The youth of today

[sy76uk]

I think I might be lucky Tony. I'm not against training lads up for them to go do there own thing.
We all did that at some stage.
I'm hoping that my apprentice sticks around but I won't hold him back.

[exoticpete]

I had more guys on at one stage (the recession) but once that finished .... they all buggered off :rock: but now its only me and one other i'm earning more with less stress ok i'm fully hands on but that's not a bad thing as the job get done the way you want it to be done and it keeps me eye on the ball and also keeps me fit bonus.. sure mick g said it in another post there is no loyalty anymore

[lutonlagerlout]

you wont get a decent room round here for £550 LC
just the way it is
I remember working with lads from brum in the 90's and their mortgages were for stuff like 6 grand and 8 grand
we all had mortgages for 70-80k and it narked us that they had bigger houses
such is life
LLL

[lemoncurd1702]

I had more guys on at one stage (the recession) but once that finished .... they all buggered off :rock: but now its only me and one other i'm earning more with less stress ok i'm fully hands on but that's not a bad thing as the job get done the way you want it to be done and it keeps me eye on the ball and also keeps me fit bonus.. sure mick g said it in another post there is no loyalty anymore

70-80K back in the eighties -pre housing boom- you could buy a street up the valleys for that.

Same here Pete. Small gangs are easier to control. Could do with a third person though, with a skill if just to free me up to take calls, see jobs, organise materials, nip to the pub etc.

[michaelthegardener]

my brother in law is 29 yea younger than me lazy aint the word not worked for over 2 years and to lazy to even sign on I got him to help me once and it was so irritating it wont be repeated just clearin up behind me was a struggle for him ad he was never off his phone ! and don get me stated on my self unemployed father in law ........ talking around 800 to 1000 a month here for a 3 bed to rent just seen one u for sale for 195k :0 Im glad we bought when we did :laugh: years ago we paid less than a 2 bed flat is going for now

[lutonlagerlout]

when i worked on big sites 84-91 there were so many lads the idiots always found a way to hide
but on domestic stuff as most of us are with small crews there is no place to hide
silly things like setting levels and falls seem like hieroglyphics to a lot of men who have worked in the game all their life
if I could clone me at 21 it would be a big help but me and me would probably fall out !!
:laugh:

[sy76uk]

I find a lot of brickies find it hard to work to falls.
My old man worked us like a slave driver but it set me up well for life.
When my 2 lads first started I had my dad and younger brother in to crack out a 100m2 teg drive.
Everything was edged out and stoned up to level and we had it done in a day so they could see what we should be able to achieve as a gang.
It didn't scare them off and they're doing well.
With one lad loading me out and mixing up we got 27m2 of sandstone down today. Can't fault him.
If they haven't got the right attitude they won't last long on my firm. Firm but fair is my approach and they seem to appreciate it.

[mickg]

Pete you hit it bang on there buddy that's why I don't expand as you can earn just as much with a small team if not more with less hassle and certainly less stress - turn over is vanity

I did mention on another post there is no loyalty any more and lads just want the massive wage at the end of the week and don't even work hard to earn it these days, they are paying £ 17 an hour for labourers on the M60 smart motorway upgrading project, guys are parked up all night in case they are needed, if not they go home early and are paid for the full shift, you can't compete with that and I not even going to try ....!

[lutonlagerlout]

27m is a good rate in a day
my record on straight line work random was 45m for a 3 man gang but access and levels were good
saying that the next day we were cutting all day and barely managed 10 m
but you are right sy
attitude is everything
my first boss on a subby brickwork site said "try and be fast"
within 6 months I was laying 800 facers a day which is a good benchmark
LLL

[rxbren]

Had nothing but issues this week grab never turned up Tuesday the one on Thursday didn't turn up till 10 had yo push the block delivery back till Monday its been one of them jobs where if any thing can be delayed it has been on the plus side the labourer has been ok still a bit slow on some bits but an improvement although he already on about starting off on his own??

[sy76uk]

I think the thing with you Mick is that your work is outstanding.
There are not many people around that can do what you do so for you to find someone to do one of your jobs to your standard is going to be very hard and probably uneconomical because of the price they would want and deserve.

The only time I'll expand is if either my dad, brother or one of the lads I've trained was ready to work for me.
I wouldn't be bothered about how much I make from them it would just be nice to be able to bring my lead time down as I'm in to next March already.

I only had the one lad with me today Tony as the other was at college but I would have struggled with him in as the gardens are to tight for 3.
I'm on the new development I called you for advice on at the minute. It's going really well.
5 houses, back gardens are AstroTurf, sandstone patios (getting sick of the sight of buff multi now) with a rumbled brindle border.
Got all the kerbs, footpaths, driveways and the road to do and if the lads on the ground works get stuck and hold us up we muck in on day rate.
Lovin it. No bills from the builders merchants and very little going into the ground.

45 m2 is very good going and I don't think i could lay 800 bricks in a week.
Horses for courses. I'm hoping my apprentice gets good enough to be able to that for me.

[Forestboy1978]

£550 for a 3 bed semi in a reasonable area here.

Forest,
It's good to have mates like that. Even if Supportive not productive, worth a Mint.

Yep Lemoncurd, couldn't agree more. Known him 30 years too so he's officially a good friend. Just having the company relieved my stress levels cos I was overwhelmed but also watching him chucking his guts up cracked me up. Just totally unaccustomed to any type of physical exertion lol.

Yeah I'd like a me clone too. Although me would leave and set up elsewhere plus I'm **** on an off day. x2 a month roughly!

[lutonlagerlout]

I doubt if I could lay 800 in a day now
its all about regime
same as you doing 100m of CBP in a day
if its day in day out you just get on with it
think I was on the princely sum of £70 a day then before tax
mind you lager was only a pound a pint!
LLL

[sy76uk]

My first taste of price per m2 was on the biggest job I've ever been on.
30.000 m2 in 2 areas that were to store charcon blocks at an AI plant in Leicestershire and the rest around the plant plus car park.
The 2 storage areas were 120x100m and we were using all the 80mm seconds off the production line.
All the sand was being dropped in 20 ton dumpers and we had jcb's levelling it out.
With 3 skilled blokes and 2 labourers we were smashing silly meterage. Over 300 a day.
It took about 3 weeks before we had to cut anything other than a half.
Money was good but wouldn't like to do it again.
Over a grand a week at 21 wasn't spent wisely if I remember correctly though.

[exoticpete]

Cheers mick you've confirmed what I've thought for a while, smaller is better.

On another subject I've just joined Landscape juice and paid to be a premium member you get access to various documents and can advertise for job vacancies etc at a reduced rate and post photos of your work that the general public can view, we all share various information which the general public can view freely, not many industries do this most charge, if a members areas was created the gaffer would earn more £ and we could all discuss more sensitive issues wages rates etc in a more private forum, just a thought, have a good weekend come on wales