Glass doors.

[seanandruby]

glass panel doors. 4 hours to undercoat two today. took em in the garden. top coat next week, then only 4 more to do time for bed (4.00 o'clock start tomorrow). lightweight a? :laugh:

[Tony McC]

You need an apprentice - crappy jobs should always be delegated to the apprentice: they really value the experience!

[matt h]

have gonethough over a dozen apprentices in the last four years... they dont want to work, cant turn up on time dont want to work all hours, but want maximum wages,,, the last one had already spent a full year at college and didnt even know the names of the basic tools. he may have been intelligent, but on sight he was a liability. in three months he nearly bankrupted me. in the month after i cancelled his employment i did more work on my own than i had with him in the three months i'd employed him... only decent apprentice i had was so good, i had to let him go because i was holding him back, although we often assist each other on different projects when you need an extra pair of hands. Mind you, he's thinking of packing self employment up because thew strain is gettin t him...he often asks me how i managed to keep the team tickin over, and all i can say is by hard work. It doesnt seem to be getting any easier, but then whats new...

[Tony McC]

Next month sees the inaugural meeting of the team appointed to draft a NEW modern apprenticeship for hard-landscaping. I've been banging on about this since serving my time back in the late 70s - it's only taken use 30 years to realise what a stupid, deeply stupid thing it was to do away with proper apprenticeships.

More news when I get back from the meeting...assuming we agree on anything!

[Rich H]

I'll look forward to that, Tony.

I took a young lad on straight from school last year after being persuaded to do so by his parents. I insisted he learn a trade at college part time and we enrolled him on the bricklaying modern apprentice course.

While it was all a novelty he was fine, a little slow but no real complaints. He was enjoying the outdoor life and playing with big boys' toys, etc. Once the winter set in it was a different story. I would have to wait for him in the mornings most of the time, he started to bunk off his day release, got lazy on site, etc. What really got me was that he never used to learn.

Like all of us I expect I have a few little ways; never make a journey with an empty barrow unless you have to, keep the site clean and tidy, wash the tools down every day, make sure tools/cement/sand get covered, don't fuel petrol tools on people's lawns, and so on and so forth. What I found incredible was that I had to keep telling him these things over and over again.

In the end I fell out with him for booking a dentist appointment in the middle of the day and only telling me about it the night before. He ended up swearing at me on the phone, "Fine then, I'll effing come to work". No, you won't, I said.

The next lad was 21 so I had higher expectations but he turned out to be trouble. He used to get pally with customers and whinge about his pay to them and try to find out from them how much the firm was making from the work. He missed work without notice a couple of times, once because he'd been out on the beer. I gave him a final warning and he managed a week before his next episode. That was the end of him.

That's just two of several over the last few years. Now I've had two Polish lads (one 22 and the other 30) for the last few months. Neither has missed a day's work or been late AT ALL so far. They don't complain, even when we're on one of those really heavy jobs, are flexible with hours when a job just has to be finished, etc. Not only all that but they're so bloody competent; they've done most things and those things that they haven't they're willing to learn.

This is the way for me now. Why should I jeopardise my business and go through all the arse ache of teaching someone a trade when there are willing workers on my doorstep?

[Stuarty]

Left school as soon as i got my exams done. Was still only 15 at the time though. That was almost 4 years ago now, still working for the same firm, now a driver, in charge of my squad. Was put through my B+E test by the firm so i could tow the trailers and the only thing i cant do is decking. Progressed from grounds maintainance to our site landscaping and now onto hard landscaping. I only have 2 gripes about it all, unpaid travelling at night, and the 5.89ph

[Tony McC]

There really ought to be some sort of official recognition for a lad proud enough to declare to the world that he can't do decking! That's worth a pint, at least, in my book. Only eejits can (and do) do decking - a waste of good firewood, as far as I'm concerned!

[lutonlagerlout]

hear, hear, what a waste of the rainforest
apprentices??
where to start
all i can remember was carrying the muck hod up gables and hods full of engineering bricks all day long,for 3 years,had to jump on the line at tea break to get any kind of chance
then i took a pay cut to go as an improver with a subbie firm ,best thing i ever did ,within months was laying 6-800 bricks a day.
the lads at college now are a waste of space on the whole,as said above do not seem to listen or learn very well
i think a lot of them go to building because they think being thick wont hold them back,
wrong wrong wrong
one of the biggest problems is that the college do not do enough practical learning maybe 35 % of their time is doing this
when i pointed this out to the assessor (who has an incentive to pass students) she said they should learn practical stuff on site
BS you cant have young lads totally clueless laying bricks or paving a job where the client is paying for a top job
all our lad seems to do at college is endless HSE stuff,important i know,but not as important as learning the trade
and as the old saying goes"never go up the ladder empty handed" i wish i could tattoo this on the fronts of all the blokes eyeballs!!!
rant over LLL

[IanMelb]

Only eejits can (and do) do decking

I walked into B&Q the other day and this chap in an Orange Apron asked me if I wanted decking...

Luckily I got the first punch in - others may not be so fortunate

(with apologies to all that have heard that one 20 times before)

[seanandruby]

hear hear.the best way to improve decking...a gallon of petrol and a lighted match