fast tiling

[Peter]

Every job is so different with substrate flatness, tiles, checks etc its hard to have a consistent daily meterage. Took me 5 days to do a 30m bathroom lately due to lots of boxing reveals etc and 14 lengths or chrome trim. Straight walls and one window would have it done in 2 days. Could be done in a day on an open floor.

 

[m3fitter]

in the early 90's, a tiler was known by his speed ( as it was p**s easy then to be honest, with chamfered edge small tiles ! ) these days, with rectified edges and large format, its a challenge to get meterage down, as there's no hiding behind magic grout ! lol ;-)

 

[Saltire69]

I cannot believe that this has escalated into such a bitchfest.
I suppose in a way i started this. I did have a motive and there IS and underlying reason behind my comments.
Ridiculed for Ash and (cant be bothered going looking for the post but.... ) his gaffer knocking out 38m, they werent. I dont think anyone was "ridiculed" in that post.
We all complain about builders, cowboys etc etc. Ash has been tiling for all of 5 minutes. Are we suggesting that he should be able to knock that sort of coverage out in a day? If he does then do we think that he has the experience to apply both speed and accuracy to his work? I would argue no. And thats not just because its Ash.

Its almost comical that the same people that would complain about course tilers are supporting "bash it out" attitude to someone that isnt even a course tiler. Its nothing short of ludicrous in my opinion. Care, finesse and attention to detail are all vitally important traits i feel in our industry. Traits that should take presidence over speed and profit.
Yes a tiler of some 30 years can probably get it done. I personally hate working when i feel rushed. Believe it or not i like my job and trade and this will continue to be the case all the while i apply my own attitude towards my work and continue to enjoy it.

So ill ask the question. 38sqm fixed in a day. Is this something that a tiler at apprentice level should be achieving? Or aiming towards? Is quantity at this level more important than quality?

On a personal level i wouldnt know if i could cover that floor in the same time frame Deano has. To be completely honest it doesnt look very complex in layout. Nothing too awkward to navigate. But id sooner not. I mean what would you charge then? £20psm? So were saying £700+ per day!? I couldnt justify that to a customer. Maybe speedy residential work like that might encourage cheaper pricing. We've all complained about that havent we? Couple cheap pricing and inexeperience together do we not get the other bug bear? Poor finish. Cowboy builders blah blah blah.

If you think about it in a way youre shooting yourselves in both feet.

If you can do it with experience then thats fannastic. Without complaint, awesome!
Setting the bar there for apprentice tilers is nothing short of industry destruction and stupid. IMO

Their paying Deano for his expertise, Whats the difference between another tiler charging the same but taking 3.5 days to do it. The client still pays the same.

 

[m3fitter]

yes, time that it takes is irrelevant, if... done correctly without fault,
one the otherhand, one of my tilers, asked for a job on price... foolishly I agreed, he tiled 17 on the wall on 6 on the floor, grouted in a bathroom in one day, from 7.30am - 10pm ! metro 300x100 halfbond wall, 600x300 rectified halfbond on floor... !
they wanted to go to bed ! the next day they looked at everything, picking up slightly recessed grout in places, mitred trim not meeting perfectly etc,etc....
if he had taken 2 days to complete, I am sure that they would not have snagged the work, as it was passable, not perfect, but passable and maybe just a quick re visit..
they stated ' working from 7.30 - 10pm, he must have been tired, why did he work this late '
so in essence, if you can tile large meterage and they are happy with the end result.. all good 🙂 but if it looks a lot for one day, they will scrutinize

 

[Dougs Third Go]

okay, an analogy, my van needs fixing, say for instance drive shaft has gone, I ring round garages workshops etc to get a price/ quote, one of the first questions I ask is "how long will it take?" If I get 3 similar quotes monetary wise and the choice is ; a) 3 days, b) 2 days, c) 1 day.....all done to same spec, which quote am I gonna take?

 

[Chalker]

Speed is gained by experience and age. (To a point)

you don't get faster, you get more efficient,

 

[widler]

Im up glasgow a week on monday , gotta tile this,90m2 , bet it takes me more than a day !
" don't worry wid its flat as a pancake and bang on ready to go"

Head in hands and crying me eyes out .

Ps i totally agree about pricing, we are paid for our skills, if we wanted to get paid by the hour we would be stacking shelves .
It should not matter how fast we work as long as the works right, unfortunately how many have heard a customer say " christ i wish i was on your rate "

 

[Brian the Tile]

Tis true , we all know how much a solicitor charges add how much do mechanics charge?customers are paying for our experience and I have always found that they are glad when the job is done quickly and then they can have their house back and you out of the way good job well done thankyou

 

[Brian the Tile]

And it doesn't matter if you have given your customers a price and they accept it whether you are there one day or ten days as long as the price doesn't alter

 

[jonnyc]

just been catching up with this thread and it seem to be moving towards a discussion about pricing a job and if fixed price ,might the client think too expensive if done very quickly.
For myself if i employ anyone to do work at my house i do get a few quotes and make my decision based not just on price but how they come across about doing job.i do probably work out in my head what chosen contractor may have earnt for the job but i have made my decision and i wont get stressed about it .
but it does bring up an interesting question which may have been debated before .
this being that i do not believe that a good tiler time served or not should ever give a day rate with the exception of taking up an old floor and not knowing how to make good till subfloor revealed before you can retile.
I will start a new thread as i dont want to hijack this one and expalin why i think this way>

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

i would just like to add to all to make sure you have your knee pads on no matter what or how small the job is ,i should have listened to that swine of a boss when i was younger

Billy Duggan that brings back memories.

 

[Brian the Tile]

Billy Duggan that brings back memories.

aye Phil the one and only billy duggan,boy did he give me a dogs life as they say,a nasty man he was,had me working all crazy hours weekends ,nights late nights ,you name it we had to do it,the thing is though he didnt used to ask,he would tell you that you was working,because he was a workaholic he thought all who worked for him should also be but there was only him making any money oh the tales i could tell about that person ( cant call him a man as he wasnt one,just a bully),but i learnt one hell of a lot from him i have to say