Which Trade?

[WillWriter]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

 

[DeltaT2]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

Don't do it mate, all trades are at an all time low. Take advantage of this & shop around for the best tradesmen & the best prices. If you've got work as a self-employed person, you're very lucky. Because 1000s of tradesmen don't.
HTH

 

[SALL2009]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

Don't do it mate, all trades are at an all time low. Take advantage of this & shop around for the best tradesmen & the best prices. If you've got work as a self-employed person, you're very lucky. Because 1000s of tradesmen don't.
HTH

I don't know why everyone in trade keeps saying that.

My heating engineer is very busy and needs at least a week or two to book any new work in.
A roofer I use hasn't got back to me after I called him 2 days ago. He told me over the phone that he was too busy and couldn't take any work for 2 weeks. So I will have to chase him to get a quote.
There must be some work around.

 

[WillWriter]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

Don't do it mate, all trades are at an all time low. Take advantage of this & shop around for the best tradesmen & the best prices. If you've got work as a self-employed person, you're very lucky. Because 1000s of tradesmen don't.
HTH

I don't know why everyone in trade keeps saying that.

My heating engineer is very busy and needs at least a week or two to book any new work in.
A roofer I use hasn't got back to me after I called him 2 days ago. He told me over the phone that he was too busy and couldn't take any work for 2 weeks. So I will have to chase him to get a quote.
There must be some work around.

Thats exactly what I have found, Gas Safe and Sparks are telling me its a 4 week wait and so there must be work. I was just thinking that if a Tiler/Plasterer/Plumber etc charges me £1k for a job and I could get some quality training for say £2k then I would save in the long run and potentially be able to get some work.....I would add that this work would not be needed to pay the bills (yet|)

 

[SALL2009]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

Don't do it mate, all trades are at an all time low. Take advantage of this & shop around for the best tradesmen & the best prices. If you've got work as a self-employed person, you're very lucky. Because 1000s of tradesmen don't.
HTH

I don't know why everyone in trade keeps saying that.

My heating engineer is very busy and needs at least a week or two to book any new work in.
A roofer I use hasn't got back to me after I called him 2 days ago. He told me over the phone that he was too busy and couldn't take any work for 2 weeks. So I will have to chase him to get a quote.
There must be some work around.

Thats exactly what I have found, Gas Safe and Sparks are telling me its a 4 week wait and so there must be work. I was just thinking that if a Tiler/Plasterer/Plumber etc charges me £1k for a job and I could get some quality training for say £2k then I would save in the long run and potentially be able to get some work.....I would add that this work would not be needed to pay the bills (yet|)

Taking paid work on the back of a training course would be pushing it a bit in my honest opinion. You shouldn't need training to tile at diy standard. But if you going to charge people for your work, they will expect a perfect finish which needs practise.

 

[londonboy]

I am an electrician and have recently been refurbishing a large house for myself.

I have brought tradesmen in because:

they can do it faster than me,
to a better standard than me,
I can be off on my own jobs while theyre working.


It is probably the same for you.

 

[Johnmelad]

Thats exactly what I have found, Gas Safe and Sparks are telling me its a 4 week wait and so there must be work. I was just thinking that if a Tiler/Plasterer/Plumber etc charges me £1k for a job and I could get some quality training for say £2k then I would save in the long run and potentially be able to get some work.....I would add that this work would not be needed to pay the bills (yet|)

They used to have work on there books for four months, now down to four weeks...

Not so very long ago I was bragging about having to turn work down as I had so much on. Now my phone is dead.

Had one small job last week. This week I have a £300 job and nothing else.

 

[WillWriter]

Hi all, I have used this site many times and have always received good advice and I am still looking for advice but slightly different. I currently run my own business from home (Clerical not Trade) and I am just about to complete on a buy to let which needs a refurb. Whilst thinking about this I have come to the decision that it may help me to take a course and learn a trade. This will help me to keep refurb costs down and could also provide a little extra income. I enjoy most things, plumbing, tiling, a bit of electrics but obviously I am no tradesman in any of them. My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

Don't do it mate, all trades are at an all time low. Take advantage of this & shop around for the best tradesmen & the best prices. If you've got work as a self-employed person, you're very lucky. Because 1000s of tradesmen don't.
HTH

I don't know why everyone in trade keeps saying that.

My heating engineer is very busy and needs at least a week or two to book any new work in.
A roofer I use hasn't got back to me after I called him 2 days ago. He told me over the phone that he was too busy and couldn't take any work for 2 weeks. So I will have to chase him to get a quote.
There must be some work around.

Thats exactly what I have found, Gas Safe and Sparks are telling me its a 4 week wait and so there must be work. I was just thinking that if a Tiler/Plasterer/Plumber etc charges me £1k for a job and I could get some quality training for say £2k then I would save in the long run and potentially be able to get some work.....I would add that this work would not be needed to pay the bills (yet|)

Taking paid work on the back of a training course would be pushing it a bit in my honest opinion. You shouldn't need training to tile at diy standard. But if you going to charge people for your work, they will expect a perfect finish which needs practise.

I wasnt suggesting for a minute that I try to get paid work off the back of a DIY course. My thoughts were to take a good course which will give me the skills to do my own work and then a few friends and family and build my experience with additional training etc....thinking of plumbing or tiling as these are the two things I have enjoyed doing the most as a DIYer

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

Forget it to many wollys at it. Soz that ship sailed years ago.

 

[iaith]

If you're looking to do a short course to help with your refurb, I recon plastering would be useful. I'm not saying a five day course will make you into a great plasterer, but it will be a great help for all those smaller jobs around the house. especially as trade plasters aren't so keen on smaller jobs.

 

[oilboffin]

I used to live at scamton near Lincoln look around for a place called
Trade ability they teach basic plumbing, tiling, plastering and decorating
I did the tiling course and improved my skill level
Best of luck

 

[chapeau]

H My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

What a good question. Suppose if you are doing a refurb then if it needs a rewire then learning the basics of being a sparky could cost you hundreds and save you thousands. So I'd go for that.

The so called 'Part P' courses are around £750 for a week round here and although you would not be allowed to touch my house with such minimal experience you should be able to bash around your own.

So I'd go for that. Notify your works to the council, hire a test kit for £75 a week, and rewire your gaff. Will also get you into all the nooks and crannies and let you see how the thing looks from the inside.

If you like the job then you can join one of the 'Part P' self certifying outfits for a tidy sum (a rewire would be the practical test they want to watch) then see if you can get any other business. Going to be tough out there but price it right and who knows.

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

H My question is... which "trade" would you recommend a 42 yr old, fairly competent DIYer take a training course in with a view to earning some extra income ?
Thanks

What a good question. Suppose if you are doing a refurb then if it needs a rewire then learning the basics of being a sparky could cost you hundreds and save you thousands. So I'd go for that.

The so called 'Part P' courses are around £750 for a week round here and although you would not be allowed to touch my house with such minimal experience you should be able to bash around your own.

So I'd go for that. Notify your works to the council, hire a test kit for £75 a week, and rewire your gaff. Will also get you into all the nooks and crannies and let you see how the thing looks from the inside.

If you like the job then you can join one of the 'Part P' self certifying outfits for a tidy sum (a rewire would be the practical test they want to watch) then see if you can get any other business. Going to be tough out there but price it right and who knows.

Not worth the hassle tho is it

 

[RF Lighting]

Keeps the real electricians in work though.

I had been working in this trade for three YEARS before I was ready to rewire a house on my own, and even then I had a supervisor call in every day to make sure I was doing it properly.

 

[DeltaT2]

It takes an apprenticeship, years & years of experience to become a good tradesman. Any mickey mouse course is completely worthless.

There's 1000s of ex-site tradesmen driving taxis, working in supermarkets & doing nightshifts in call centres. Nobody is spending money on their home anymore, they just don't have the money. The worlds Bankers f.cked the world's economy in the years up to 2008.

If you have work of any kind, you're lucky. And the sad fact is; it's going to get worse!!