I need to make a new start in a new trade. Any recommendations or otherwise for a goldtrowel plastering course? Having done the course would one feel able to tackle work professionally? Do they adequately cover both the practical and business side (eg what to charge etc). And...what's the demand for plasterers at the moment and the likely charge out rate?
Sorry if this is slightly OT.
-- John
Plastering is an art that is honed over years of apprenticeship in the trade, and you can't just learn it in a five or six weeks course.
Are you any good at plastering whole walls and ceilings just now? Do you know how to bag and bin plaster mixes? What basic experience do have of plastering?
No. There is a lot more to plastering than you can learn on any course. I suggest you offer yourself as a labourer to a good plasterer. If you are fit and keen, then you are worth £6/hour. If you keep your eyes open then you will learn a lot more from doing that than going on a course. You can always go on a course later on to fine tune your skills
Anna
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|
Whilst I'm sure people would continue learning over a long period there seem to be posts in this NG that indicate people could do good plastering work after very little training. I do wonder though whether they'd feel up to doing it professionally which I why I asked.
-- John
Well, you can learn the basics such as plastering a wall or ceiling in a few days. Of course, there's a lot more to plastering than just this though. Never heard of goldtrowel, but many further education colleges will have Construction departments and offer various building trades courses. I did a 2-day plastering course at the Aldershot Building Centre (part of Farnborough College of Technology) which was absolutely excellent. Someone else from this newsgroup also did that course and thought it was very good. Aldershot Building Centre also did a 5 day course and the full City and Guilds (although a quick check on the web looks like they might have dropped plastering altogether now). They were normally booked up a year in advance, unless you could take a cancellation slot at short notice.
Do some plastering in your own home first, e.g. plaster the garage if it isn't, or reskim it if it is. Then try something like your living room with lots of doorways to work around and window recesses to do, chimney breast edges, etc. If it takes you any more than 2 days to reskim a small living room, then you'll probably starve as a plasterer. And if you're not willing to try reskimming your living room, why on earth should anyone else let you do theirs?
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