Becoming a Tiler

[andy2306]

I know that places offer courses in tiling would this be the best place to start if i want to become self employed? I am quite handy with DIY and see tiling as an opportunity to work for myself on the side evenings and weekends until i have enough business to hopfully go full time. I also have started an import business which will support the transition and possibly eventually take over, but i need to be out of the classroom to take phonecalls and send packages etc.

I am about to buy a van to deal with the imports,n but could also easily use this for tiling.

Your help and advice would be appreciated. I have done some tiling in the past but would think that a crash course would give me a firm grounding to branch out.

Thanks
Andy

 

[dmcplumbing]

I am an apprentice plumber, now in my 3rd year and I think a tiling career sounds good mate!

I am starting a course in the winter doing tiling, this is at night, just to help me when I start my own company

 

[novicetiler]

Hi Andy
I have done a few tiling courses in my time, i did a week floor and wall tiling at the builders training center in east croydon.. which was ok for a bit of diy but did not really cover enough to prepare me for a career.

I then did a six week course at a place called abacus in luton which i booked through a company called move on training. Abacus went bust after two weeks, and move on training would not give me my money back! Fortunately I had paid through barcalaycard, and they refunded me four weeks worth of money under breach of contract. So i could not reccomend anything to do with move on training - avoid them like the plague!!.

Finally i struck lucky with the master tiling school in Ilford. (tilingschool.com)
i did eight weeks with them (while staying in a shared house for 15 quid a night).. and have to say i was very impressed...it wasn't exactly cheap, but the training and the facilities were first class... pretty much everything was covered.. from underfloor heating, diamond lay floors with borders... complete bathrooms etc.

you don't have to do the full eight weeks.. you can do as long/short as you like...I thoroughly reccomend them, and i have been doing quite a lot of part time tiling work since then... if you are thinking of doing a course give them a ring...

incidentally my first five jobs just came from telling people i was doing tiling... friends of friends etc... so far my impression is that there is quite a lot of work out there... good luck