New Tilers Support - 1

[Dan]

Just a quick one. I am aware that if you as a newer tiler have any questions, it's not always easy to just explain them in a new post on here. And you can't always find somebody with the same problem with the solution already stated.

Now as we are the fastest growing tiling forums related forums, we want to stay the best in the game.

So if any of you have any problems, questions or just need guiding in the right direction, then tell me what your problems are in here and I'll do my very best to help you out.

Problems might be tiling skill related, product related, business related, maybe customer orientated? I don't know. But anything at all, ask in here and lets get this cleared up as soon as we can.

Thanks for your time so far registering and reading the forums. I hope this post helps many people out eventually!

THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED FOR POSTING DUE TO ITS SIZE - PLEASE USE THE NEW THREAD FOUND HERE.

 

[pault532]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Cheers Dave, is it worth filling the bath prior to sealing?

 

[DHTiling]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

fill the bath after the tiles have dried ..then seal......dave....
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What adhesive do you usually use for kitchen walls?

hi penno mate....you can downgrade your adhesive in a kitchen...depending on tile type and format...say from bal white star to blue star or even green star.......dave...

 

[Bernard]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Meant to be doing my first job this week, as long as I get it all planned out and know what I'm doing from start to finish in theory. It's a practice run really for a family member. Got a few beginners questions I need answering.

1) It's a hall way floor that need tiling and she's just had a small area concreted below the front door (Roughly 900mm x 150mm x 150mm). It was done last friday how long before it's safe to tile on?

2) There's a thin beam of waferboard running through the concrete floor about 150mm wide and 2 metres long, it's covering pipes I was told. It's level with the floor, I should replace this with at least 12mm exterior grade plyboard right?

3) When I prime the concrete will the wood need a different primer or is all for one? I haven't looked into this yet.

4) They're 33cm x 33cm almond coloured ceramic tiles that she wants putting on a diamond pattern. Going to be a tough first job for me. I'll be using the Karl Dahm special floor trowel. Is it likely that I'll still need to back butter these tiles? I've read a few people say with this trowel there's no need. I'll check to make sure how much coverage I'm getting before hand. It's just that If I back butter the tiles, that's going to near enough double the thickness of the adhesive right? That'll mean I'll be running close to having to shave off the bottom off three doors. I don't fancy it as I won't be getting paid for it.

5) How should I approach tiling over this beam of wood? Will a muliflex adhesive throughout be enough? Or is there anything more I should be doing?

6) Setting out a diamond pattern, where to start? It's a long thin hallway for the main part (1.1m x 4m), any tips? After making sure I minimize my **** cuts etc. I was thinking just find the centre line and get the centre diamond tile layed at one end and work around that? No? Any tips?

Cheers that's all for now, I'm sure I'll have a few more as I go along.

 

[Bagster]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Tanking - Is it really necessary?

If not, what will I need to do to make sure it is waterproof?

Thanks

 

[davy_G]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Alright all. Are there many tilers on here from Northern Ireland?
Im looking a bit of sensible advice about pricing jobs. So far ive got every job ive priced, possibly due to my eargerness to get the job which shows in the price (£15-25 per m2 depending on tiles, size of job etc) and my not so full diary as im new to it.
We dont supply adhesive or grout over here, its usually on site when we turn up and we advise what to get when quoting. Are these prices low or OK? I dont want to sell myself too cheep but then again im slower than the experienced guy so am prepared to work for less per day to keep the quality up.
Anyhow any thoughts?

 

[GazTech]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

keep on doing what youre doing ..seems to work for you.....when your speed is up..then adjust prices....Gaz

 

[myhometiling]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

hi
davy g

pricing jobs; site work is about £12 - £22 per m2
domestic jobs £18 - £40plus depending on tile & job

as for mats i use a couple of tile shops wer i send customers for there
tiles & mats,
any thing they buy i get credit added to my account.

calvy :beer_yum:

 

[davy_G]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Cheers Calvy,
Was on a site on the Malone road getting £22 a m. It was wall work as someone else had done the big floors and took the big money. Quality wasnt that hot of the finishing, though the builder seemed happy enough so i didnt pass comment!

 

[mikedavey]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Dan...I just recently done a tiling course hoping to start out on my own. How did you build up a customer base ? I've just put an ad in my local adverting mag......few cards in shop windows & telling my mates that i'm changing career hoping they might know of someone who wants some tiling done.

 

[felix]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Get your cards into the tiling shops. Whenever you finish a job get a testimonial from the customer and also ask them to pop back into the tile shop and tell them how good you were. Offer to knock £20 off if they do it.

There are loads of things you can do. You can get a free listing in Yellow Pages. One thing that has worked for me is to take note of any houses with for sale signs and sold stickers on them. When the sign comes down it usually means the new owners have the keys. Drop your card through the letter box on the off chance they need some work done. I did it to one house and the guy was a kitchen fitter. I've had loads of repeat work out of it.

Making contact with other tradesmen is excellent for getting work. Do every job to the best of your ability and your customer will want to show off their new kitchen or bathroom. Word of mouth is by far the best way off getting work

 

[mikedavey]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Cheers Felix

Thats a good one, putting your card in houses that just been bought by new tennants. Dropping leaflets was my next plan. I hear alot about leaving your cards at tile shops can be a waste of time as they never give them out, or only give them out when you've used them on a regular basis. But i don't wanna seem a pesimist as it can't hurt to leave cards with tile & bathroom fitting shops.

 

[felix]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

When you go into the tile shop make sure they have cards on their counter. I know Topps do this and so do a few others. Your right though some of the shops have their favourites and it is a waste of time.

Another thing you can do (as long as you have your logo and details on your van) is hit a different tile shop every saturday morning and park your van in the car park. Most customers potential customers buy their tiles on a saturday morning and even if they have been given a card inside the shop they will more than likely take your details to get a quote as well

 

[steve1]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Hi

Wonder if you can help. I am pricing up two bathrooms and one down stairs toilet in one house totaling 8.4mtr sq in natural stone. priced for labour, material (ie adesive, grout, ply wood, water proofer, sealent, etc. at a price of £720 does this sound about right for the east anglia area. Also when you ply boarded and layed your tiles you have a step in the door way, how would you finish the edge?

Thanks
Steve

 

[weesammy]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

alrite davey.from just outside belfast.done nett course in june.tiling part time.gimme shout m8
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alrite davey.done nett course in june.tiling part time.gimme a shout m8

 

[boyfrog]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

Hi Dan,
I am going to tile my hallway, I have read through all the forums (or at least it seems that way) and am going to put 12mm ply over the existing floorboards, and go from there. I've read in a few posts about sealing the ply with acrylic primer. My question is do I do this on both sides? And can anyone recommend a good primer that isn't £35 a throw like the BAL SRB stuff? As I have only 28'x3' to do, it seems excessive...
Thanks a lot,
D.

 

[DHTiling]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

hi b/frog...try using bal APD ...apply it neat to edges and back of ply... i prime the face side as well but some adhesives don't require you to do this but always read the instructions on the bag first.....dave..

 

[Dan]

Re: Any new tilers stuck at all, with anything?

THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED FOR POSTING DUE TO ITS SIZE - PLEASE USE THE NEW THREAD FOUND HERE.

 

[Dan]

Don't mind me while I bump some old but popular threads to see if the topic is still active in some way. Wondering if either the original idea or original issue still exists. I've done this with quite a few threads, so don't be offended if this is just jargon these days and not applicable. But I thought there might be a small chance a small percentage of the small number of threads might just be slightly applicable and the thread could get a new lease of life.

Reply to this if you've read a bit and have something to say.
There IS going to be a bigger chance when i do this, that the thread is dead. So don't worry if that's the case, just don't reply to it, and we'll all move on and let the thread drop out of view again.

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some of the older popular (sometimes not so popular) threads. Probably wont be current discussion these days but I just need to do it. So just ignore the thread if it's not current for you.