this is our trade

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kirk johnstone

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so lets take it back! we need to raise the bar, put some skill back into doing things! then we can get rid of all the chancres and immigrants who are stealing our work and then we can start to charge more.

its all this 'im just a skimmer' that is killing the game, if everybody started to offer there customers different options then there would start to be more of a demand for real plasterers.

for example next time you go to price a reskim on a living room ceiling you could ask the customer if they would like you to run some cornice for them or even just hand cove the ceiling for them.

there are lots of aspects to our trade but we all seem to be just doing the basics.
 
richard stand up straight, today when you go to work i want you to excel your self, do something different.
make your self proud son.
 
i agree with you kirk i do, but who is goling to pay to have cornice run when they can use the money towards that new 60 inch led tv. the world is changing pal people dont want skilled craftsman in there homes they want to buy a house quick lick of paint themselves from b and poo then sell it for a 100k profit
 
craigpalmer18 said:
i agree with you kirk i do, but who is goling to pay to have cornice run when they can use the money towards that new 60 inch led tv. the world is changing pal people dont want skilled craftsman in there homes they want to buy a house quick lick of paint themselves from b and poo then sell it for a 100k profit
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correct never mind you can buy ready made perfect ones easy to install fast and clean for vey little money its not 1890
 
well they must be willing to pay if you are there in the first place mate, and when you weigh up the price of buying the cast stuff it is allot cheaper to make it yourself and the price for fitting will be the same, also if you run in situ it is cheaper again ;)

the only reason that there is firms manufacturing this stuff is because there is a space in the market, if there wasn't then they wouldn't bother. now the reason that there is a space in the market is because there is not enough skilled tradesmen who can do it, can you see where i am coming from?
 
then your putting people out of work. if you we run it ourselves. we fit it if someone else casts it. we still fit it,. i cant be arsed to spend my time f**k**g about with cornice when i can go down to molloys and get whatever i want.
 
well the thing is, they are putting us out of work and making a tidy little profit out of it too. you will get an extra days work out of a job and then when the customer recommends you they will be saying 'yeah the plasterer made all that for me, he is allot better than that polish bloke who wanted to stick wood up because he didnt know what he was doing' then you will get a hell of allot more work out of it.

there is also the job satisfaction that comes with it ;)
 
ive only ever fitted cornice once. not many people have it anymore. im not going to learn how to do something incase i get a one off job every 5 years.
 
I worked with a bloke who used to charge £35 a foot (not a metre) 20 years ago for running insitu no ones going to pay that. It must be expensive now.Did a grade 2 in Blackburn and the cornice was done by a mate of mine he took a piece from every room that wanted doing and run lengths of it put it up looked the bizz even dentals and swags.
 
pftmonojetman said:
I worked with a bloke who used to charge £35 a foot (not a metre) 20 years ago for running insitu no ones going to pay that. It must be expensive now.Did a grade 2 in Blackburn and the cornice was done by a mate of mine he took a piece from every room that wanted doing and run lengths of it put it up looked the bizz even dentals and swags.
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you dont have to charge £35 a foot you can charge what you want mate, you can run a room in situ in a day with your lab so just charge for a day ;)
 
Kirk. sorry mate but ur living in dream world.
No one is a gonna pay to get coving hand made,unless its the queen or a stately home such like,theres isnt enough work of that type work and hasnt been for 20 years.
Now boarding and skimming work is in abundance,so stick with that.
 
kirk johnstone said:
pftmonojetman said:
I worked with a bloke who used to charge £35 a foot (not a metre) 20 years ago for running insitu no ones going to pay that. It must be expensive now.Did a grade 2 in Blackburn and the cornice was done by a mate of mine he took a piece from every room that wanted doing and run lengths of it put it up looked the bizz even dentals and swags.
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you dont have to charge £35 a foot you can charge what you want mate, you can run a room in situ in a day with your lab so just charge for a day ;)
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You wont do a full room in a day no chance
 
all depends on who is making it and the shape of the cornice, also once it is made then you can use it again and again, and on the price side of things me and my lad can skim a living room in a day so if we said i want 170 and the lad wants 70 thats 240 and you could run a cornice in another day so for a room to be skimed with a hand run cornice you are only looking at 480 pluss mats.
 
yes and so can every other d!ckhead that goes on a 2 week plastering course, thats why there aint much work around, so that my friend is why we need to start bringing the standard of our trade back to what it used to be.
 
spend an hour coving a room the same day as skimming it or spend at least a day running it in situ. i'll go for paper bound please ;D
 
Hes talking utter bullocks.
To make money you have to supply what the customer wants,in 20 + years plastering ive spent probably a grand total of 4 weeks putting coving up .ive never been asked to make a mould (although i couldnt if im honest anyway).
Most victorian propertys i work on they want the coving ripping down and dontn even want to pay to have b and q stuff put up in place of it.
 
skimmin2day said:
Hes talking utter bullocks.
To make money you have to supply what the customer wants,in 20 + years plastering ive spent probably a grand total of 4 weeks putting coving up .ive never been asked to make a mould (although i couldnt if im honest anyway).
Most victorian propertys i work on they want the coving ripping down and dontn even want to pay to have b and q stuff put up in place of it.
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what makes you think you cant do it mate? is it just because you have never tried it?
 
kirk johnstone said:
skimmin2day said:
Hes talking utter bullocks.
To make money you have to supply what the customer wants,in 20 + years plastering ive spent probably a grand total of 4 weeks putting coving up .ive never been asked to make a mould (although i couldnt if im honest anyway).
Most victorian propertys i work on they want the coving ripping down and dontn even want to pay to have b and q stuff put up in place of it.
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what makes you think you cant do it mate? is it just because you have never tried it?
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u can do it if u b and q it
 
kirk with respect mate you should spend more energy bringing yourself up to date with the modern materials.....traditionalists are threatened by it but the possibilities of alternative finishes are plenty for the geeky-at-heart mate it's not all just monocouche you know :)
 
good idea kirk ,but the sort of people who would have the real cornice and center pieces [normally other building trades ie brickies or scaffs etc]who would appreciate the completed job ,aint got the dosh spare at the time being. what you need is a [grand design or a diy sos type programe to show it being done afew times]then it would possibly start taking of
 
what makes you think you cant do it mate? is it just because you have never tried it?


Go on a course , then you can do it.
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