How to calculate your sq/m price?

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Woods

Woods

Active Member
Hi, I'm a plasterer from Belgium and I'm trying to figure out how to properly calculate my minimum prices. I have a rough estimate of what I have to ask per hour to break even + 5% profit but I'm not sure how to safely and realistically translate this to a sq m price.

The only services I currently offer are 1. thick base layer plaster (leveling walls) 2. finish plasters. I don't do exterior work.
Number 1 is more commonly referred to British plasterers as sand/cement so I'll use that term for convenience' sake.

What I am wondering about, and I hope the more experienced old boys could weigh in on this, is how much square meter I should be aiming for per day. Online you read 20-30m2 per day but I can't imagine doing 30m2 of sand/cement every single day on your own, mixing and transporting the gear included. Sure, on a really good and long day I can pull off 30m2 but to do that every day, 5 days a week, that sounds grueling.

Me personally, I know I can do between 15 and 20m2 per day and maintain that tempo within my physical limits. Is that a healthy number? Should it be more or less? If I want to do this job for another 20 or so years, I have to work at a level that is sustainable.

In terms of finishing plasters (skim coats) I think 30m2 per day is more realistic, right?

In Belgium we tend to bill the client for window reveals per meter. How is it done in the UK? And how much should a plasterer be able to do in a day? I do know that in my country, our square meter prices tend to be on the low side, probably because it gives the impression you're cheaper than someone else. But it's for the "supplementary work" (= window reveals) that they really tend to make up for the low sq/m price.

Feel free to give your uncensored opinion :frenetico:

Cheers
 
Smudger1 said:
Get a labourer
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to serve 1 plasterer?
15sqm @ 15mm thickness (12mm after ruling/floating) amounts to 225L of gear
my mixer does 120L (imer synthesi 160)

So in one day, I only need 2 mixes, which amounts to 12x 20L buckets to carry around. That's about 1 hour of mixing and carrying gear around.

It wouldn't make sense to get a labourer just to serve me alone.

If my labourer needs to work 8 hours a day, he has to do 16 mixes, but let's also say he can do some floating and cleanup work, so let's be reasonable and say 10 mixes a day.

We already established 1 person for one day of 15sqm needs 2 mixes. So for 10 mixes in one day we need 5 plasterers.

1 labourer should be able to accommodate 5 plasterers. So getting a labourer to serve me alone, it wouldn't make sense. I'd pay him for 1 hour of work and 7 hours to be on his phone.

Afaik, I don't know anyone who can sand/cement or loam/lime plaster anymore. In Belgium, 90% of plastering today is gypsum, straight onto the masonry, single coat. As seen here:

Sure I can teach them... but that's always a risk. And since I'm only starting out in managing my own jobs, the risk can't be justified.
 
When I have worked in Netherlands the plasterers are direct employed. Payed on a bonus scheme with so many hours per job.
 
Woods said:
to serve 1 plasterer?
15sqm @ 15mm thickness (12mm after ruling/floating) amounts to 225L of gear
my mixer does 120L (imer synthesi 160)

So in one day, I only need 2 mixes, which amounts to 12x 20L buckets to carry around. That's about 1 hour of mixing and carrying gear around.

It wouldn't make sense to get a labourer just to serve me alone.

If my labourer needs to work 8 hours a day, he has to do 16 mixes, but let's also say he can do some floating and cleanup work, so let's be reasonable and say 10 mixes a day.

We already established 1 person for one day of 15sqm needs 2 mixes. So for 10 mixes in one day we need 5 plasterers.

1 labourer should be able to accommodate 5 plasterers. So getting a labourer to serve me alone, it wouldn't make sense. I'd pay him for 1 hour of work and 7 hours to be on his phone.

Afaik, I don't know anyone who can sand/cement or loam/lime plaster anymore. In Belgium, 90% of plastering today is gypsum, straight onto the masonry, single coat. As seen here:

Sure I can teach them... but that's always a risk. And since I'm only starting out in managing my own jobs, the risk can't be justified.
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You should be able to double that metreage if just laying on and ruling ?

Not carting s**t about, and someone to clear up with you aswell?



Even more metreage once the lad is in tune too.......
 
Plenty of spreads years ago could do 80/100yd2 sand and cement then skim the following day, some without a labourer.
Wouldn't be 15mm though!
 
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Don’t take out windows in your sqm price it’s abit more hassle to bead and plaster reveals compared to a single wall why take out the meterage for the windows when theirs abit more to it
 
bobski said:
You should be able to double that metreage if just laying on and ruling ?

Not carting s**t about, and someone to clear up with you aswell?



Even more metreage once the lad is in tune too.......
Click to expand...
maybe not far from double but not quite. My shoulder gets tired from the same movement pressing the gear into the wall. Floating (even mixing) is a welcome variation. I'm not sure if I could actually sustainably put on 30sqm each and every day, 5 days a week. Just being honest. In the end the work should be enjoyable still and when you wake up in the morning and you feel you're not fully recovered, you know it's gonna be a long day...
Also, I'm not yet good enough of a plasterer to take someone under my wing. Maybe if I've worked solo for a couple of years I might give it some more thought but for now, I don't think it's a good investment for me. I do have a few plaster buddies so I might invite them once in a while to come with me on a job and see how that goes.

spread95 said:
Plenty of spreads years ago could do 80/100yd2 sand and cement then skim the following day, some without a labourer.
Wouldn't be 15mm though!
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yeah I don't believe that. I'd want to see that with my own eyes. No way someone can do that kind of work 5 days week, year after year. There's just no way. Maybe they got bionic arms now? Or arthrosis...
Why skim the next day? When the plaster is still setting, there is usually still some movement happening, slight shrinking and such. Seems a bit risky to skim it the next day.

Stewie03 said:
Don’t take out windows in your sqm price it’s abit more hassle to bead and plaster reveals compared to a single wall why take out the meterage for the windows when theirs abit more to it
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yeah good point
 
malc said:
When I have worked in Netherlands the plasterers are direct employed. Payed on a bonus scheme with so many hours per job.
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I'm self employed, I pay myself an hourly rate but as a business I need to price the job. Hence is why I'm trying to figure out some realistic and sustainable sqm numbers so I can estimate how many hours a particular job is going to take.
If I overestimate my own ability, I'll be working for free. Sure I love the job, but not enough to do it for free lmao
 
Woods said:
maybe not far from double but not quite. My shoulder gets tired from the same movement pressing the gear into the wall. Floating (even mixing) is a welcome variation. I'm not sure if I could actually sustainably put on 30sqm each and every day, 5 days a week. Just being honest. In the end the work should be enjoyable still and when you wake up in the morning and you feel you're not fully recovered, you know it's gonna be a long day...
Also, I'm not yet good enough of a plasterer to take someone under my wing. Maybe if I've worked solo for a couple of years I might give it some more thought but for now, I don't think it's a good investment for me. I do have a few plaster buddies so I might invite them once in a while to come with me on a job and see how that goes.


yeah I don't believe that. I'd want to see that with my own eyes. No way someone can do that kind of work 5 days week, year after year. There's just no way. Maybe they got bionic arms now? Or arthrosis...
Why skim the next day? When the plaster is still setting, there is usually still some movement happening, slight shrinking and such. Seems a bit risky to skim it the next day.


yeah good point
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If you really want to do price work you need to realise that just because you can't cover a decent meterage a doesn't mean you get to charge more, it just means you're not good enough (fast enough) to earn decent money on price.
I've almost certainly done more sand and cement floating on new builds than just about anyone else on here. In my prime (long ago) I would float around 70sqm day in day out. That's high quality work using screeds and labouring on myself.
 
Woods said:
maybe not far from double but not quite. My shoulder gets tired from the same movement pressing the gear into the wall. Floating (even mixing) is a welcome variation. I'm not sure if I could actually sustainably put on 30sqm each and every day, 5 days a week. Just being honest. In the end the work should be enjoyable still and when you wake up in the morning and you feel you're not fully recovered, you know it's gonna be a long day...
Also, I'm not yet good enough of a plasterer to take someone under my wing. Maybe if I've worked solo for a couple of years I might give it some more thought but for now, I don't think it's a good investment for me. I do have a few plaster buddies so I might invite them once in a while to come with me on a job and see how that goes.


yeah I don't believe that. I'd want to see that with my own eyes. No way someone can do that kind of work 5 days week, year after year. There's just no way. Maybe they got bionic arms now? Or arthrosis...
Why skim the next day? When the plaster is still setting, there is usually still some movement happening, slight shrinking and such. Seems a bit risky to skim it the next day.


yeah good point
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We didn't do it for the enjoyment, we did it for the money.
on price at £2.25 a yd2 float and set if you wanted good money you had to do the yards/metres.
5 tons + of sand a week wasn't unusual.
We didn't give a f**k about drying/shrinkage,.on thermalites in the summer we'd float in the morning starting at 7am skim in the afternoon and be going home at 3pm.
 
essexandy said:
If you really want to do price work you need to realise that just because you can't cover a decent meterage a doesn't mean you get to charge more, it just means you're not good enough (fast enough) to earn decent money on price.
I've almost certainly done more sand and cement floating on new builds than just about anyone else on here. In my prime (long ago) I would float around 70sqm day in day out. That's high quality work using screeds and labouring on myself.
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The surface you're plastering matters. I rarely do new builds, most of the work I've done is renovations which means 100 year old, dodgy brick. I'd like to see you do 70sqm of that day in day out. Another thing you mentioned is that you were in your prime and that's another point to address: sustainability and your health. I'd like to do this job for at least another 10 years. If I average 70 sqm solo, I don't think I'll last 5 years. I'm not a f**k**g machine and anyone who expects me to work like one can f**k off and look for someone else to exploit.
I'm also in a different market. I'm not doing jobs for project developers, f**k that. I work for home-owners who renovate or do new builds. These people also have higher standards and are willing to pay for it.
I did the calculations and if I average 15-20 sqm a day, I'm well within market price which is 15 - 35€ per m2. I'm right in the middle of that and I would be able to give myself a decent wage. The surface matters, so houses with blockwork will get a better price than houses with old, wonky brickwork.
I appreciate your view, but I also think that even though one càn work at a grueling rate, doesn't mean one hàs to or should. I've seen plenty of tradesmen in their 40's and 50's whose bodies were just used up. I told myself I wasn't gonna end up like that.
If you can recover fully after a full night's rest, that means that the work you're doing is sustainable. If you find yourself not fully recovering and digging into your reserves by Wednesday already, that means something is wrong. Sure you can power yourself through it, but at what cost? In the end you have a choice: either you work according your body's limit or at some point your body will force you to stop the abuse.
spread95 said:
We didn't do it for the enjoyment, we did it for the money.
on price at £2.25 a yd2 float and set if you wanted good money you had to do the yards/metres.
5 tons + of sand a week wasn't unusual.
We didn't give a f**k about drying/shrinkage,.on thermalites in the summer we'd float in the morning starting at 7am skim in the afternoon and be going home at 3pm.
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that's insane mate. Sounds like slave labour, no offense.
 
No wonder there's hardly any solid plastering being done on interiors anymore in Britain. at 2.25/yd2 that's just sad. It actually pisses me off they made you work like that. I guess my generation is a bit more lucky these days because no one wants to work in trades anymore. So our skills are actually highly sought after. We can afford to work at a rate that is sustainable and still insist on a fair wage. I literally just pay myself my countries' official median wage. I think that's more than reasonable if you work hard 8 hours a day but at a sustainable rate.

Image getting payed next to nothing to destroy your own body.
Just to show that I'm not bullshitting you, look at the last row (raapwerk). And I've seen other websites go as high as 40€/m2
How to calculate your sq/m price?

source: https://www.pleisterwerken-info.be/prijs
 
Woods said:
No wonder there's hardly any solid plastering being done on interiors anymore in Britain. at 2.25/yd2 that's just sad. It actually pisses me off they made you work like that. I guess my generation is a bit more lucky these days because no one wants to work in trades anymore. So our skills are actually highly sought after. We can afford to work at a rate that is sustainable and still insist on a fair wage. I literally just pay myself my countries' official median wage. I think that's more than reasonable if you work hard 8 hours a day but at a sustainable rate.

Image getting payed next to nothing to destroy your own body.
Just to show that I'm not bullshitting you, look at the last row (raapwerk). And I've seen other websites go as high as 40€/m2
How to calculate your sq/m price?

source: https://www.pleisterwerken-info.be/prijs
Click to expand...

Just base your pricing on your day rate plus materials plus profit.

And not forgetting that there are many different types of plaster available now

 
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I feel sorry for the kids of today always wining about the pain.
Woodie your not fast enough, if you try to be your work will be crap, calm down your prime is thirty to fifty years old, work on a day rate plus materials , build your speed up. It sounds like you work in occupied houses mostly or refurbs don’t pin yourself to a metre rate you will constantly lose out.
If your floating coat is sand and cement you shouldn’t scim it the same day, cement shrinks causing your finished work to crack, use a lightweight plaster you can scrim that the same day
 
ChrispyUK said:
Just base your pricing on your day rate plus materials plus profit.
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yeah pretty much:

((total_sqm / avg_daily_sqm) * day_rate) + materials + indirect_costs + 5%_profit

So for a hypothetical house of 400m2

((400m2 / 15m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 7402.5€

7402.5€ / 400m2 = 18.51€/m2

So that's 18.51€ per square meter for a wage of 3000€ per month (20 days of work) after tax.

Let's now take Spread95 and Essexandy's sqm number and the same wage I'm giving myself at today's sqm prices; Let's say they can average a solid 60 sqm per day, 5 days a week, month after month:

((400m2 / 60m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 2362.5€

2362.5€ / 400m2 = 5.91€/m2 = £4,94/m2

So if they were given the same wage as me (3K, which is a very good wage in Belgium) they would be working at 5.91€ per square meter which is twice below the competition's bottom prices.

What if we have them work at my sqm rate though?

(((400m2 / 60m2) * ???€) + 500€ + 150€) * 1.05 = 7402.5€

Their day rate would be: 960€

Their monthly wage before taxes would be 19 200€ (11 636€ after tax)

Based off of these simple calculations we can deduce either one of the following:
1. plasterers were underpaid 20-30 years ago
2. Essexandy and Spread95 are lying about their meterage :ROFLMAO:

My guess is the truth is probably somewhat in the middle.
 
Mouldyoldspudgun said:
I feel sorry for the kids of today always wining about the pain.
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bro, you do realise that I'm literally LISTENING to what your generation has told me? You wouldn't believe how many trades people have told me to not price myself below my worth or to always take good care of your body.

My former bosses, all of them, had to drill this mindset into me because as a young lad, I didn't think much of myself so I needed to prove myself constantly, doing more work and heavier lifting than the other guy next to me. My bosses loved the enthusiasm but they told me to slow down or I would not last very long.

So yeah, I try to actually listen when someone older is offering advice that makes sense.

As for me not being fast enough? My math doesn't lie. If I work at a steady 15sqm per day, I'm well within the market prices, even on the lower side and I would still have a very good wage.

and besides, I'm talking at minimum 15 sqm per day 20 days a month, for a year. No off days other than weekends and 4 weeks vacation.

I would be willing to believe one can pull off 30sqm consistently like this on very straight blockwork. Old masonry? No way. I don't believe it. You can't do it solo. A super in tune team of at least 5 plasterers, sure, maybe.

The last team I worked with claimed we did 50sqm per guy per day. But this was loam (earth) plaster, machine sprayed. And the finishing standards for this type of work was horrible. If you took longer than 3 minutes to rule a wall, they'd give you the side eye and tell you to leave it. They hardly used a level and we didn't even float. We'd just spray, rule for 3 minutes, put in a fibreglass mesh, rule for another minute and then close up the plaster and that's it. Job done, next.

So if you tell me I should be averaging 60 - 70 sqm without a machine on my own without a labourer on old masonry, I'll kindly say no thank you :)
 
Woods said:
yeah pretty much:

((total_sqm / avg_daily_sqm) * day_rate) + materials + indirect_costs + 5%_profit

So for a hypothetical house of 400m2

((400m2 / 15m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 7402.5€

7402.5€ / 400m2 = 18.51€/m2

So that's 18.51€ per square meter for a wage of 3000€ per month (20 days of work) after tax.

Let's now take Spread95 and Essexandy's sqm number and the same wage I'm giving myself at today's sqm prices; Let's say they can average a solid 60 sqm per day, 5 days a week, month after month:

((400m2 / 60m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 2362.5€

2362.5€ / 400m2 = 5.91€/m2 = £4,94/m2

So if they were given the same wage as me (3K, which is a very good wage in Belgium) they would be working at 5.91€ per square meter which is twice below the competition's bottom prices.

What if we have them work at my sqm rate though?

(((400m2 / 60m2) * ???€) + 500€ + 150€) * 1.05 = 7402.5€

Their day rate would be: 960€

Their monthly wage before taxes would be 19 200€ (11 636€ after tax)

Based off of these simple calculations we can deduce either one of the following:
1. plasterers were underpaid 20-30 years ago
2. Essexandy and Spread95 are lying about their meterage :ROFLMAO:

My guess is the truth is probably somewhat in the middle.
Click to expand...
Why the f**k would I lie to you about what meterage I covered? At one point I had half a dozen or more decent spreads working for me and they would all cover a similar amount, I wasn't some sort of superstar. Five days to float a four bedroom house, two days to skim the ceilings, five days to skim the walls and a day to to lay the floor screed. This was week on week, month on month, year on year for about twenty years. Oh and the floating was done to within a 3mm tolerance, the thickness of a pound coin.
Just because you can't don't assume that others can't.
I'm 59 now and can still rattle out a reasonable amount, definitely more than you're talking about doing.
If you're talking about meterage rates on domestic type work you haven't got a scooby what you're doing.
Those jobs are worked out by using your experience, not by giving a meterage rate. In fact I have never given a meterage rate to any client, always a total price.
 
Different times fella, All the work was on site, extensions was done weekends for cash.
I know people that would earn £500 in a week in the mid 80's,
blow it all in the bookies/ pub on Friday.
Then work the weekend to get some money to give the missus for housekeeping.
Fair play if you can hang it out and earn enough doing 15m a day, but new work I'd do that in a couple of hours on my own and I'm 61.
 
Woods said:
yeah pretty much:

((total_sqm / avg_daily_sqm) * day_rate) + materials + indirect_costs + 5%_profit

So for a hypothetical house of 400m2

((400m2 / 15m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 7402.5€

7402.5€ / 400m2 = 18.51€/m2

So that's 18.51€ per square meter for a wage of 3000€ per month (20 days of work) after tax.

Let's now take Spread95 and Essexandy's sqm number and the same wage I'm giving myself at today's sqm prices; Let's say they can average a solid 60 sqm per day, 5 days a week, month after month:

((400m2 / 60m2) * 240€) + 500€ + 150€ + 5% = 2362.5€

2362.5€ / 400m2 = 5.91€/m2 = £4,94/m2

So if they were given the same wage as me (3K, which is a very good wage in Belgium) they would be working at 5.91€ per square meter which is twice below the competition's bottom prices.

What if we have them work at my sqm rate though?

(((400m2 / 60m2) * ???€) + 500€ + 150€) * 1.05 = 7402.5€

Their day rate would be: 960€

Their monthly wage before taxes would be 19 200€ (11 636€ after tax)

Based off of these simple calculations we can deduce either one of the following:
1. plasterers were underpaid 20-30 years ago
2. Essexandy and Spread95 are lying about their meterage :ROFLMAO:

My guess is the truth is probably somewhat in the middle.
Click to expand...

As others have said, you shouldn’t be basing your price on meterage
 
essexandy said:
Why the f**k would I lie to you about what meterage I covered? At one point I had half a dozen or more decent spreads working for me and they would all cover a similar amount
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So you've said, you -by yourself without a labourer- can put on 70sqm (not square yards?), and float it within 3mm tolerance within 8 hours (straight block work)?
How thick was your coat?
If this is true, I might as well quit or save up to fly you over to Belgium so you can teach me how to do this because none of the people I've worked with can do this. Not even with a machine.
spread95 said:
Different times fella, All the work was on site, extensions was done weekends for cash.
I know people that would earn £500 in a week in the mid 80's,
blow it all in the bookies/ pub on Friday.
Then work the weekend to get some money to give the missus for housekeeping.
Fair play if you can hang it out and earn enough doing 15m a day, but new work I'd do that in a couple of hours on my own and I'm 61.
Click to expand...
Damn. Different times indeed.
 
essexandy said:
Five days to float a four bedroom house, two days to skim the ceilings, five days to skim the walls and a day to lay the floor screed. This was week on week, month on month, year on year for about twenty years. Oh and the floating was done to within a 3mm tolerance, the thickness of a pound coin.
Click to expand...
Hold on, is that by yourself or with half a dozen spreads along your side?
 
Woods said:
So you've said, you -by yourself without a labourer- can put on 70sqm (not square yards?), and float it within 3mm tolerance within 8 hours (straight block work)?
How thick was your coat?
If this is true, I might as well quit or save up to fly you over to Belgium so you can teach me how to do this because none of the people I've worked with can do this. Not even with a machine.

Damn. Different times indeed.
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Out of interest how old are you and the people youve worked with.I was 19 when I started and was fortunate to work with a sand and cement demon who was 44.
Once you've seen someone good you know where to aim.
 
I'm 32 now and people I've worked with were in their 40's nearing 50. I started plastering at 29 but have been self-employed in labourwork and construction working as a subcontractor for 10 years.
The guys I started out with did loam plaster exclusively, which is rather different from traditional sand/cement. These guys weren't really a good reference for straight walls, although the work they did was certainly aesthetically pleasing due to the nature of the materials they worked with. Whenever I would ask them to teach me how to make straight walls they would tell me "it's loam" you can't get it straight.
So then I started working on my own and taught myself how to get it straight and guess what, it's perfectly possible to get loam plasters flat and plumb within 3mm tolerance.
The problem is that the guys I started with, they never worked for old-school traditional plasterers; they weren't taught the trade secrets. They just winged it. The work looks nice, but it wasn't straight, not by long shot.
 
Woods said:
I'm 32 now and people I've worked with were in their 40's nearing 50. I started plastering at 29 but have been self-employed in labourwork and construction working as a subcontractor for 10 years.
The guys I started out with did loam plaster exclusively, which is rather different from traditional sand/cement. These guys weren't really a good reference for straight walls, although the work they did was certainly aesthetically pleasing due to the nature of the materials they worked with. Whenever I would ask them to teach me how to make straight walls they would tell me "it's loam" you can't get it straight.
So then I started working on my own and taught myself how to get it straight and guess what, it's perfectly possible to get loam plasters flat and plumb within 3mm tolerance.
The problem is that the guys I started with, they never worked for old-school traditional plasterers; they weren't taught the trade secrets. They just winged it. The work looks nice, but it wasn't straight, not by long shot.
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Internals, ceiling and skirting lines would be straight but rest was not worried about.
Kitchens and bathrooms better,
People just wanted a roof over their head, a kitchen and a bathroom, not a show house!
Pleasing to the eye was how I was taught.
 
Woods said:
So you've said, you -by yourself without a labourer- can put on 70sqm (not square yards?), and float it within 3mm tolerance within 8 hours (straight block work)?
How thick was your coat?
If this is true, I might as well quit or save up to fly you over to Belgium so you can teach me how to do this because none of the people I've worked with can do this. Not even with a machine.

Damn. Different times indeed.
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Straightish block work.
Floating was 10-11mm, unless you were dubbing out to door linings, they were on average 16mm.
Quantities and tolerance exactly as stated.
There were things I wanted out of life and much like @John j I knew I wouldn't get them using my brain, what little there is, I had to push myself physically.
Absolutely no regrets either.
 
essexandy said:
There were things I wanted out of life and much like @John j I knew I wouldn't get them using my brain, what little there is, I had to push myself physically.
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should've gone in the drug trade mate
70sqm... that's an entire room per day on avg, jesus christ. Kill me now.
Did you do that in 8 hours or did you work longer? And how do you organise that logistically on your own? Mixing outside and then carrying buckets upstairs and dump it on the mortar board?
How much would you mix up for one hit? How many hits per day? etc.. ?
I'm most curious now
 
Woods said:
should've gone in the drug trade mate
70sqm... that's an entire room per day on avg, jesus christ. Kill me now.
Did you do that in 8 hours or did you work longer? And how do you organise that logistically on your own? Mixing outside and then carrying buckets upstairs and dump it on the mortar board?
How much would you mix up for one hit? How many hits per day? etc.. ?
I'm most curious now
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My working day has always been pretty much 8 til 4, with two thirty minute breaks at 10 and 1.
Muck was mixed outside in a large cement mixer and tipped into a barrow. Upstairs it was then taken upstairs using a plasterers hod.
One barrowful onto the spot board, one left in the barrow and another gauge in the mixer.
Working to a system is everything, not rushing around like a headless chicken.
In my twenties and thirties I'd do a days work and then play squash, badminton or tennis in the evening, if I wasn't out in the pub playing darts.
 
essexandy said:
Working to a system is everything
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seems like you have more brain than you give yourself credit for
The plasterers hod, do you think that is still a useful tool to get? Carrying buckets upstairs can be awkward, I usually carry them on the shoulder but after 10 buckets, it starts to cut into the skin. I would imagine a hod would be a little bit more comfortable? Is it possible to load a hod by yourself?
 
essexandy said:
My working day has always been pretty much 8 til 4, with two thirty minute breaks at 10 and 1.
Muck was mixed outside in a large cement mixer and tipped into a barrow. Upstairs it was then taken upstairs using a plasterers hod.
One barrowful onto the spot board, one left in the barrow and another gauge in the mixer.
Working to a system is everything, not rushing around like a headless chicken.
In my twenties and thirties I'd do a days work and then play squash, badminton or tennis in the evening, if I wasn't out in the pub playing darts.
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Pretty much the same working practice, plus hour in the gym after work, couple of pints then shag the missus before dinner. ( in my 20's)
 
70sqm+ of s+c can be done on your own if you know what you are doing that is some graft,I laboured for 2 spreads when I started out one would start laying in the screeds while the other was fixing and levelling the angle beads on all the reveals and external corners, you’d be surprised how quick floating can be done if your experienced in it and know what your doing,
 
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