Plastering On-Site???

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recognise

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hello everyone, read through this forum it seems good so here is my first post.

I am a plasterer with 3 years experience, I have cscs and nvq2, now despite having this qualification i have never worked as a plasterer in building site conditions as the evidence i gathered was from visits from the assesor to domestic jobs, which is all my experience in plastering.

I have worked for years as a general labourer on site, just never plastering on site, I work with every different background imaginable, also ex rendering, boarding d&d....... I can skim about 30 to 40 sqm a day given the right conditions, now i just moved back from england to scotland and its proving a bad time to start up so im thinking about doing some site work where i can get it


So my question is............. What would be expected from me on a typical day on site?

now im talking about,
-what of my tools will i need? mixer etc....
-what materials will be on site,? beads, tape......
-what finish will i work with? multi or board
-what do those boys get away with when pushing out big meterage? caue ive seen some shady jobs in kit houses 3mm or 2m or more?
-do i get given a labourer or work myself?

so what should i expect there would be nothing worse than asking a site manager total newbie questions

thanks
 
I d leave it for now mate if you go on site as a subby chances are you'll be on a price per m2 so 30/40m2 a day will pay about 70 or 90 quid a day, ill be honest sites are crap at the moment so i doubt you'll get on anyway mate. build your speed up first if you want go go house bashing, another thing if you have a labourer his wages have to be covered aswell,
 
thanks for the reply,
so i want to be doing at least 50sq to get a wage then,
under site conditions with no carpets etc i could probably carry that off, im not exactly slow, i imagine without the half a day preparation of backgrounds etc, straight onto boards i could carry it off.

but if you do work on site can you please answer some of the questions i posted so i can get an idea for when i do go on

cheers
 
If your doin houses it will be most likely DD and skim so boarding gear and skimming gear, you have a van all you need will be in there really, decent whisk, most housing sites ive been on we take our own gennies for 110v lights whisk etc, finish plaster will be up to the contractor, if your doing Barrat houses they only use Knauf plaster products. Crap plasterers are crap plasterers where ever they work mate, you need something about you because they are always pulling reveals that are not square and things like that common sense stuff, Commercial sites (hospitals schools etc) already have power on, materials will be supplied as a subby you will be labour only as a rule
 
hello mate get in there and turn it pink :D
unfortunately you'll need to supply all your own tools/health and safety gear including 110v leads all youll have supplied is plaster (multi/board bugger all difference ;)) and a transformer/genny to plug in to
it's up to you to pay a labourer i wish they were free too ;D ..........
even though you may have seen some dodgy work there are very good spreads out there, to be honest i wouldnt try to keep up with the joneses and just concentrate on doing a good job, which should hopefully keep you on site
;)
 
hya m8, I think pft has it spot on, its the wrong time to be going on sites,but if you do find work the main thing that these big firms want is 1neatness not many cowboys work on sites nowerdays, 2 they want the house done yesterday, its no good trying to skim a house out if its going to take you 5/7 days by yourself , theres other trades to follow, an average 4 bed house is expected to complete in 3 days or so, if it takes 2/3/4 in a squad its up to you
 
thanks for the answers, spot on guys, they were kind of what i was hoping for as well,

i will give it a bash if i see something come up, but as you said not likely the way its going, only two sites operating in my whole area that ive seen the rest are closed, i fancied a trip to london in the van if i saw work there, probably the wrong time in the economy for those plans though.

but if nothing else you've cleared up what i had wondered about,

also, i never thought the spreads on site were ever crap, i just thought they sometimes got away with more than i would have expected, i held a straight edge up in a customers hallway once out of curiousity to see it bevelled out all over the place!

housebashings probably not my thing anyway, i couldnt choose my own hours :)
 
hya m8, I think pft has it spot on, its the wrong time to be going on sites,but if you do find work the main thing that these big firms want is 1neatness not many cowboys work on sites nowerdays, 2 they want the house done yesterday, its no good trying to skim a house out if its going to take you 5/7 days by yourself , theres other trades to follow, an average 4 bed house is expected to complete in 3 days or so, if it takes 2/3/4 in a squad its up to you
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sorry mate ive never site bashed but do they honestly give you a strict time limit to complete each house?
 
would these be a smallish 4 bedder? as in couple @ 4x3, couple @ 3x3, h/s/l, bath, lounge diner, smallish kitchen? and is it usually 1 thick coat, trowel it up?
its just that me and my mate just done a 3 bedder overskim, bit of everything background wise, falling over other trades.. took 5 days... all 2 coat work..
prolly 40-50 metres a day each?
 
The usual 4 bedders have about 300 m² and are worth about 700 quid. I usually skim one in 4 days with me labourer, i never 1 coat it leaves a crap finish. The money on site is no good and its getting worse. i have been doing domestics for quite a while.
 
things............can only get betterrrrrr............can only get...................... :'( :'( :'( :'(
 
what part of the world are you from bestest ?..................im in bristol mate and i'm getting 2.50 on commercial work
 
The usual 4 bedders have about 300 m² and are worth about 700 quid. I usually skim one in 4 days with me labourer, i never 1 coat it leaves a crap finish. The money on site is no good and its getting worse. i have been doing domestics for quite a while.
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700 squid for 2 blokes for 4 days! :o i take it your labradors doing it for love...
 
20 Squid a day cash. They're paying 2.50 a m² up here if your a subby, i get my own work and charge 4 £4 a m² labuor only, im from wigan
 
if they moan get another ;D................. half of them arent worth 20 quid
 
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