BGD 6,436 Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Stick at it lad, skills like that learnt from a real old hand are invaluable, it'll set you up for life As said get a part time job to make up the income if you can and maybe consider getting a wee moped to get you about while you're waiting to afford driving lessons and a car? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waz 4,252 Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 hello all! basically im nearly 18, and been on a training scheme working on my local canal leaning stonework with a stonemason for £30 for 21 hours and basically finding it not worth the hours as i can't afford driving lessons which as you know is quite important in gaining a job so was looking for suggestions or advice cheers -jake Maybe the fella or firm your training with have extra hours for you? Whatever you do, dont jack just for the sake of more money, the skills/qualifications your going to get will carry you alot lot further in life than getting a car a bit sooner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haymin 2,465 Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Doing little pointing jobs and walling repairs would be a good way to bring in some extra cash in free time. Not many tools required and have the builders / stone merchants deliver your materials to the job. In my neck of the woods, pointing is about £40 / square metre and walling repairs minimum £15 / hour. Do a good job, don't mess your customers around and I bet the work will find you. Is cycling a viable way to get around ? great thinking ?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haymin 2,465 Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Doing little pointing jobs and walling repairs would be a good way to bring in some extra cash in free time. Not many tools required and have the builders / stone merchants deliver your materials to the job. In my neck of the woods, pointing is about £40 / square metre and walling repairs minimum £15 / hour. Do a good job, don't mess your customers around and I bet the work will find you. Is cycling a viable way to get around ? great thinking ?? local news paper perhaps wee advert ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gaz_1989 9,539 Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Try to get on the roads. Best thing I ever did. You will earn more money than you know what to do with and have a laugh along the way. I regret spending the first 7 years of my working life getting a degree in electronics and working as an electronic service engineer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thecogsbollocks 44 Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 great advice here guys really appreciate the input. defiantly going stick at it as i enjoy it and the banter with the lads and you meet some characters from the dole fairplay, the stonemason don't work on the side anymore. but i like the idea of doing some pointing and stuff on side. im quite alright at laying. howd i go about getting work like that business cards? Facebook ? thanks for the advice lads Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Qbgrey 4,086 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 stick in thier.have they not got more work,longer hrs for you.standard brickies down here gete 175 to 225 a day ,some are only in thier 20s,and most of em could nt lay a brick in a barrow.build up your own tool kit,and learn fast,once you can do it to good standard theyll put your money up or you will go to another firm were the money is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,869 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Round this way there's a mo ped hire sceme for apprentises or young folk,£5 a day hire inclueds insurance etc,it's saved the job of the apperntince on our shoot and worth looking into if the same is avalible near you bud.. ..The job center will know if there is a sceme like it near you ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
haymin 2,465 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 great advice here guys really appreciate the input. defiantly going stick at it as i enjoy it and the banter with the lads and you meet some characters from the dole fairplay, the stonemason don't work on the side anymore. but i like the idea of doing some pointing and stuff on side. im quite alright at laying. howd i go about getting work like that business cards? Facebook ? thanks for the advice ladsrhere will be groups on Facebook local to you ie facebay garden site and such likes ?Post on here when you've done that and I'm sure people will put recommendations your way ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shepp 2,285 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Sounds like a great trade to learn, you can't pick up a trade like that in university. It could lead to fantastic projects like repairs to historic buildings, churches and extending existing buildings. I would love a job like that, where at the end of the day you can stand back a see some work that very few people can do, which will probably be appreciated long after you are gone. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shepp 2,285 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Try to get on the roads. Best thing I ever did. You will earn more money than you know what to do with and have a laugh along the way. I regret spending the first 7 years of my working life getting a degree in electronics and working as an electronic service engineer. I think that would be a backward step for someone learning to be a stone mason. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BGD 6,436 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Sounds like a great trade to learn, you can't pick up a trade like that in university. It could lead to fantastic projects like repairs to historic buildings, churches and extending existing buildings. I would love a job like that, where at the end of the day you can stand back a see some work that very few people can do, which will probably be appreciated long after you are gone. I knew an old boy in his 80s that had been a stone mason all his working life starting an apprenticeship when he was 14. He was always pointing out all the old churches etc he had worked on through his life, he's dead and buried now but there'll be a little piece of him in that town for years to come. Now that's what I call job satisfaction 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J_Edwards 70 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 A few of my mates became apprentice bricklayers with the same builder. They were on peanuts at the time, but one stuck at it, split off, and now has his own building firm, another stayed with the same firm and takes home a fair bit of cash. The other one jacked it in a few weeks into it, chasing that extra 10p per hour, and laboured everywhere. 15 years later, he's still an unskilled labourer, doing whatever he can, and still on minimum wage, whereas the other two are proper bricklayers, and are living very comfortably, just by sticking at their apprenticeships for a few years, despite the low pay. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Born Hunter 17,751 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Fair play learning such a skill but 30 quid for 21 hours work is f***ing sickening! Even as an apprentice. Good luck. I'd be looking for a better paying full time apprenticeship in the same trade, using your current experience as a step up from all the other applicants. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gaz_1989 9,539 Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Try to get on the roads. Best thing I ever did. You will earn more money than you know what to do with and have a laugh along the way. I regret spending the first 7 years of my working life getting a degree in electronics and working as an electronic service engineer. I think that would be a backward step for someone learning to be a stone mason.Qualified stone mason starting salary approx £15k rising to £25k. According to national career services and pay scale websites etc. Who knows how things will pan out. I know a couple of lads who've spent lots of time getting qualifications and now work in tesco or asda. Things don't always pan out how you would like. The lad is getting £30 for 21 hours at 18 years old. That's the equivalent to being at college and not working really. Sure he would earn more if/when he knows the job. But when will that be? 5 years? Do his parents want to support him for that long? Does he want to be skint until he's 23? Lots to consider. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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