Questions from and for tiling apprentices.
I am three months in and all I do is mix glue, carry tiles and clean up. When do I actually get to lay something?
Sooner than you think if you play it right. Every tiler started as the mixer and the cleaner, because keeping a tradie fed with mud and tiles is genuinely how jobs run, and it is also how we watch whether you are switched on. Speed it up by doing the boring jobs perfectly, watching the set-out instead of your phone, and asking for offcuts to practise cuts on at smoko. Most bosses will have you grouting within weeks and laying simple walls or laundry floors well inside your first year. If you are a year in and still not allowed to touch a trowel, have a straight conversation with your boss, and if nothing changes, talk to your apprenticeship provider, because you are meant to be trained, not just used.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified wall and floor tiler
My knees are killing me after every floor job. Is that just the trade or am I doing something wrong?
Bit of both. Some soreness while your body adapts is normal in the first months, but pain that gets worse week on week means something needs to change. Get proper gel knee pads, not the cheap foam ones, and swap them before they pack down. Use a kneeling mat when you are parked in one spot, get up and move regularly instead of shuffling on your knees for hours, and mix up tasks through the day where you can. Stretch, and do not be too proud to mention it: any decent boss would rather adjust how you work than lose an apprentice to buggered knees. The blokes who ignored it for twenty years are the ones getting knee reconstructions at fifty.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified wall and floor tiler
The tradie I work with just wets the blade and says dust masks are for office workers. Should I be worried about silica?
Yes, and do not let anyone laugh you out of it. Tile, screed and adhesive dust contains crystalline silica, and breathing it scars your lungs permanently. Silicosis does not care how tough you are, and by the time you feel it, the damage is done. The law backs you here: since September 2024 there are national rules for processing anything with 1 per cent or more crystalline silica, which covers most of what we cut. Wet cutting is good, but it is not the whole answer: you also want on-tool extraction for grinding, a properly fitted P2 respirator when cutting or chasing, and never dry sweeping the slurry once it dries. Sort your own mask out regardless of what the old boys do. It is your set of lungs, and you only get one.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified wall and floor tiler
I am 24 and thinking about switching from hospitality. Am I too old to start a tiling apprenticeship, and how do I even find someone to take me on?
You are not too old, not even close. Adult apprentices are common in tiling and a lot of us reckon they are better: they turn up, they want to be there, and they treat it like the career move it is. Being 21 or over when you start also means higher minimum apprentice rates under the award, which softens the pay cut from full time hospo. Finding a spot is legwork: ring tiling contractors directly, ask at tile shops because they know who is busy, register with a Group Training Organisation, and hit up an Australian Apprenticeship Support provider. Offer a week of work experience or labouring first. A 24 year old who shows up early, works hard and can talk to clients is very easy to say yes to.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified wall and floor tiler
Second year here. My boss only does bathroom renos and I am worried I will finish my time never having done commercial or big floors. Does it matter?
It matters less than you fear, but it is worth fixing. Bathrooms are actually the hardest all-round training ground: waterproofing, falls, set-outs, cutting around everything, and a client at your shoulder. If you can tile a bathroom properly you can learn big floors quickly, and going the other way is much harder. That said, large format commercial floors, screeds and laser set-out are their own skills, so try to get exposure before you finish. Ask your boss straight out if there is a chance to jump on any bigger jobs, or line up your electives to cover the areas you are missing. If you are with a GTO, ask about rotating to a commercial host for a stint. Worst case, do your first year or two after qualifying with a commercial outfit and round yourself out then. Plenty of good tilers have done exactly that.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified wall and floor tiler
