out extra,
radiator removal extra, sheeting extra, wall paper removal extra, pva extra, to be honest the only thig i wouldnt charge extra for is cash payment on completion .
In the end id get my wages and the going rate but then every f uc k e r else on the planet decided to advertise the same way so i had to adept a new more ruthless strategy
 
To be honest mate...when i go and quote nowdays i tell people to ring these £100 a room guys ,and that theyl charge them extra for this extra for that and theyl end up paying£100 more than if i do the work.
I tell em my price is all inclusive NO extras for this and that ,i tell em i have insuance and quality references on request and i tell em i been doing this for 23 years i show them photos of the work ive done if they show an intesrest in my work ranging from stately homes to council houses and i tell em if the dont like my price to fcuk off.
 
Ahmed there r loads of spreads (not me) who could wack on 4 walls in one hit and do an average room in a day.
 
We all do things different, I never take a day to skim a room it would just be too long of a day I only work domestic so the earliest I can start is 0830 hrs (as most people just dont want you there before that) I only work on my own, so first thing I do is sheet up from entry point to room, then sheet up room 100%; next rad is drained the removed as well as brackets, I then run a scraper over all the walls and at the same time give them a brush down, I then apply 1st coat of PVA (5-1) and while this is drying fit and scrim all the beads; remove all plug sockets/light switches from wall and fit chocolate boxes, if the PVA has dried I then apply 2nd coat (3-1) and while this goes tacky get all my mixing gear set up, once tacky mix up 1st guage and put 1st coat on lid and 2 end walls/reveals, clean all mixing tubs etc then when ready trowel up then mix up 2nd coat and apply, once that guage has finished repeat for 2 large walls etc and again apply 2 coats, once all plastering done need to refit/fill/bleed rad; refit all sockets/switches etc; pack all gear away; pack all dust sheets; give room a clean and hoover, in amongst all that would have some lunch and afew brews. Any tips on speeding the above process up would be much appreciated
 
We all do things different, I never take a day to skim a room it would just be too long of a day I only work domestic so the earliest I can start is 0830 hrs (as most people just dont want you there before that) I only work on my own, so first thing I do is sheet up from entry point to room, then sheet up room 100%; next rad is drained the removed as well as brackets, I then run a scraper over all the walls and at the same time give them a brush down, I then apply 1st coat of PVA (5-1) and while this is drying fit and scrim all the beads; remove all plug sockets/light switches from wall and fit chocolate boxes, if the PVA has dried I then apply 2nd coat (3-1) and while this goes tacky get all my mixing gear set up, once tacky mix up 1st guage and put 1st coat on lid and 2 end walls/reveals, clean all mixing tubs etc then when ready trowel up then mix up 2nd coat and apply, once that guage has finished repeat for 2 large walls etc and again apply 2 coats, once all plastering done need to refit/fill/bleed rad; refit all sockets/switches etc; pack all gear away; pack all dust sheets; give room a clean and hoover, in amongst all that would have some lunch and afew brews. Any tips on speeding the above process up would be much appreciated

I personlally wont touch radiators. I explain to customer that they can either get them removed before I come or i will work into them. They have the potential to turn into a right nightmare imo
 
i don't touch rads, i only pull the sockets from the walls, don't disconnect them, i tend to eat while im working, i dont drink tea or coffee, and i don't trowel up between 1st and 2nd coat. get your water buckets filling while you are sheeting up or pvaing so you don't have to stand next to it doing nothing.
 
Tried leaving sockets on the wall but can't get a perfect finish doing it that way and can always tell when someone has done it that way, filling buckets takes me about 30 seconds, my lunch break takes as long as it takes me to eat which is about 10 min, always quote in rads which I dont charge for, have been the reason on many occassions why I got the job so not going to change that,
 
Fcuk messing aboot with rads!!! Plastering is difficult and time-consuming enough for me, without water pissing everywhere! As for sockets? i just plaster around them unless the customer wants them removed. And yes, i do leave a nice even finish..........eventually :RpS_sneaky:
 
Sockets and light switches - lay on around them, trowel in once then slacken them off. Dont take 'em right off, just trowel up to the edges and it will cover in enough. Tighten when plaster is set - or let customer do it.
 
Never been worried about rads, my Dad showed me correct way to take them off when I was a teenager and once they are off I always cap them just in case the valves leak as they sometimes do, can get the caps from any Plum centre for a couple of quid, just screw them on hand tight, I leave them off until the client has finished the painting then pop back and refit, if someones got 3 quotes infront of them and 2 are telling them to get a plumber to remove the rads and 1 is saying they will remove and refit once all decorating has been completed and all included in the price, which one do you think they will go for, as for the sockets I honestly think its not that much longer taking them off as if they are just pulled out you waste time faffing around trying to do a neat job, especially if its butting up against a wall/artrabe etc
 
don't you need to be qualified and insured to remove and refit sockets? its ok faffing with newish tidy rads what happens when its a shitty old thing that uncle jim put on 20 yrs ago and has had 15 coats of paint all over the threads so when trying to loosen the nuts the pipes starts bending and wobbling about, and if you do get the b*****d off when you stick it back on you get an air lock or need to refill the system but find the pipes feeding the boiler have seized and cant refill it. i know some experienced plumbers who can still have probs with old rads so a dumb plasterer like me would be best to steer clear. i tell the customer its upto them to sort rads out if its not str8 forward or i charge extra 30 quids for plumber
 
If they want me to take the rads off i price for rad removal & just get my mate to do it. :RpS_wink:

If you haven't got a plumber mate just phone a local plumber ask him how much he'll charge to remove rads then add this in your quote & a little bit extra for yourself :RpS_thumbup:
 
I'm not adverse to popping the odd rad off either. It's not rocket science if done properly. I can't believe what a bunch of slashers some of you lot are- plastering around light switches. Unless I'm reading that wrong that is a big fukcing hell no in my opinion. I always carry a box of surgical gloves with me. Pop the front of the socket off, stretch a glove or two over it, plaster around then take glove off. Pukka finish, no mess to clean off the light switch and no 'live' walls (where a bit of wet plaster falls on the live wire still in contact with wet wall, believe me, you don't want that happening or you look like this!!!)

albert.jpg
 
And sockets & switches i just take the 2 screws out pull the socket forward wrap a carrier bag around it then tape it up.
Then when done take bag off & screw back:RpS_thumbup:

I'll only put em on choc blocks if i'm floating hacked off Walls.:RpS_wink:
 
Yeah taking rads off ain't rocket science but it's up to yourselves if you wanna spend half the day running round for plumbing parts & p1ssing about with whatever....

I can take rads off & put them back on but if I wanted to sort leaking rad valves out, & get called back for airlocks in the system etc..
Then i would have become a plumber:RpS_laugh:
 
Yep, i'm a slasher lol I dont have a problem plastering around a switch or a socket. And neither do my customers!!! Hey maybe i'll start taking them off..........then again, maybe not. Why change the habits of a lifetime!! :flapper:
 
Yep, i'm a flasher lol I dont have a problem plastering in the nude And neither do my customers!!! Hey maybe i'll stop taking them off..........then again, maybe not. Why change the habits of a lifetime!! :flapper:

Ffs Casper don't admit stuff like that on here :-0
:rolleyes)
 
Are you disappointed old fruit? As it happens, i'm working on a job this week and all the sockets and switches have been completely removed. Not by me though :RpS_wink: It really makes the job easier though :rolleyes)
 
I thought it was standard practice to take all sockets & switch's off? As for rads I'll only offer to take them off if they look quite new or haven't got 18 layers of paint on them!! I've been bitten once with a rad that was a bitch to come off & leaked when put back & of course its your fault its leaking 'cus it never leaked before' :RpS_mad:
 
Wont touch rads no more after hearing peoples horror stories on here and places!

Sockets, never take em off, undo them and pull them away from the wall but just skim round and screw back up when done (or get customer to if I havent got time)
 
Wont touch rads no more after hearing peoples horror stories on here and places!

Sockets, never take em off, undo them and pull them away from the wall but just skim round and screw back up when done (or get customer to if I havent got time)

Sorry that's what I meant matey, pull them away from the wall not take them off altogether!!
 
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