35 and looking at my option's and some advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bl00d

New Member
Hi

Ok i know that i am a bit old to learn a trade but here goes.
i was told by a man at B and Q not to try skimming the walls i had put plaster boards on i ignored him and gave it a go i had a mate on stand by if it went pear shaped. as it happens it's not a perfect finish but it is level an smooth the edges need tidying and there are some small imperfections and i enjoyed doing it for my first attempt with no guidance i think its a good job could be better so here's the question

Am i to old at to learn this trade i would of course go to collage for as long as it takes not a short DIY bodge it course.

Is there plenty of work for GOOD plasterers or is it the same as everything else flooded with under qualified people undercutting at every opportunity pointing no finger's

Thank you for any reply good bad or spam
 
Thank you for your quick response thats the disadvantage of being my age i suppose i mean who wants a 35 year old labourer the only way i could think to do that is if i gave my spare time for free which is an option,
 
Don't sell yourself short mate,at least put the graft in for a labourers wage.watch and learn then you will pick up tips and tricks so that when you get a go you are a bit better prepared.you only live once!!
 
you're best labouring for domestic spreads in your area if you want the experience. forget about sites for now

Bl00d said:
Is there plenty of work for GOOD plasterers or is it the same as everything else flooded with under qualified people
Click to expand...

depends what you wanna do mate round my neck of the woods (north west, liverpool) most spreads are alright. i've only ever seen chancers or under qualified people cutting in on commercial jobs like office developments student accommodation etc all that, there's a load of polish plasterers in liverpool that do that k-rend shite for minimum wage. if you don't wanna labour you should go to college and do either a diploma or nvq. an apprenticeship if you can find one would be better

good luck. if you make it stay away from housebashing sites they're b*ll***s:RpS_thumbup:
 
lilharbs said:
Don't sell yourself short mate,at least put the graft in for a labourers wage.watch and learn then you will pick up tips and tricks so that when you get a go you are a bit better prepared.you only live once!!
Click to expand...
my pal has a 60 yr old labourer, common sense is invaluable
 
Bl00d said:
Thank you for your quick response thats the disadvantage of being my age i suppose i mean who wants a 35 year old labourer the only way i could think to do that is if i gave my spare time for free which is an option,
Click to expand...
I use to have guy 65 yrs old best labourer I ever had everything was spotless nothing was to much trouble for him
 
thank you for all your input i will start ringing round in my area see what i can come up with i found out the collage near me runs a course on my days off so will look into that as well,
on sunday i am going to see if i can do another wall or the rest of the room find out if it was beginners luck
 
Bl00d said:
Thank you for your quick response thats the disadvantage of being my age i suppose i mean who wants a 35 year old labourer the only way i could think to do that is if i gave my spare time for free which is an option,
Click to expand...

i didnt start spreading till i was 30................:RpS_thumbup:, hoping my body will last abit longer with coming into the trade late. I picked it up reasonably quickly and i would say this was down to my age, cos ive had a few youngins who either cant apply themselves and cant be arsed and havent got the patience to learn.

it doesnt matter how old you are to labourer cos a good'un is worth his weight in gold

good luck..............:RpS_thumbsup:
 
I'm 38 and I enrolled on a Diploma 1 Plastering course in December 2013.

One of my tutors has over 30 years experience in the trade and has worked on some of the toughest jobs. Like the London Underground etc.

I don't plan on doing this full time, so I am not placing any pressure on myself.

Most of the young lads, the 18-25 year olds, have been kicked off the course because they don't care about learning. They will regret it when they are older, but that's life.

The rest of my class are all aged from 31-45 and are great.


Do it and see how you get on.

I want to be a Pilot. But at 38 I might be too old. I know I could do it, but the thought of taking out a £70K loan, competing with younger applicants and recouping my outlay puts me off. As the years go by it's getting harder and harder to do.


But what's to stop you from becoming a Plasterer?

Your tools and training costs are peanuts.
 
midiplaster said:
I'm 38 and I enrolled on a Diploma 1 Plastering course in December 2013.

One of my tutors has over 30 years experience in the trade and has worked on some of the toughest jobs. Like the London Underground etc.

I don't plan on doing this full time, so I am not placing any pressure on myself.

Most of the young lads, the 18-25 year olds, have been kicked off the course because they don't care about learning. They will regret it when they are older, but that's life.

The rest of my class are all aged from 31-45 and are great.


Do it and see how you get on.

I want to be a Pilot. But at 38 I might be too old. I know I could do it, but the thought of taking out a £70K loan, competing with younger applicants and recouping my outlay puts me off. As the years go by it's getting harder and harder to do.


But what's to stop you from becoming a Plasterer?

Your tools and training costs are peanuts.
Click to expand...






nothing as long as your willing to take 5 years to learn the trade.
 
I started plastering when I was 17 and I am sure you could learn in your 30's but dealing with the rubbish money when you start and that is a crap job plasterers labourer lol
 
its crap being a plasterer id much rathr become a pilot i even looked into it my self but supporting a family of 4 i couldnt afford the loan or the pay decrease as i bury my head into books and what have ya to learn all you need to fly
 
jrplastering said:
its crap being a plasterer id much rathr become a pilot i even looked into it my self but supporting a family of 4 i couldnt afford the loan or the pay decrease as i bury my head into books and what have ya to learn all you need to fly
Click to expand...

You planning another 9/11 :RpS_sneaky:
 
35 is not too old to be a labourer you are probably in your prime but that means down hill from here on.

Skimming is the easy part it is going into an old house and making good where the experience comes in. You cannot get that experience from reading a book and certainly a course or even college. It is down to gaining hands on experience and gaining it as you go along.

What you need is an element of fear. Without fear of some sort you will not get anywhere imo. What fear? Fear of getting the sack if you do a bad job, fear of not getting paid for doing a bad job, fear of ridicule. Also self pride. Pride that you do not need someone close by to wipe your arse. Independent of needing someone around who knows more about the job than you do. Pride of owning a full plasterers tool kit and not a kit you can fit in a carrier bag. A tool for every aspect of the trade. Not making excuses because you didn't have the tool required for the job and never ever having to lower yourself to 'borrowing' somebody else's tools.

So start at the bottom as a labourer, see it for what it is worth and that is on the negative side graft, responsibility, unreliable work and in real terms not that good money. If you like it then learn from there. But watch for the problem of you get to a stage of you are picking it up and you want more money, fair enough. But then the awkward part of where you no longer want to labour but be on the tools all the time. Thats where the shite can hit the fan! Can the spread afford to take you on? Does he want the hassle of having to find you work? Not all spreads are employers and don't want to be. A casual labourer is enough so be warned you might get to a certain level then have to move on to progress. I know I had this problem in my plastering days. Some made it some didn't.
 
Last edited:
Just to add to all this be under no illusions on how much work/leg work goes in to get even a couple of weeks booked in on domestic work if doing internals.

As an example in the last week ive been out to look at 8 jobs....which collectively if everyone came back in and I was able to complete to suit me and not them it would only give me a grand total of 9 days work for all that effort!!!

For each of them ive had to

1) Listen to voicemail and call back after work, if not caught them straight away left msg blabla and repeated till spoke.

2) Arranged to view always either evenings or weekends could be anywhere in your given city/town etc and normaly at a time to suit them not you.

3) Sit work price out

4) Email quote

5) Receive reply back from customer either email or phone, maybe have to correspond a few more times to firm arrangemets etc.

6) Sometimes have to fetch a key day before

7) Day of doing job fetch materials

8) Finaly complete work (the easy bit!)

9) If finish before customer gets home maybe have to return to collect payment

10) Pay payment into bank

Trust me mate were all just busy fools....charging less than a tradesmen rate and doing the work of a tradesmen and a labour minus the actual labourer.

Genuinley mate re-train for something that you can do to a ripe old age im 40 and feel absoloutley ****** every day!!!!
 
zombie said:
Just to add to all this be under no illusions on how much work/leg work goes in to get even a couple of weeks booked in on domestic work if doing internals.

As an example in the last week ive been out to look at 8 jobs....which collectively if everyone came back in and I was able to complete to suit me and not them it would only give me a grand total of 9 days work for all that effort!!!

For each of them ive had to

1) Listen to voicemail and call back after work, if not caught them straight away left msg blabla and repeated till spoke.

2) Arranged to view always either evenings or weekends could be anywhere in your given city/town etc and normaly at a time to suit them not you.

3) Sit work price out

4) Email quote

5) Receive reply back from customer either email or phone, maybe have to correspond a few more times to firm arrangemets etc.

6) Sometimes have to fetch a key day before

7) Day of doing job fetch materials

8) Finaly complete work (the easy bit!)

9) If finish before customer gets home maybe have to return to collect payment

10) Pay payment into bank

Trust me mate were all just busy fools....charging less than a tradesmen rate and doing the work of a tradesmen and a labour minus the actual labourer.

Genuinley mate re-train for something that you can do to a ripe old age im 40 and feel absoloutley ****** every day!!!!
Click to expand...

This is so true! I get phone calls and people say I WANT A QUOTE! never do they actually ask but demand and expect. I could never say no as when I started in the 80's recession I was desperate for every enquiry and never got out of the habit. But last year being booked up for 3 months ahead I actually for the first time said no can't do find someone else and did not look at a job for 2 months. 2 months of having weekends to myself in summer and it gave me so much freedom.

But what gets my blood boiling is the number of people who ask for a rendering quote and when I get there I ask what render do they want? And they don't know!!! So muggings here has to show samples and explain the benefits and disadvantages. This takes an hour and they still don't know so ask for multiple quotes. So to look at one job can take 3 hours. Time to drive there at a time to suit them not me then teach them what different render there are then go away and work out a price then email them. Then never hear anything from them again so what's the point? Now if these selfish clowns had to take time off work to see me and pay me for my professional time then they might not be so eager to waste my precious time on this planet. Believe me when you turn 50 and go to more funerals than christenings if any of you know what they are you start to value your own private time and loath wasting it on selfish people.

4 of these a week and thats 9 hrs to find. I am now going to get an iPad mini and set up iCloud so I do some of this in my dinner time so I have some time to myself at night.
 
Rigsby said:
This is so true! I get phone calls and people say I WANT A QUOTE! never do they actually ask but demand and expect. I could never say no as when I started in the 80's recession I was desperate for every enquiry and never got out of the habit. But last year being booked up for 3 months ahead I actually for the first time said no can't do find someone else and did not look at a job for 2 months. 2 months of having weekends to myself in summer and it gave me so much freedom.

.

4 of these a week and thats 9 hrs to find. I am now going to get an iPad mini and set up iCloud so I do some of this in my dinner time so I have some time to myself at night.
Click to expand...


But what gets my blood boiling is the number of people who ask for a rendering quote and when I get there I ask what render do they want? And they don't know!!! So muggings here has to show samples and explain the benefits and disadvantages. This takes an hour and they still don't know so ask for multiple quotes. So to look at one job can take 3 hours. Time to drive there at a time to suit them not me then teach them what different render there are then go away and work out a price then email them. Then never hear anything from them again so what's the point? Now if these selfish clowns had to take time off work to see me and pay me for my professional time then they might not be so eager to waste my precious time on this planet. Believe me when you turn 50 and go to more funerals than christenings if any of you know what they are you start to value your own private time and loath wasting it on selfish people


That's exactly what im going to do rigsby also ref I pad....1 of many new yrs resoloution this yr is when I walk through the door I don't take calls, work quotes out etc...im going to do it all whilst at work even if I have to pull round from where im working that day for an hr sort it all out and drive home.

Im also going to leave mobile in van at evenings and wknds and get a 2nd phone for friends and family...the amount of time ive gone out with family etc and get a work related call is unreal....tbf I don't always actual call them back but I always end up listening to the msg and it hangs over you knowing that you've got something else to do.

Got 2 young kids and feel like there best years are just passing me by due to a stupid fukin job set up which im realy beginning to detest!!!!:RpS_thumbdn:
 
zombie said:
But what gets my blood boiling is the number of people who ask for a rendering quote and when I get there I ask what render do they want? And they don't know!!! So muggings here has to show samples and explain the benefits and disadvantages. This takes an hour and they still don't know so ask for multiple quotes. So to look at one job can take 3 hours. Time to drive there at a time to suit them not me then teach them what different render there are then go away and work out a price then email them. Then never hear anything from them again so what's the point? Now if these selfish clowns had to take time off work to see me and pay me for my professional time then they might not be so eager to waste my precious time on this planet. Believe me when you turn 50 and go to more funerals than christenings if any of you know what they are you start to value your own private time and loath wasting it on selfish people


That's exactly what im going to do rigsby also ref I pad....1 of many new yrs resoloution this yr is when I walk through the door I don't take calls, work quotes out etc...im going to do it all whilst at work even if I have to pull round from where im working that day for an hr sort it all out and drive home.

Im also going to leave mobile in van at evenings and wknds and get a 2nd phone for friends and family...the amount of time ive gone out with family etc and get a work related call is unreal....tbf I don't always actual call them back but I always end up listening to the msg and it hangs over you knowing that you've got something else to do.

Got 2 young kids and feel like there best years are just passing me by due to a stupid fukin job set up which im realy beginning to detest!!!!:RpS_thumbdn:
Click to expand...

I have a night and weekend phone. Mainly to stop a certain employee scrounging subs! Missed my lad growing up always out looking at jobs. But no more looking outside Sheffield not that I hardly ever do and these domestics what are having a big extension but their chosen builder doesn't do rendering shite. They are using me as a reference library, sod em! Never got a builders job via the customer.

Life is too short for wasting your time on the selfish.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Back
Top