Bitter old spreads

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Plastering since 1977 served my time with real craftsmen.Four years ago thought i.d start up for myself (kids left home etc),what a joke, to many skimmers and knackers doing work for nowt.Now i,m back working for a plastering contractor making more than i could for myself and getting holiday pay.Role on Retirement.. LOL
 
broonster said:
Plastering since 1977 served my time with real craftsmen.Four years ago thought i.d start up for myself (kids left home etc),what a joke, to many skimmers and knackers doing work for nowt.Now i,m back working for a plastering contractor making more than i could for myself and getting holiday pay.Role on Retirement.. LOL
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if that is all i could do i would take the tablet
 
Hello Jonny

I'm sorry to hear of this predicament,

I am nearly 40 and am just about to start trying to get private plastering work out there.

I am by no means a timeserved spread, but i have worked around it for years since 17 years old, and have been involved in refurbs etc laboring and small plastering jobs, and decs.

even though I am not time served I would by no means think about doing the work for peanuts, I would want to get the money a timeserved spread would get, although in some eyes I may not deserve to get that, but that is what I would be going for.

I think personally the clients are clued up as far as what impact the state of the economy is having on multitudes of self employed plasterers, and will take advantage of that, and you will always get someone who will knock their price down 30% if they are promised the work.

I know its easier said than done, but I think a good way get the price you want is to create a belief in the client that the work will be done to a high standard, and establishing a good rapport with the client initially, if they sense any negativity that can reflect in their decision making.

I appreciate that timeserved plasterers should not really have to do that, but with the changing times, this is what clients want.

I dont know you and not judging you by what you have written, but sometimes an overview and tweaking tactics on approach to jobs could boost the win ratio by 20% or more.

kind rgards

Ed
 
plastererEd said:
Hello Jonny

I'm sorry to hear of this predicament,

I am nearly 40 and am just about to start trying to get private plastering work out there.

I am by no means a timeserved spread, but i have worked around it for years since 17 years old, and have been involved in refurbs etc laboring and small plastering jobs, and decs.

even though I am not time served I would by no means think about doing the work for peanuts, I would want to get the money a timeserved spread would get, although in some eyes I may not deserve to get that, but that is what I would be going for.

I think personally the clients are clued up as far as what impact the state of the economy is having on multitudes of self employed plasterers, and will take advantage of that, and you will always get someone who will knock their price down 30% if they are promised the work.

I know its easier said than done, but I think a good way get the price you want is to create a belief in the client that the work will be done to a high standard, and establishing a good rapport with the client initially, if they sense any negativity that can reflect in their decision making.

I appreciate that timeserved plasterers should not really have to do that, but with the changing times, this is what clients want.

I dont know you and not judging you by what you have written, but sometimes an overview and tweaking tactics on approach to jobs could boost the win ratio by 20% or more.

kind rgards

Ed
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i am by no means time served at heart surgery but i try to quote as much as a time served heart surgeon would charged because "I would by no means think about doing the work for peanuts" and i want the money a time served heart surgeon would quote
hows that sound "PLASTERER"ed i think thats a fair comparison to what you just said
 
plastererEd said:
Hello Jonny

I'm sorry to hear of this predicament,

I am nearly 40 and am just about to start trying to get private plastering work out there.

I am by no means a timeserved spread, but i have worked around it for years since 17 years old, and have been involved in refurbs etc laboring and small plastering jobs, and decs.

even though I am not time served I would by no means think about doing the work for peanuts, I would want to get the money a timeserved spread would get, although in some eyes I may not deserve to get that, but that is what I would be going for.

I think personally the clients are clued up as far as what impact the state of the economy is having on multitudes of self employed plasterers, and will take advantage of that, and you will always get someone who will knock their price down 30% if they are promised the work.

I know its easier said than done, but I think a good way get the price you want is to create a belief in the client that the work will be done to a high standard, and establishing a good rapport with the client initially, if they sense any negativity that can reflect in their decision making.

I appreciate that timeserved plasterers should not really have to do that, but with the changing times, this is what clients want.

I dont know you and not judging you by what you have written, but sometimes an overview and tweaking tactics on approach to jobs could boost the win ratio by 20% or more.

kind rgards

Ed
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Hi Ed, quick question marra ......who the fewk is Johnny :RpS_unsure:
 
i'm time served 12 yrs, self employed, mostly private work for local builders and private house work. my apprenticeship was a nightmare cause i wasn't given the opportunity to get on the tools. but i grafted 3 hits a day servin 3 or 4 fellas, carrying 2 buckets of cement to the top of a hotel from the pavement, all day. roping cement to the top of massive gables all day. pure hard graft, for peanuts. they gave me the old school knowledge so when i moved on to my next boss i got the chance to become good enough on the tools and now finally feel like i can get my own work and do a good job confidently. but i know i still have a lot to learn so that's my aim. the fella who posted this would be well better than me i'm sure but i just go slower and make sure i leave a good job. my point is that i had a bad start but really do care about my work and jus want to get a good name, which so far i have done. i work with another lad who's self employed an we're about to register a company. we are chocker with work and get under cut as well but i think quality will always see you through. there is a limit to what people will accept as good work and it will tell in the end locally. i don't advertise i live on an island so its all word of mouth but i will defo from now on do leaflets and facebook. it's just sensible and you can't have too much work. i'd pass any extra to me mates or jus get them in with me. plastering will never die ther's millions of walls just get ye self out there lads do a good job for a good rate an all the best to everyone x
 
haha,oh yeah,so my point was that i would feel happy asking for advice on here because it's not my fault that my first bosses made me feel like i'd never make it, then i never gained the experience of bein on the tools in different situations non stop. that's how you learn. i'm just enjoyin that now and would think a site like was made for people like me who are willing and care about doing the job properly. we charge min 100 a day up to 150 depending on the work and the wealth of the customer, or the amount of work if it's a lot. we plaster for free sometimes to help our mates out an family. so what's wrong with helpin with advice. if the customers are savvy they will want quality work every time an the deserve it. dont over charge or under charge be realistic and crack on mate good luck to ye x
 
timeservedspread said:
Hello to all my fellow spreads,

Seeing as I’m sat on my arse with not much work booked ithought I’d put my views across on the diabolical work situation we are facing.

My plastering history is, at 18 years old i was given an apprenticeshipby a master plasterer and fibrous plasterer who between them probably suppliedme with about 80 years combined knowledge of both trades.

My apprenticeship was around 5 years, I’m now 43 yearsold and I’m just about as f'd off as i could be with the way our trade has beendumbed down into what can only be described as a farce of epic proportions.

I know from reading posts who the real spreaders are andthere is a fair few on here.

I lay the blame for the diabolical mess we are in on theclowns who operate these (get rich quick) courses, churning out completenovices with serious attitude problems?

Half the questions asked on this site are from monkeyswho are undercutting genuine spreads and who have either been on a course orlaboured on a spread, the f'ing cheek is beyond belief.

Do plastering course / go to screwfix and buy tools / getvan and vinyl lettering / = you are now a plastering contractor?

Well I’m sorry but you are most certainly not!

There is a reason we call ourselves "timeserved" tradesmen and that is we served our time through hard labour not af'ing plastering booth in a heated workshop?

If so-called plasterers need direction on how to do thejob they profess to be so good at then we should not be helping them.

They are the same reason we have to work for peanuts andthey are the clowns who price us out of domestic work.

Site work regs and prices are beyond a joke and in thepast when a recession has happened we always had the domestic market to fallback on, but not now.

We need to adopt the same rules as the Americanplasterers have, a British equivalent of The Operative Plasterers' and CementMasons' International Association of the United States and Canada (OPCMIA).

This is the only way to get the chancers out of our tradeand to make site contractors pay the proper rates for what is without doubt thehardest of all trades.

I’m 43 and sat on my arse at home ringing round for workand pricing jobs which i won’t getbecause some "skimmer" (whatever the f'@k that is) is doing it for 50quid a day.

My years in the plastering game have given me; hands thatlook 200 years old and that don’t havemuch blood circulating in them / 2 arthritic shoulders / i also need a new hipand knee within the next 7 years.
Bitter doesn’t even begin to describe how i feel at thisstage of my life?

Rant over, the upmost respect to my fellow "timeserved" spreads

Jonny
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You not put things in place over the years? Bought property rentals, put money aside? I'm also 43 and knacked but did invest in property and have an online business, But for some reason my plastering and remodeling business is booming booked up till end of June there is work out there think about remodeling work everybody is staying put and investing in there property i'm interviewing brickies next week because i'm going back into extensions also. Hope it picks up for you bud.
 
Its not only us spreads who are suffering wages and prices are being driven down no matter what game you are in (bankers and doctors excepted of course) There is no chance of this county coming out of recession. This is the new norm. Unemployment may be falling but the new jobs are all in call centres or self employed plasterers, tilers, plumbers etc who have done a weeks course.
With wages falling more and more getting tax credits and more people coming in from the East our national debt is going to keep rising we will never pay it off. 10 years from now we will be the new Greece. Just in time for me to collect my penison if there is any money left !
 
Sorry but I see opportunity and after getting most of the building work i'm pricing think it seems to be working there are loads of idiots out there what you need to do is stand out from them if you do a good job people will require your services simple. Last job I quoted I was £1200 more expensive than the next quote but got the work because thy wanted me to do the work on my attitude and knowledge And they have recommended me to a friend wanting an extension before iv even done there work!
 
There is loads of work you just have to know how to sniff it out. My number 1 tip dont look at the news gloom and doom there just fecking with your mind.
 
If i had to rely totally on plastering i would be fooked frankly due to the area i live in. Anything i can do to a good standard i will do so, for the last 2 weeks i have done more tiling than plastering next week for 3 days it is first fix joinery work and then start boarding and skimming with some dot and dab thrown in. Treat every job as though it is your own house turn up on time finish on time and at the price agreed. Kebab King is spot on with the networking you have got to keep expanding your networks to keep the work coming in. And as someone else as mentioned if you have time on your hands learn some new skills this in turn broadens your social network and provides opportunities to promote you as a plasterer.
 
Yeah, my old man 45 years on a trowel, reckons hes "now sitting in the shade cause he planted his trees years ago" whatever the fcuk thats supposed to mean!.
 
im sick to death of it all too, too many jobs are looked at and quoted for just on a day rate and materials! no real coin to be earnt, and still not getting them! trouble too with lots of regular costemers are that they dont know a good spread!! only what they see and are used too, so if it paints up alright and they use some cheap monkey but have never had a good spreads work to admire, would only think our prices are dear.... i find this alot.

only people that have good spreads and then choose the cheaper route only to find out just how bad things can get, then you get that phone call! lol can you come back and make this good etc... same with anything, you dont miss what youv never had.
 
finefinishwales said:
You not put things in place over the years? Bought property rentals, put money aside? I'm also 43 and knacked but did invest in property and have an online business, But for some reason my plastering and remodeling business is booming booked up till end of June there is work out there think about remodeling work everybody is staying put and investing in there property i'm interviewing brickies next week because i'm going back into extensions also. Hope it picks up for you bud.
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good bit of advice that I'll buy a house next week and rent it out simple
 
Unfortunatly our industry had a golden chance for ridding all sites of the chancers with the introduction of the cscs scheme but blew it complety, when they decided to make all about health and safety and fcuk all about the plastering, i saw an nvq assesor on site pass a pair of re***ds who could barely hold a trowel never mind use it, turns out the assesor retrained after leaving the army where he used to lay a few bricks "well a trowels a trowel isnt it!," he said, No mate it certainly is not! I thought this recession would wheedle out the chancers and the tossers but if anything it seems to be breeding them! All we can do is keep on doing what we do,10 times better than the idiots out there and hope the quality keeps em at bay, good luck to you mate i wish you well.
 
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