pricing as a novice

[roy c]

If the pipes to either side of the rad are flexible for you to take the rad off its brakets them you can lift it up and put something under the rad to support it. Then shut the valves off undo the large nuts on the side slowly and lower the top of the rad down towards you and wedge that up with a piece of wood or a couple of bricks and tighten the nuts up and skim away loosen the nuts up when you have finished and put it back on the brackets. Put some rags or something under the valves before you open them (dont open them up too much just enough to bring the front down without the water ****in' out),, Good luck mucka, What part of Sheldon you from?

 

[Richard C]

Christ I would never skim around a radiator or switch/socket plates. Not sure if Roy actually meant flexible as in “flexible” but a very similar if not the same trick; also a good one for the decos. If it’s a suspended timber floor, you can usually get enough “give” on the pipes to lever the rad off the wall brackets & swivel it down through 90 degrees onto the floor. Crack the inlet & outlet unions just enough to allow the rad to swivel & then a lump of wood under the centre of the rad to lever against & a pry bar will be enough to get you off the brackets & swivel the rad onto the floor; nip the unions up until your ready to put the rad back.

I’ve done this loads & loads of times but be very careful; I got caught out once when I couldn’t get the rad quiet high enough with my perceived “usual” leverage & so made the fatal mistake of applying a little more. Result, the rad popped off the inlet pipe & black ****e pumping out everywhere; what’s more it was hot black ****e so I burned my freekin hands getting the rad back on again; I spent the next hour sponging black ****e off the carpet.

 

[roy c]

Christ I would never skim around a radiator or switch/socket plates. Not sure if Roy actually meant flexible as in “flexible” but a very similar if not the same trick; also a good one for the decos. If it’s a suspended timber floor, you can usually get enough “give” on the pipes to lever the rad off the wall brackets & swivel it down through 90 degrees onto the floor. Crack the inlet & outlet unions just enough to allow the rad to swivel & then a lump of wood under the centre of the rad to lever against & a pry bar will be enough to get you off the brackets & swivel the rad onto the floor; nip the unions up until your ready to put the rad back

Thats exactly whar I meant RC,,

 

[Richard C]

Thats exactly whar I meant RC,,

Thought as much; great minds Roy, great minds

 

[jrplastering]

ah ha buuuuut in a hallway surley jusr lieing the rad down it will be right in the way ?? hmmmmm .
i would just take it off but as was perviously mentiond dont skim round it it will look toot.

 

[sheldon1982]

thanks for the great advise guys

roy c im from tile cross sheldon birmingham mackadown lane dont know if you know it.

i will try and convince the customer to let me take the rad off, i agree it will look turd!!

cheers guys will let you know how i get on

 

[sheldon1982]

one more thing she had a daido rail half way up the wall, is this difficult to plaster around?

only needs a thin skim so should be ok

 

[jrplastering]

when you say had do you mean she has taken it off or did you mean she still has a dado rail in place either way it should be fine if its been taken off and the strip it has left behind is sitting a bit low i usually just bring out flush with a bit of skim once ive knocked up just before i start but you dnt have to.
im sure youlll do a brilliant job let us know how i goes and mabey a pic or 2 if you can.
good luck mate
JRP

 

[roy c]

thanks for the great advise guys

roy c im from tile cross sheldon birmingham mackadown lane dont know if you know it.

i will try and convince the customer to let me take the rad off, i agree it will look turd!!

cheers guys will let you know how i get on

Hi mucka I lived in Chelmsley Grove off Gressel lane many years ago when that estate was first built!! Then lived up by the Radleys...then off around the world for a while.... I will be coming back to Sheldon in a few weeks to see my sisters...

 

[sheldon1982]

well what an eye opener.

i done the job ok but it took me 9 hours on saturday and 5 hours on sunday, i only quoted the job on a days work so i lost out big time.

everything was going against me, first my beads wouldnt fix to the walls, i always use clout nails to fix the beads but the plaster on the walls was just breaking away so i had to stick them on is this bad practise.

everything seemed in the way and very tight and i started to flap after a while , the customer was more than happy with the final finish but i wasnt.

the first coat was drying so fast and my judgement on the mixes was terrible i had to throw away loads of plaster

definitely a learning curve .

there is a lot more pressure when someone is paying for your work.
so for two days work i took home £80

 

[joe-90]

Which is why I said:

"Hallways can be time consuming with all those bits near the architrave and whatnot. I'd tell her £120 so you don't mind going back the next morning to touch it up."


We live and learn eh? The lesson alone was worth £80.

 

[islandview]

in time you will learn how much you can do in a day so you will only get better at pricing. It is essentialy the one thing you need to get right. Too high and you might not get the job and too low, well you have discovered how this one feels. If ever your not sure if you have applied enough pva to control the suction, stick another quick coat on. It wont hurt and it might just give you the extra time you might need. With the beads i quite often stick them on with multi in older properties. Nails in newer and staples on boards.

 

[jrplastering]

alright mate unlucky for the weekend (ment scincearly) sometimes i find putting beads up with plaster quite time consumeing and messy so if im on a job and i think the corners will blow out i take a tube of gripfill, stick the beads up with that then just pin them in place (only first few mm of nail in wall) just to hold them tight then i get my gear out and set up put the glue on.

usually by time ive done this and had a cuppa the grip fills dry, take the pins out and your ready to go with nice solid beads no mess and no pre plastering knocking up (if you understand what i mean).

also when it comes to glueing and killing the suction my general rules that i was taught was, if its painted only one coat of glue will suffice otherwise itll slide wen you flatten it.
and if the glues dry where you started by time you just finished glueing at the other end itll need anouther one.

just remember next time lots of little areas will take longer than a nice big room due to the akwardness and the nature of the job.

remember these mate and youll be ok dnt loose heart and keep trying youll get there good luck fella .
JRP

 

[sheldon1982]

thank you so much for the great advise guys i really appreciate it

i find it amazing how you pros can do a days graft and still find time to answer us novices questions. bloody fantastic

i have another job this weekend so will try harder to get things right.

cheers guys

 

[1john]

thank you so much for the great advise guys i really appreciate it

i find it amazing how you pros can do a days graft and still find time to answer us novices questions. bloody fantastic

i have another job this weekend so will try harder to get things right.

cheers guys

Being self employed and doing 'domestic' work is always a bit of a gamble, you will win some and lose some, just make sure you dont lose on too many, the quicker you get they hand of pricing the more likely you are to stay afloat so to speak. It's all a learning curve, keep at it, and dont worry about taking £80 for two days work, just remember, that plastering is in the customers hall, any one who visits her will see it and thats better than leaving a business card! Good luck with future jobs!