Painters and tapers working together as a team

[RobPristine]

Talking with my spraying head on rather than my supplier head on, i find it curious that more people on here don't join forces to try to compete with the bigger contractors. a sort of members co-operative.

generally speaking, sprayers like spray painting & spray skimming and tapers like taping and they always seem to blame each other for snagging, maybe if they were on the same team it would improve, standards, speed and profits.

example: large fit out, going rate £7.00pm2 for taping, spray skimming & protecting with spray surfacer, £3.75pm2 for a couple of topcoats. that's quite a lot of money pm2 to be shared between the trades. if the supply chain for materials is set up so that everyone is getting a decent price then a co-operative could be competitive & the profit could be excellent, also the ability to finance and provide manpower wouldn't be as intimidating as small one man bands trying to do everything themselves.

am i just dreaming, or does it all sound a bit communist. lol

[amestaper]

Most Scots guys in the trade I know already do it the way you describe Rob. To me, it makes perfect sense by keeping the work 'in house' and many tapers are time served painters anyway.

I like your joining forces and world domination approach as well.

[RobPristine]

yeah, world domination, lol, anyway what i really meant was that sharing information, like a data base of members information, showing what their skills have, what areas they are prepared to work in and travel to etc, something informative but basic. so for example: we spray out buildings all over the country, so it would be good to offer taping as an option all over the country too, so it would be good to know who does what and in what area of the UK, then instead of missing things out on the tender documents we could all price for more work, pass jobs on for finders fees etc, and generally make a bit of extra cash instead of constantly getting ripped off. if i get a job four hours from home in a shopfit spraying a primer surfacer or topcoats, i could also price for jointing it first but it makes more sense for me to use someone local to that area than send people four hours ( so lose half a day each way on travelling), spend money on fuel, digs which prices me out of the job. dunno its just a thought.

[amestaper]

Interesting you should say that Rob because there is a..... really rough example (or pathetic attempt depending on how you look at it) of what you're suggesting behind the password protection in the hidden forum that guests can't see. I would like to polish it up somewhat once more members become involved and catalogue or database it like we do with the downloads section. Just to bring some kind of order to the chaos if you know what I mean? Generally its just another forum of threads with links, phone numbers and job leads or referrals.

I've got a good idea of geographic regions for the site members because I'm on site every day and I engage with most of them. I can see where this may be a problem for a member who rarely comes around though - so good you've made a good point mate.

vBadvanced have a links directory to buy.
http://www.vbadvanced.com/products.p...fo&productid=2

Is this similar to what you had in mind?

[RobPristine]

yeah possibly, yeah something like that, I know for sure that if i knew i would definitely be able to find the labour, i would offer it out as a service to go alongside our spraying works. but its all about trust and people not just thinking you are using them as a price guide, an example of this would be a job we have just completed in sunderland last week, we sprayed out 2000m2 of primer surfacer in black to be left as a finish, i am quite sure we could have won the taping works aswell and offered it to someone on here, however pricing by people on here seems to range from anywhere between £1.50pm2 (or lower in some cases) to £3.00pm2 including materials, so its just a guessing game. if i posted a message saying give me a price for 2000m2 in sunderland, i could have been waiting ages for a reply, if i simply submitted my price and included £1.50 for a taper i could have had no takers, and if i put in a price and included £3pm2 for taping, i may have lost the whole job including the spraying by being too expensive.

[amestaper]

I may consider adding this modification but it will be available behind the password protection for regular members only.

Prices ranging from £1.50 to £3.00? The pricing up here has a broader higher range than that, so please bear in mind no two jobs will be the same and expect to get what you pay for. The golden rule is "If you think a professional is expensive, Just wait and see what an amateur will cost you."

[Goodmanatee]

Good thread, lads.
Hopefully got a fair size job in April time. But might not be able to do it. Would gladly past it on to someone on here.
Prices do vary greatly depending on alot of things. Don't think you can average it out easily.

[keco drywall taper]

that sounds very interesting ,

i know im fairly new too the site, but how do i go about getting a password for regular members, im on the site ever day since i joined,

[E.K Taper]

You need to have made 30 posts, Kev. Your not too far away!

[scottishlad2k10]

i agree with ames taper most painters in my area including my self to the taping and the painting keeps us in a job and the work within the company but i also do ruffcasting wall & floor tiling =] keeps me in a job

same as the joiner boys at work also do slating and tiling