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Plumbing

Hi i am 17 and i have had a lot of trouble thinking of what i want to do, but i have chosen to do a four year course in plumbing. Hopefully after those four years i will become a fully qualified plumber, the thing i want to know is, how much do plumbers earn?, i know its been in the papers that they earn very good money, but is this true. I went on a website and they said a fully qualified plumber will be expected to be paid in the region of, £25 - £40 k a year, with is very good money.

If you lot know anything please let me know

thanks

Reply 1

Trousers

11

smokey636

Hi i am 17 and i have had a lot of trouble thinking of what i want to do, but i have chosen to do a four year course in plumbing. Hopefully after those four years i will become a fully qualified plumber, the thing i want to know is, how much do plumbers earn?, i know its been in the papers that they earn very good money, but is this true. I went on a website and they said a fully qualified plumber will be expected to be paid in the region of, £25 - £40 k a year, with is very good money.

If you lot know anything please let me know

thanks

Well, about two weeks ago I had a plumbing emergency at about midnight (long story - basically, my boyfriend broke the cistern off the wall by standing on it). I called a few 24-hour plumbers and most of them had answerphones on, but I did get one quote for coming out at that time of night ... £800!!!!

Bear in mind that this is in London where everything is more expensive, but even so, that's pretty bad. Needless to say, I didn't ask him to come over, but I'm sure some people pay it in an emergency. We got someone out the next day who was going to charge about £60 for an hour's work (and parts which cost abut £15).

In the end, we got our landlord to fix it for free.

You would have to spend money on transporting yourself around, and a lot of your day might be taken up with driving, but believe me, plumbers earn a lot of money! Especially the 24-hour ones.

Reply 2

Eru Iluvatar

18

smokey636

Hi i am 17 and i have had a lot of trouble thinking of what i want to do, but i have chosen to do a four year course in plumbing. Hopefully after those four years i will become a fully qualified plumber, the thing i want to know is, how much do plumbers earn?, i know its been in the papers that they earn very good money, but is this true. I went on a website and they said a fully qualified plumber will be expected to be paid in the region of, £25 - £40 k a year, with is very good money.

If you lot know anything please let me know

thanks

I had heard figures for some up to 70k, so it is a good career.

Reply 3

smokey636

OP

the thing is, that i know nothing about plumbing, but i would have thought that the college would teach me everything i would need to know?

Reply 4

Trousers

11

smokey636

the thing is, that i know nothing about plumbing, but i would have thought that the college would teach me everything i would need to know?

That's the whole point in doing a course! If you are practically-minded and don't think it would bore you, go for it.

Reply 5

Eru Iluvatar

18

smokey636

the thing is, that i know nothing about plumbing, but i would have thought that the college would teach me everything i would need to know?

If you are generally a practically skilled person, then you should have no problem.

Reply 6

smokey636

OP

well thats the problem im not really a practically skilled person, but i still feel that could become very good, im not like my brother, he likes to fix things like computers. But that doesnt mean i hate it, i dont want to do a career where i sit in an office all day, i like the fact that u get to travel and u work in different enviroments. Im a person who who likes to move about, not stand still. obviously it helps to be a practically skilled person but i feel i can become one. I feel i can grow into it.

Reply 7

Trousers

11

smokey636

well thats the problem im not really a practically skilled person, but i still feel that could become very good, im not like my brother, he likes to fix things like computers. But that doesnt mean i hate it, i dont want to do a career where i sit in an office all day, i like the fact that u get to travel and u work in different enviroments. Im a person who who likes to move about, not stand still. obviously it helps to be a practically skilled person but i feel i can become one. I feel i can grow into it.

You probably feel like this because you haven't tried yet. Face it - not many of us have tried fixing a toilet! It's natural for you to be worried that you might not suit the course. I wouldn't rcommend you start messing about with your house's plumbing, but why not try something similar and see if you like it?

Do your parents have a car? Ask them if you can have a look under the bonnet to see how it works. You might find you have a natural aptitude for understanding the mechanics of everyday things.

Reply 8

smokey636

OP

thanks guys you've made me feel alot better about it and its made my mind a lot clearer.

Reply 9

unistudnet

First off to earn decent money from it you have to be :smile:

1) Good at the job
2) Corgi registered (mos the money is in gas)
3) Work for your self

£70K is extreme and I would guess thats the cowboy rip off merchants that earn that much. £25k seems more realisitic to me. Modern plumbing isn't that hard, me and my mate replumbed our house and he had a little experience where as I had none, I was able to connect the taps up the pipes etc.

Gas work is much harder though due to much stricter regulations.

Reply 10

smokey636

OP

thats what i mean u can earn £25 k from just doing plumbing and if your good enough you can move on to harder things like central heating, air conditional etc, but earning £25-£30k isnt that bad for what u r doing.

I would be very happy with that, u can buy a good car and a good house/flat so isnt that bad, remember im only 16 so i can learn as much as i want.

Also my brother (who is 23) works for himself buying and selling and he earns up 2 £50 - 60k a year, and that is a 6 day a week job, so i can do a bit of that as on the odd day and that will earn me even more.

Reply 11

LH

15

Only master plumbers earn >30k, an there are less than 200 of these nationally, I believe you have to pass NVQ level 3 or something like that.

Reply 12

pedy1986

13

Wages are high atm because of a skilsl shortage in plumbing (and other trades), they will soon fall...expect to be earning around 20-30k.

Reply 13

smokey636

OP

this is what a good website said about wages in plumbing "The starting pay for the trade is put at between £17,000 and £18,000 while after ten years a plumber can be earning anything between £40,000 and £75,000 a year."

Reply 14

LH

15

smokey636

this is what a good website said about wages in plumbing "The starting pay for the trade is put at between £17,000 and £18,000 while after ten years a plumber can be earning anything between £40,000 and £75,000 a year."

Which website was that? Very few plumbers will ever earn over 30k., you must have realistic expectations when deciding on a career.

Reply 15

unistudnet

Those websites excaderate because they want to get peopleinto the trade.

If the wages were that good everybody would be doing it. However even £25k is more than enough to live off.

Reply 16

smokey636

OP

thats what im trying to say, by doing plumbing as a career u are earning good money, and its a career that as u get more experience u get higher pay. I am relistic and i know u dont get what they say u do but, i garantee u, u at least get £25k and that is not bad for what u r doing, is it?

Reply 17

LH

15

smokey636

thats what im trying to say, by doing plumbing as a career u are earning good money, and its a career that as u get more experience u get higher pay. I am relistic and i know u dont get what they say u do but, i garantee u, u at least get £25k and that is not bad for what u r doing, is it?