Nice to hear some sensible talk about the trade. I am an ex chippy, worked into my seventies self employed for forty years plus. Brought up four children or rather my wife did. I was at work average six days a week. Proud and privileged to have done so. There is a but though ... that was then and now's now would I do it again only if forced by circumstances. Enjoyed your talks keep it up.
It’s a great trade but too much graft now for the money. The materials are terrible and the customer expects perfection. I spend my life justifying my costs over foreigners and it’s not worth it anymore. I’m retraining and will be off the tools next year.
Your currency is being devalued . Simple as that. The current monetary system is being propped up and is ready to pop. A reset is coming . Expect some upheaval in the world as they ll need chaos to hide what they have done .
Not a bricklayer but you speaking about wages and prices of stuff these days hit home for me. Don’t feel like it’s worth going to work in this country. For what? A few extra beers and take aways on the weekend. Only stuff that’ll put you in an early grave anyway along with the stress of working just to get by. Save up to get a mortgage and what do you actually get? Half a million for an ex council house where you’ll be living on the same road as people who aren’t going to work anyway. England is finished I’m sad to say. I mean on top of all this, you’ve got the other problems. The knife crime, the doctors arriving by boats etc. If your skilled your better off going abroad. Where even if you might earn less your quality of life is better.
Most heroin crack users get about 1700 a month benefits 400 housing element Universal credit 396 Pip 600 Lwrca 300 Social workers and drug workers refer them all and do the forms to make sure they get all them benefits
i am 71,finished at 62 after my 3 rd back operation and struggled pain wise ever since.everything you said i agree with....i still miss the job.the weather seems to be more wet even in the summer nowadays.when i see glazed tilers earning more than bricklayers i know the worlds gone nuts
An excellent video Andy that I enjoyed. Although I've never worked in the building trade my dad did and I can still remember him making a doughnut shaped padded ring to fit under his beret to carry roof tiles up the ladder and him being on his hands and knees with my mum peeling skin off his back due to sunburn. I thought you would have something worth listening to after spending years in the job. I'm 69 and still working, part-time, like you and in my own time. You talk a lot of sense about training bricklayers but that's where you idea falls down, It's common sense. The government would set up a quango to manage it and people making a good income at every level for doing very little. Two years down the line it would have cost millions and we would have a handful of bricklayers trained. Your analogy of buying a house and lager in 1975 is bang on and I wish the younger generation would wake up and do something instead of watching mind numbing crap on the TV. 50+ channels and 90% is a load of rubbish. Designed to stop people thinking about their own daily struggle.
The money is still there , only thing is its not being shared out anymore . Its not just bricklayers or construction its everywhere , the bigger the profit the less the workforce is being respected .
I was hoddie in my 20s Andy until a needless back injury. Though i never worked with him, my Dad was a college traned brickie. I had to go back to college and uni after my back injury, to then work in a none manual job. Now in my 60s, without doubt the best people I have worked with were the lads on site. I'm a strong believer that services men and women should do trades training whilst in service for when they leave service, they'd fit in well with what was great site camaraderie (in the 80s anyway). Apprentices and ex services personnel need to be helped into site trades with experienced tradesmen showing the way whilst winding down to retirement.
I’m a site plumber and our prices have not changed in ten years! I work my nuts off from 7:30 to 4:00 and don’t even sit down for a bit of scran now. Remember the days when we stopped at 10,1 and 3 for a cuppa, everyone was happy and earned decent money! Even the sites had onsite cafes and it was a right laugh.
The vast majority of trades in the construction industry over the years have been de-skilled for one simple reason and that is to reduce pay and improve the corporate bottom line !
15:28 You made a good point about a brickies buying power with his wage packet comparing 1973 wages with 2023 wages :nowadays only about half the amount of beer can be purchased assuming the beer costs £5 a glass {i don't drink but i get your point}the wages haven't gone up enough and the job isn't great with site inspectors,unexperienced graduate foremen,having to wait for a carpenter to erect the scaffolding,not allowed to wear shorts in summer, ad nauseum.Excellent video.Thanks for making it.
Hi Andy, same age as me mate. The old school bricklayers don’t want to work on sites, I have now run a building company for 30 years my two bricklayers at the moment are 65/63 the reason is they are bricklayers,not square box bashers.I want my guys to be happy , have the banter, do a days graft, go home to their families. My hand shake is my bond. My view is to any one that wants me to build them a house ,don’t take the piss and I won’t!! Ps, I tell all my apprentices if you shut your gob and listen I will make you a
Good post mate . Im a 57 year old Joiner being a subcontractor and a contractor and have had a run recently of horrendous experiences on housing sites . Toxic management seems pervasive on sites these days nobody seems to have any old school values or integrity anymore. I recently started on a Keepmoat site in Scarborough we fitted large two staircases and first fixed the ground floor it was getting on so didn’t fit the temporary handrails as we were the only ones working in the plot . Next day i was a addressed by the assistant site manager ( 25 year old woman) “ Oi I want a word with you “ I replied oh right what is it ? She spoke to me like a naughty schoolboy “ When is acceptable to leave fall arrest etc etc “ Anyway I said “we’re going to do it first thing “ she carried on in a hostile manner by which time I had heard enough , told her not to speak to me like that and left the site office. She then poked her head out of the container window and said “ Why don’t you get in your van and FUCK OFF site !!! “ I didn’t believe what was happening and didn’t react or reply . Anyway I sent an email to the construction director flagging this up a basically saying that I wouldn’t expect to still be on site if id have spoken to anyone like that. The response was muted and pretty much using the Health and Safety breach as an excuse. The company I worked for Tees Valley Joinery ( Stay well clear lads ) didn’t have my back and txt me on Friday saying they had no more work for me oh and stopped me £300 out of my booking in saying things weren’t finished ( Keepmoat couldn’t get the right size doors for on off the second fixes we did ) . It seems that there are no consequences for appalling behaviour these days and no semblance of morality , truths are twisted and old fashioned principles and values a thing of the past welcome to the reality of the modern construction industry .
Wow Andy you sure did save the best till last what a fantastic video I’ve been a bricklayer since 1981 same story as yourself I’m still working hard would I recommend being a bricklayer today hmmmm I’ve loved it and at times absolutely hated it but the problem now is the school leavers do not want to graft for their money simple as that we are the last generation of grafters thanks Andy have a great Christmas keep well 👍
Every point is spot on, Andy! I started on the trowel in '76. Why? Because it was the brickies who drove Jags and Stags! I left at the end of the '90s for all the reasons you've listed here and never looked back. It's astonishing that nothing has changed in all that time!
Hit the nail on the head here mate. Working with the same brickies and joiners constantly and they’re all accepting 25 an hour as good. They’re all self employed but rock up as though they’re employed. None pay jnto pensions or savings, continuously moaning the cost of everything and that they’re skint all the time.
I'm an old school site manager. I agree on the H&S It is over the top. I'm 66 now retired. I was a Bricklayer by trade. When I was 26 I became a foreman then went on to project manage sites. My accident books pre H&S and till I retired had exactly the same things falls from step ladders and cuts from Stanley Blades. I always find the main contractors are the ones that cut corners. For example I was a locum site manager for a Midland contractor. We needed a 25 ton crane to lift a concrete staircase The main contractor refused a contract lift. Because of that I refused to have anything to do with the lift. It all went wrong. I knew it would.
Similar here buddy, bricklayer in the 80s and 90s, then site manager. Unfortunately the industry is run by bean counters and not skilled builders as in my day. Left the industry now and don't miss it at all.
I completely agree with you Andy. I started as a carpenter in 1967 after doing a pre apprenticeship course, went self employed at 22 as it was the only way to earn a decent wage. At age 38 I got a job with the NHBC as an inspector, that was a great job for around 15 yrs then it got so data based when computers were introduced it was impossible & everyone wanted to leave. I stuck it out till I could retire because of the pension but I can’t see any future in the house building industry when half the labour force is foreign and will work for half price
Nobody wants to say it, but mass immigration has devalued wages. Adjusting for inflation no real rise in pay since the early 00s. And ironically with all the new regs most of the work now is shocking. Most of my jobs were putting right other peoples mess!
@@toby648 you should be comfortable saying mass immigration has devalued wages ,it’s true, that why the uk is the predicament it’s in , too much political correctness.
@toby648 Before there were foreign taxi drivers, you'd jump in a cab how's it going m8,earning ,nah shit. Us and cabbies were the first to feel the pinch if a cabbie was struggling so were we,Fu k me you can't even av a chat with the Barbsr now. That's fucked, Fucking LEGO HEAD HAIRCUT,WTF,
Spot on !!! like you i'v been in the trade since 1977 and have been lucky enough to reach and take retirement in the last month, glad i'm out of the rat race, but wish i knew then what i'v learned over many years, but that's life.
Nice one Andy. You hit the nail on the head.. the House price (and rental cost if you are a renter) to Wage ratio. It's has been a gradual creep over decades to a modern form of "enslavement" because of constant Fiat money expansion. How much further can this go on for?
Andy I am working on something at the moment regarding this exact subject. I spoke to Al at Supertrowel and he thought it was a good idea. I may contact you sometime in the following year to pick your brains. (Don't want to say here because of negativity) I have spoken to many an old trowel about how the industry has declined. There is a perfect storm coming when all the Baby Boomers retire. Many have gone locally this year. They think there is a shortage now, 20'000 bricklayers short as of this week. Wait another five years and that perfect storm will be on us. Thanks for this video.
Andy such very true words most bricklayers suck it up and get on with it just to serve been doing the job 40 years now being told how to do it by a snot nosed 24 year old who cant even tie a shoe lace The holiday did you good mate you look healthy 👍
Great chat! Nice to hear from your perspective, I have no experience in bricklaying but found the whole chat really interesting. I’m in design engineering for commercial aircraft and we have the same issues with regards to management levels being unfit for the job having no experience working in that area. Quality is the last priority Also a pint of beer to highlight inflation, never seen it before but works! I joined the workforce in 2005 and it’s soul destroying seeing all the benefits being closed off, everyone becoming less and less well off. And it strangles the businesses, less money in your pockets for local economies. Hardest part, what can we do about it.
Allright andy great video pal very interesting. Been on the trowel 45 years seen good and bad times in the building trade.big builders have made fortunes over the years not paying pensions holiday pay or sick pay.they pass it on to the subbie who puts 20% on your prices.then the builders dont pay wet time waiting on scaffolders and silo delays.years ago you got a date rate plus bonus and holiday pay.I left site work 10 years ago and just do private work now ,never been so busy give the subbie and the big boys a big wide birth its a big rat race in my opinion all the best for christmas lads.
Great video mate Everything you mention is spot on I’m 55 now and been doing it since 86 Started with whimpey on the card with the bonus scheme and loved it as a youngster. We got layed off last month,my mate is 60 now. And now we gotta find something in jan with the weather turning crap . Last year we were out from dec to April,can’t sign on unless you got no savings in bank . We are actually on 550 per thousand on timber frame in south wales .we earn a wage but overall you are off then the next week through incompetence or Silo breaking down ! I hate it now and we don’t know what to do now as it’s all I’ve known since school U just get treated like crap all the time .the nhbc thing now is unbelievable.closing sites down to inspect . They want to eat their dinner off your cavities . I’d never choose this again ,I’d be pensioned off now somewhere else Rant over 😒 Top vid mate 👍
Dead right I started in 84 ,,on the Hod ,within. 3 years I was in a share gang,driving big Granada motors, alot of brickies had jags and smoked cigars ,bus stops and roll ups now ,I'm on the trowel now im 58 in Jan, it's fucking Shit now, no gd times, we used to do the rain dance when we see dark cloud the money was that gd,great video m8
@@BEEZAGEEZA LOL, never had one shit in my muck before but they did often throw a handfull of ballast in it if you pissed them off. A good hoddie was like gold dust (And ALWAYS mental) and I always insisted on an even split with any price gang I was on.
Hi Andy, I really enjoyed your insight into the world of bricklaying. Loved the story of you repairing the damaged wall on the wrong house. Keep well mate and hope to see you soon.
Bricklaying through this recession is very tough, im hitting the redline most days, making the best job ive ever made n doing more work for less money, and the buying power of that money goes down every year, its sad the black dog is with me on the scaffold somedays, but its all i know, so im just having to get started earlier these days 🤣🤯 merry christmas andy great vid 💪
Started apprenticeship in 1975, just retired burnt out, can’t do a full days work safely, though can still do more than the young ones. Britain has become a shit hole, dumbing down nanny state, to much regulation and hidden taxes, loss of freedom. Feel sorry for the youth. All I can say is play the system at their own game look out for yourself
What a brilliant video. Just come across this on TH-cam I’m not a builder Andy but am retired did an engineering apprenticeship back in the day. I’m 65 so about your age group. I think we don’t have enough bricki layers for government targets lol! Loving this interesting content Andy keep it coming!
My father always worked 1 and 1 and split half each whatever they earned. He passed away in 1998 at 53, but still the best that I have ever seen. I worked with brickies 2 and 1 mostly back in the eighties and it was the hardest job I have ever done.
I agree with you up to the apprenticeship part, when I started my time Health and Safety was an office somewhere but no one had ever seen it lol. Yes things have changed and I will admit there are one or two things I learnt during my apprenticeship that I have never had to do on a job but it gave me the knowledge of how to build from setting out the footing all the way to wall plate and the ability to repair old listed buildings including rubbed arches, for me Bricklaying is an art not just a job and i'm proud of my City & guilds certs, good luck and best wishes
Great vid. Started as a roofer,then went on to carpentry,6 month course,city and guilds qualification. Had a great time worked all over the country,and abroad. Wouldnt change anything. Made plenty of money. Retired now. Happy days.
It's not just the devaluation of the currency, Its tax in all its different forms, and all the hidden taxes and charges . I read somewhere that many workers now pay up to 60% of their wages in tax of one form or another.
100% spot on great video keep it up every trade is messed up guys like you are spot on nobody is training young guys also and they dont want to get into dirty jobs would rather sit behind a desk than get out there business is to blame for not training for the future and the young guys are always in their phones on social media
An excellent video, Andy, on far more than building and tradesmen. This entire country is fukked. Look around your town at the Victorian and Edwardian buildings and marvel at the quality of the workmanship and the pride they had in doing the best they could. So many skills have been lost, sadly. Thanks, Andy, for the interesting video.
Im a bricky and moved to Australia 11 years ago, did 5 years on the trowel here and packed it in at 49 to go work in the mines fly in fly out, best thing I ever did, im proud to have been a bricky but we don’t get paid anything like we should, and as for university educated snot nosed kids who’ve got no idea how to do my job, but their books says im doing it all wrong telling me what to do!
I have been bricklaying since 1978, did a Topps course and have worked ever since. Retired at 66 but still doing a bit. Enjoyed your comments Andy it took me back to the old days of site work and the highs and lows of being a Subby on pricework. I also did a bit of teaching at college. They believe you can learn bricklaying from a computer. Spending more time at a desk than on a trowel. I couldn't convince them that you needed to build corners and run the line to develop a half decent bricklayer. So I left. I think a practical course of three months is a great idea. I'm a dinosaur now. I wouldn't go back on site . I couldn't recommend it either. How they will build all these houses I don't know. I hope they find a way. . . JT
220 a day for 5 days doing 40 hours work a week is 1100 a week which is over 52k a year. To indigenous people it's not enough these days but to foreign workers it's an absolute fortune and they will be looking at increasing those hours to 60 hours or more during the lighter months.
Illegal immigrants are not allowed to work. And not illegal anyway. The reason ur life is shit is because ur own government jacked up utility bills house prices and everything else. The boats aren’t the problem it’s the private jets!! Oh and fkn Brexit!!
I don't know anything about being a Bricklayer but your video speaks to what I see all around the UK. The profits of the Subcontractor you mentioned is criminal. Private companies are taking more control and holding everyone hostage to their poor wages and high prices.
Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate, cheap labour entering the country like never seen before, fraud rising, working mans tools are stolen at record levels, your now Taxed to death, sick welfare benefits are rising the list goes on and on, i suffer from HAVS and depression use to love bricklaying now i am a road sweeper
I'm quite a bit older than you Andy, started learning to lay bricks in 1965 and every word you say is true. We certainly had some good times in the sixties and seventies. For some reason, and every one will have their opinions about it, site work didn't seem to be paying good money after that. In my early days we did have local bricklayers unions, that all combined to form UCATT the building trade union. Older building workers will remember our strike, it lasted a long time and in some areas got quite unruly and violent. I've got to say I enjoyed my time in the building trade, would I enter it now? I honestly don't know, the problem as I see it is there isn't the money in it any more.
After 44 years in the building industry, I couldn’t agree more. With overheads, pensions etc… wages should be higher. Those calling for more tradesman, just want to drive labour prices down….
Listening to this, you are what Anuran Beven was to NHS as you are to the building trade. But I fear your walking alone to the wisdom your given to this youth of ours!
The foreigners have killed domestic extensions, working for a pittance. Some of the extensions we drive by brings a tear to your eye. You pay peanuts. 😂😂
Self employed plant fitter 55yrs spent a lifetime on sites its changed beyond recognition now on all levels, really miss the old school bricky gangs best time of my life its utter crap now cannot wait to sell up & never thought I would say it France looks more inviting property prices a no brainer. Is any decent trade worth doing in the UK these days I think not.
I signed up for OND at Belfast college of technical. 2 years full time and of course exams . The CITB was paying 20 quid a week and this was an excellent course. There was 2 or 3 former bricklayers who were in late 20,s early 30,s who saw the light and went back to school. We all got hired by the big names and some like me went on to University. The thing is it was a government sponsored program and it was working well . The ONC and HNC classes were day release and these were full also . People were engaged, the lecturers and instructors were top notch and it was fantastic. The CITB was respected and had some teeth , not sure what the heck they are doing today.
The big companies paid the CITB to do the training for them. It was a tax loss and led to a constant flow of apprentices. We were all on the cards then. But when the subbies started to emerge in the 80's and the big firms went management contracting, it all changed. They stopped paying the CITB and the subbies didn't give a shit about training, just profit. That's why there's been a decline in the amount of tradesmen since the 90's. I did a 5 year CITB course, it was fully funded by them. 1 year full time college, 3 years day release for the C + G's and a further 1 year day release for the advanced craft. I was 21 when my indentures finished and I was a foreman by 22 with John Laings. Happy days.
Glad to hear someone talking sense about the reality of our wages now,220 a day isn't good money now,, it was good money in 2002, funny enough I just worked out recently I'd need to be earning 2500 a week to have the same buying power,
Totally true and honest. You've basically said what we all think. I'm 55 been bricklaying all my life... The foreign bricklaying gang turn up with 6 of them 4 laying 2 labouring.. Then after lunch thay get 2 tubs of muck and thay start laying.. We can't keep up
Hi mate watched your channel for a while was a joiner for 10 years left went into college got a job in finance now and make a lot more than I ever would as a joiner I will always respect all trades but I don’t think it’s the best choice for young ones these days with tech/youtube and so much more online opportunities
I'm a kitchen fitter the They guys from abroad have f my living right up can't make jobs pay anymore, I'm out jacked it all in. Symphony want me to fit a u shape kitchen + utility room 2 sinks, 2 worktop joints, supply van tools silicone screws, accountant etc for £250 pd. It's not even minimum wage, start at 7 finish at 6 no break or dinner all day.
Lucky to get £21 an hour where I am Andy and I don’t entertain price work as some of the reasons you have mentioned ,it’s sad as I did used to enjoy it but I’m 36 and I’ve called it a do ,you literally can earn more driving sat on your arse.trade is fucked tho even if your a tidy trowel it doesn’t matter anymore
I’m 77. Did a 6months course in 1973 at a government training centre. 2 classes of 35 trainees. Only ever met 2 on site. Not many carried on with the trade. I did and had a good time. Good Money in 1982. 35k a year. Then bubble burst. But the crack made up for it. I miss the banter not the job now. Good luck to anyone going for bricklaying as a trade
Care workers “today” who look after those who cannot look after themselves are paid no more than £ 12.50 ph and that is for Gov.Uk employees, a bloody pittance !
I went onto a site in Milton Keynes looking for a start and the lads told me they were getting paid every two weeks. It made me look into the company...Crown... they owe the tax man a shed load of money apparently ( published accounts so in public domain) I need weekly payments one week in hand. I couldn't believe the lads on site were accepting these terms of payments.
Andy you have hit the nail right on the head we were better off ....even the yts sheme which i did ... 27.50 a week we still had money monday morning to get you through the week ... .... supply and demand drives up the prices ... the woke youth will run away from construction...
@@chebarden8278 the youth our generation betrayed. Their better than we ever were.not as racist and bigoted ( woke) but every bit as hard working for less than we did.
Scaffolder here. There’s tons of work there, but alot of rules. And the money just doesn’t go as far as it used to be. I saw more on £160 a day 10 years ago as apposed to £225 a day today. Thanks for the video I’m subscribing
great insight there Andy, what do you think about dry stone walling, beautiful features for golf courses (dry stone bridges), national parks etc, they seem to pay more over in the states, canada etc it seems for that stuff and seem to appreciate it more, ace video. new subscriber! All the best, god bless.
A disturbing video. Sad but very true. I am nearer Rob Songer than a Charlie Coulson. Constantly called slow and probably only worth £100 a day going by the current TH-cam hype. Luckily for me, my sons watch my back. Well done Andy.
I agree with most of this the nhbc is just an insurance company making millions off the back off hard working grafters. The new insulation is horrendous for brick layers even worse to try adapt into domestic extensions. We have just been made to dig 2m deep because of a hedge how the house is still upright with its 150mm foundation 300mm deep in the soil is beyond me 😂
Sound man Andy. They also decimated the long haul drivers wages with the foreign lads. The truck drivers just weren't prepared to stand together, at least in Ireland. Drivers with families were told to disregard the taco hours, just keep running as they needed the truck back in Ireland as soon as possible. If they didn't like it, they were told there was a Polish man waiting for the job at €50 a day less, so be thankful . I am a bachelor without dependants, so I just told them text me that instruction so both of us will be going to jail together if I have an accident on bent cards, no pushing after that.
As a Carpenter Joiner who's been self employed since 1986 I wholeheartedly agree Andy. With regards to earnings what people need to understand is for decades now Governments in the West (US,UK,France,Italy,Spain,Geece etc) have de-valued their currencies by various ways including printing money. A couple of years ago I started buying gold coins to preserve the value of my money. People saving in Bank accounts getting 4.5% gross interest are literally giving the value of their savings away.You aren't boring me mate, I'm 56 next month and as you said, I'm close to being burnt out.The idea that I have to do physical graft each and every day until I'm 67yrs old so I can get a few poxy quid in a State Pension whilst so many people I know have worked barely ever work but will be entitiled to the Pension credit which is about £5 a week less than my full state pension is a sick joke. Add to that the Pension credit is a gateway to other benefits. The UK is a sick country.
Same for carpenters. I’m making the same now as I was in the early 2000s. Foreign labour was brought in on purpose, to hold the working man down ….. and it worked. I don’t recommended the skilled trades to any young folk now. I only see tramps and foreigners coming in, working for drugs or beer money whilst claiming dole or living in a hostel. Where have all the Poles gone? Most have spotted what’s going on and either went home or another country. Some guys are doing well, the vast majority aren’t when the time, cost and effort are factored in. The few subsides that are doing very well are burning the candle at both ends, committing fraud, or up to something. Most of that money will go up their beak and they’ll lose everything, including their family, or they’ll spend some time in HMP. Either way, sod grafting for crap money in the UK. Either go abroad, or do something else. The UK is bust and it’s going to get bad under the new government.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and research. Completely the issue of the monetary system and usury, and those who propagate it all whilst it's easy to keep blaming foreign labour and immigrants.
Great video, Andy. Bricklayers are building houses now, which in a lot of parts of the country are worth on average 10 to 20 times more than the same houses we were building. As just pointed out by you, we were getting well paid for it in relation to the cost of living. Wages paid to the trades is nowhere near on par. The large developers, along with the banks and allowed and backed by successive government's is the reason why.
@@richardfitzgerald4812 Exactly Richard but a lot of people especially the younger ones can't see it for the simple reason they never experienced the good times and think this is the norm.
Well said...i packed sites in other year and do more extensions,house builds privately...i no other gangs jacking sites some the game altogether...ive said and will continue to that if bricklayers truly stuck together they could demand pretty much their worth...without bricklayers u essentially dont have a site..sadly most gangs are selfish and in it for themselves...out of 10 gangs u might bump into 1 helpfull one..seen all the underhand tactics...bunging forkies to hide material,emptying the cabin of ties,damps etc,known of gangs taking the silo lead so u cant get a tub in the morning...list goes on and on...there will always be a greasy gang who will stay despite pay cuts,despite extras been added and subbies know this and play on it.. so even if the gangs on site walked one will always stay....bricklayers truely are their own worst enemies...brilliant job...shit industry...
I was a Hod Carrier for 25 years, I’m semi retired now but I still drive the forks occasionally, In my experience we always complained about the day work rate and our bosses ran around in new 4x4s and took the piss because they could,the only option is to go out and find your own work, then take on your own men, very little has changed But most of the trowels I worked with were so much faster than the brickies of today, I checked this with an chap who I knew as an apprentice that now has his own gang, he said I was right and he had to take this into account when pricing jobs. I think a lot of the brickies of today are being paid what they are worth.
Wages are not worth the bad back. Got out this year, as last winter killed me off months without earning even half a good wage. Now spray painting backs golden and still taking 1000 a week or more with overtime, holiday pay and bonuses.
A few of things worth mentioning. Firstly health and safety is only there because of suing. If there was no suing, there would be no health and safety. Insane h&s policies are there to protect people from getting sued, not to protect people from dying. Companies, employers ect have to put these ridiculous policies in place or some one grazes a knee and sues. Unfortunately the reason us brickies will never get our worth pay wise is because you need zero qualifications. The public perception is that we are thick. If everything else fails at school send them to the building game to be a bricky. That is why we will never earn that much money.
@@MrBez007 Never used to be,when I started they still wore suits and ties, when I worked in Holland in the 70s we had a Dutch Translator who was married to a Girl in Northern Ireland and had worked in the UK and he used to say to the Dutch Bricklayers that the English read a newspaper educate themselves.
@bricklayersworldwithandy6277 I know. It's a sad thing but in other countries they take the building game a lot more serious than we do. The publics general perception of a brick layer is no longer that of a skilled craftsman, and to be honest the modern " how many a day" breed aren't helping. The skil is dying fast. My apprentice told me the college don't even teach arches or bonding in the curriculum anymore ! Stretcher bond only. I appreciate you can't get stuck in the past but come on. A bricky should know his craft and the more it gets thinned down, the less skil is involved and the less money we can command.
The only the that gives people the illusion of wealth is debt. You just couldn’t borrow money like you can now. That started in the late 80’s . I often say. ‘ if we took away the ability to borrow, that includes overdraft, credit cards etc, we would actually be poorer that we were in the 70’s.
There's mortar life than bricklaying.
@@Tiggy808 ha ha gd one
Nice to hear some sensible talk about the trade. I am an ex chippy, worked into my seventies self employed for forty years plus. Brought up four children or rather my wife did. I was at work average six days a week. Proud and privileged to have done so. There is a but though ... that was then and now's now would I do it again only if forced by circumstances. Enjoyed your talks keep it up.
It’s a great trade but too much graft now for the money. The materials are terrible and the customer expects perfection. I spend my life justifying my costs over foreigners and it’s not worth it anymore. I’m retraining and will be off the tools next year.
Your currency is being devalued . Simple as that. The current monetary system is being propped up and is ready to pop. A reset is coming . Expect some upheaval in the world as they ll need chaos to hide what they have done .
Propped up big time since 2007/2008, never adjusted to that one. Really since 1929
Blissfully unaware of Talmudic Judaism
@@NeilMelling-pw6ts 👍
NWO The great reset, general basic income, cashless society etc and one world government.
Spot on ..... GOoD luck everyone....
Not a bricklayer but you speaking about wages and prices of stuff these days hit home for me. Don’t feel like it’s worth going to work in this country. For what? A few extra beers and take aways on the weekend. Only stuff that’ll put you in an early grave anyway along with the stress of working just to get by. Save up to get a mortgage and what do you actually get? Half a million for an ex council house where you’ll be living on the same road as people who aren’t going to work anyway. England is finished I’m sad to say. I mean on top of all this, you’ve got the other problems. The knife crime, the doctors arriving by boats etc. If your skilled your better off going abroad. Where even if you might earn less your quality of life is better.
Most heroin crack users get about 1700 a month benefits
400 housing element
Universal credit 396
Pip 600
Lwrca 300
Social workers and drug workers refer them all and do the forms to make sure they get all them benefits
Lol….about sums up Britain now. Disgusting what the successive traitors have done here…
But after Brexit, there used to be no where to go…
girls on easy fans are making millions while you are breaking your backs building everything for peanuts.
So true ❤
i am 71,finished at 62 after my 3 rd back operation and struggled pain wise ever since.everything you said i agree with....i still miss the job.the weather seems to be more wet even in the summer nowadays.when i see glazed tilers earning more than bricklayers i know the worlds gone nuts
From one Andy to another, us bricklayers needed this video !! All facts mate
An excellent video Andy that I enjoyed. Although I've never worked in the building trade my dad did and I can still remember him making a doughnut shaped padded ring to fit under his beret to carry roof tiles up the ladder and him being on his hands and knees with my mum peeling skin off his back due to sunburn. I thought you would have something worth listening to after spending years in the job. I'm 69 and still working, part-time, like you and in my own time. You talk a lot of sense about training bricklayers but that's where you idea falls down, It's common sense. The government would set up a quango to manage it and people making a good income at every level for doing very little. Two years down the line it would have cost millions and we would have a handful of bricklayers trained. Your analogy of buying a house and lager in 1975 is bang on and I wish the younger generation would wake up and do something instead of watching mind numbing crap on the TV. 50+ channels and 90% is a load of rubbish. Designed to stop people thinking about their own daily struggle.
Exactly mate
The money is still there , only thing is its not being shared out anymore .
Its not just bricklayers or construction its everywhere , the bigger the profit the less the workforce is being respected .
I was hoddie in my 20s Andy until a needless back injury. Though i never worked with him, my Dad was a college traned brickie.
I had to go back to college and uni after my back injury, to then work in a none manual job.
Now in my 60s, without doubt the best people I have worked with were the lads on site. I'm a strong believer that services men and women should do trades training whilst in service for when they leave service, they'd fit in well with what was great site camaraderie (in the 80s anyway).
Apprentices and ex services personnel need to be helped into site trades with experienced tradesmen showing the way whilst winding down to retirement.
I’m a site plumber and our prices have not changed in ten years! I work my nuts off from 7:30 to 4:00 and don’t even sit down for a bit of scran now. Remember the days when we stopped at 10,1 and 3 for a cuppa, everyone was happy and earned decent money! Even the sites had onsite cafes and it was a right laugh.
Yep, good days gone, I've actually left a job to go on another site because the canteen was better 😁
What wages are u getting
No fun anymore mate
Government hear in Australia have taken all powers of the CFMEU union mate
@@TheSamboy2009 yeah great laugh
The vast majority of trades in the construction industry over the years have been de-skilled for one simple reason and that is to reduce pay and improve the corporate bottom line !
15:28 You made a good point about a brickies buying power with his wage packet comparing 1973 wages with 2023 wages :nowadays only about half the amount of beer can be purchased assuming the beer costs £5 a glass {i don't drink but i get your point}the wages haven't gone up enough and the job isn't great with site inspectors,unexperienced graduate foremen,having to wait for a carpenter to erect the scaffolding,not allowed to wear shorts in summer, ad nauseum.Excellent video.Thanks for making it.
Lol
Hi Andy, same age as me mate. The old school bricklayers don’t want to work on sites, I have now run a building company for 30 years my two bricklayers at the moment are 65/63 the reason is they are bricklayers,not square box bashers.I want my guys to be happy , have the banter, do a days graft, go home to their families.
My hand shake is my bond. My view is to any one that wants me to build them a house ,don’t take the piss and I won’t!!
Ps, I tell all my apprentices if you shut your gob and listen I will make you a
Make you a what ?
Lol@@Paul-ey1ct
Leaves us on a cliff hanger. Exquisite writer.
😂Think he means bricklayer
@@Paul-ey1ct "cheese sandwich".....????
Good post mate .
Im a 57 year old Joiner being a subcontractor and a contractor and have had a run recently of horrendous experiences on housing sites .
Toxic management seems pervasive on sites these days nobody seems to have any old school values or integrity anymore. I recently started on a Keepmoat site in Scarborough we fitted large two staircases and first fixed the ground floor it was getting on so didn’t fit the temporary handrails as we were the only ones working in the plot . Next day i was a addressed by the assistant site manager ( 25 year old woman) “ Oi I want a word with you “ I replied oh right what is it ? She spoke to me like a naughty schoolboy “ When is acceptable to leave fall arrest etc etc “ Anyway I said “we’re going to do it first thing “ she carried on in a hostile manner by which time I had heard enough , told her not to speak to me like that and left the site office. She then poked her head out of the container window and said “ Why don’t you get in your van and FUCK OFF site !!! “ I didn’t believe what was happening and didn’t react or reply .
Anyway I sent an email to the construction director flagging this up a basically saying that I wouldn’t expect to still be on site if id have spoken to anyone like that. The response was muted and pretty much using the Health and Safety breach as an excuse. The company I worked for Tees Valley Joinery ( Stay well clear lads ) didn’t have my back and txt me on Friday saying they had no more work for me oh and stopped me £300 out of my booking in saying things weren’t finished ( Keepmoat couldn’t get the right size doors for on off the second fixes we did ) .
It seems that there are no consequences for appalling behaviour these days and no semblance of morality , truths are twisted and old fashioned principles and values a thing of the past welcome to the reality of the modern construction industry .
@@stigofthedump1074 Yep it's terrible, I wouldn't last two minutes on site now.
@ That’s me done now , my missus is fed up of listening to me saying the same old thing.
@@stigofthedump1074 😁👍
That's the problem when you have people running things with no hands on experience
Wow Andy you sure did save the best till last what a fantastic video I’ve been a bricklayer since 1981 same story as yourself I’m still working hard would I recommend being a bricklayer today hmmmm I’ve loved it and at times absolutely hated it but the problem now is the school leavers do not want to graft for their money simple as that we are the last generation of grafters thanks Andy have a great Christmas keep well 👍
We have lived and worked in the best times.
So true.
And if you did it right, It still stands strong ❤
To true
Every point is spot on, Andy! I started on the trowel in '76. Why? Because it was the brickies who drove Jags and Stags! I left at the end of the '90s for all the reasons you've listed here and never looked back. It's astonishing that nothing has changed in all that time!
Hit the nail on the head here mate. Working with the same brickies and joiners constantly and they’re all accepting 25 an hour as good. They’re all self employed but rock up as though they’re employed. None pay jnto pensions or savings, continuously moaning the cost of everything and that they’re skint all the time.
I'm an old school site manager. I agree on the H&S It is over the top. I'm 66 now retired. I was a Bricklayer by trade. When I was 26 I became a foreman then went on to project manage sites. My accident books pre H&S and till I retired had exactly the same things falls from step ladders and cuts from Stanley Blades. I always find the main contractors are the ones that cut corners. For example I was a locum site manager for a Midland contractor. We needed a 25 ton crane to lift a concrete staircase The main contractor refused a contract lift. Because of that I refused to have anything to do with the lift. It all went wrong. I knew it would.
Similar here buddy, bricklayer in the 80s and 90s, then site manager. Unfortunately the industry is run by bean counters and not skilled builders as in my day. Left the industry now and don't miss it at all.
I retired here in the US. after 44 yrs.
Trade school then four years open shop then 40 in the Bricklayers union.
Thank God for the union.
Facts Andy. Fellow bricky 22yrs in the game. Well said 👏
Love to hear from ol' timers like yourself. Gives me a lot of perspective as a young person and a lot to think about.
I completely agree with you Andy. I started as a carpenter in 1967 after doing a pre apprenticeship course, went self employed at 22 as it was the only way to earn a decent wage. At age 38 I got a job with the NHBC as an inspector, that was a great job for around 15 yrs then it got so data based when computers were introduced it was impossible & everyone wanted to leave. I stuck it out till I could retire because of the pension but I can’t see any future in the house building industry when half the labour force is foreign and will work for half price
Nobody wants to say it, but mass immigration has devalued wages. Adjusting for inflation no real rise in pay since the early 00s. And ironically with all the new regs most of the work now is shocking. Most of my jobs were putting right other peoples mess!
@@toby648 you should be comfortable saying mass immigration has devalued wages ,it’s true, that why the uk is the predicament it’s in , too much political correctness.
@toby648 Before there were foreign taxi drivers, you'd jump in a cab how's it going m8,earning ,nah shit. Us and cabbies were the first to feel the pinch if a cabbie was struggling so were we,Fu k me you can't even av a chat with the Barbsr now. That's fucked, Fucking LEGO HEAD HAIRCUT,WTF,
All the immigrants fault. Bear in mind their not the scum paying u less.
There’s a lot of that happening in all trades!
@@raycorrigan3297 Not their fault but they are the issue. Like Andy said, it's the governments fault for allowing it to happen.
I agree with your idea on teaching basic bricklaying and it would definitely work with a course like you mentioned.
Spot on !!! like you i'v been in the trade since 1977 and have been lucky enough to reach and take retirement in the last month, glad i'm out of the rat race, but wish i knew then what i'v learned over many years, but that's life.
Nice one Andy. You hit the nail on the head.. the House price (and rental cost if you are a renter) to Wage ratio. It's has been a gradual creep over decades to a modern form of "enslavement" because of constant Fiat money expansion. How much further can this go on for?
Andy I am working on something at the moment regarding this exact subject. I spoke to Al at Supertrowel and he thought it was a good idea.
I may contact you sometime in the following year to pick your brains. (Don't want to say here because of negativity)
I have spoken to many an old trowel about how the industry has declined. There is a perfect storm coming when all the Baby Boomers retire. Many have gone locally this year. They think there is a shortage now, 20'000 bricklayers short as of this week.
Wait another five years and that perfect storm will be on us.
Thanks for this video.
👍@@harveysmith100 👍
If it's a book, I want a copy. Trowels are the best story tellers -)
Bang on mate
Andy such very true words most bricklayers suck it up and get on with it just to serve been doing the job 40 years now being told how to do it by a snot nosed 24 year old who cant even tie a shoe lace
The holiday did you good mate you look healthy 👍
Great chat! Nice to hear from your perspective, I have no experience in bricklaying but found the whole chat really interesting.
I’m in design engineering for commercial aircraft and we have the same issues with regards to management levels being unfit for the job having no experience working in that area. Quality is the last priority
Also a pint of beer to highlight inflation, never seen it before but works!
I joined the workforce in 2005 and it’s soul destroying seeing all the benefits being closed off, everyone becoming less and less well off.
And it strangles the businesses, less money in your pockets for local economies.
Hardest part, what can we do about it.
Allright andy great video pal very interesting. Been on the trowel 45 years seen good and bad times in the building trade.big builders have made fortunes over the years not paying pensions holiday pay or sick pay.they pass it on to the subbie who puts 20% on your prices.then the builders dont pay wet time waiting on scaffolders and silo delays.years ago you got a date rate plus bonus and holiday pay.I left site work 10 years ago and just do private work now ,never been so busy give the subbie and the big boys a big wide birth its a big rat race in my opinion all the best for christmas lads.
Spot on Andy 100% Agree..My son who leaving school soon said he wants to work with me become a Brickie are i said no chance..
Great video mate
Everything you mention is spot on
I’m 55 now and been doing it since 86
Started with whimpey on the card with the bonus scheme and loved it as a youngster.
We got layed off last month,my mate is 60 now. And now we gotta find something in jan with the weather turning crap .
Last year we were out from dec to April,can’t sign on unless you got no savings in bank .
We are actually on 550 per thousand on timber frame in south wales .we earn a wage but overall you are off then the next week through incompetence or Silo breaking down !
I hate it now and we don’t know what to do now as it’s all I’ve known since school
U just get treated like crap all the time .the nhbc thing now is unbelievable.closing sites down to inspect .
They want to eat their dinner off your cavities .
I’d never choose this again ,I’d be pensioned off now somewhere else
Rant over 😒
Top vid mate 👍
@@theboozycyclist1096 Thanks,not easy to make money on timber frame on that price, hope you find something soon 👍
Jacking my job in Tomorrow now 😂, on a serious note, spot on with what you said its a grind every day with all the crap that comes with it
@@Changy_C 😂👍
😂😂👍🏼
Legend!😊
I retired about 2 years ago from trowel, you are spot on with everything you said about site work, them places are a complete joke now.
Dead right I started in 84 ,,on the Hod ,within. 3 years I was in a share gang,driving big Granada motors, alot of brickies had jags and smoked cigars ,bus stops and roll ups now ,I'm on the trowel now im 58 in Jan, it's fucking Shit now, no gd times, we used to do the rain dance when we see dark cloud the money was that gd,great video m8
Rain Dance around the mixer ?
@brikfiend gd old days,ENGLISH SPOKEN ALL DAY LONG, HODDYS SHITTING IN THE MUCK WHICH I DIDNT AGREE WITH BY THE WAY
Topping out deep joy on the ladders
@@BEEZAGEEZA LOL, never had one shit in my muck before but they did often throw a handfull of ballast in it if you pissed them off.
A good hoddie was like gold dust (And ALWAYS mental) and I always insisted on an even split with any price gang I was on.
@@marlonbrando2493 3 blocks on shoulder,FIT AS FCUK
Hi Andy, I really enjoyed your insight into the world of bricklaying. Loved the story of you repairing the damaged wall on the wrong house. Keep well mate and hope to see you soon.
@@glenfowler8145 Thanks Glen, yea we need to meet up for a beer just let me know, hope you are well 👍👍
Bricklaying through this recession is very tough, im hitting the redline most days, making the best job ive ever made n doing more work for less money, and the buying power of that money goes down every year, its sad the black dog is with me on the scaffold somedays, but its all i know, so im just having to get started earlier these days 🤣🤯 merry christmas andy great vid 💪
Started apprenticeship in 1975, just retired burnt out, can’t do a full days work safely, though can still do more than the young ones. Britain has become a shit hole, dumbing down nanny state, to much regulation and hidden taxes, loss of freedom. Feel sorry for the youth. All I can say is play the system at their own game look out for yourself
What a brilliant video. Just come across this on TH-cam
I’m not a builder Andy but am retired did an engineering apprenticeship back in the day. I’m 65 so about your age group. I think we don’t have enough bricki layers for government targets lol!
Loving this interesting content Andy keep it coming!
My father always worked 1 and 1 and split half each whatever they earned. He passed away in 1998 at 53, but still the best that I have ever seen. I worked with brickies 2 and 1 mostly back in the eighties and it was the hardest job I have ever done.
I agree with you up to the apprenticeship part, when I started my time Health and Safety was an office somewhere but no one had ever seen it lol. Yes things have changed and I will admit there are one or two things I learnt during my apprenticeship that I have never had to do on a job but it gave me the knowledge of how to build from setting out the footing all the way to wall plate and the ability to repair old listed buildings including rubbed arches, for me Bricklaying is an art not just a job and i'm proud of my City & guilds certs, good luck and best wishes
@@cabbage681 Thanks 👍
Its a shame there are not people like you in the houses of parliament Andy~
Spot on pal,I. 63, agree with all u said,merry Christmas pal
Great vid.
Started as a roofer,then went on to carpentry,6 month course,city and guilds qualification.
Had a great time worked all over the country,and abroad.
Wouldnt change anything.
Made plenty of money.
Retired now.
Happy days.
Well done Andy, you nailed it, it's the devaluation of the currency.
It's not just the devaluation of the currency, Its tax in all its different forms, and all the hidden taxes and charges . I read somewhere that many workers now pay up to 60% of their wages in tax of one form or another.
100% spot on great video keep it up every trade is messed up guys like you are spot on nobody is training young guys also and they dont want to get into dirty jobs would rather sit behind a desk than get out there business is to blame for not training for the future and the young guys are always in their phones on social media
An excellent video, Andy, on far more than building and tradesmen. This entire country is fukked. Look around your town at the Victorian and Edwardian buildings and marvel at the quality of the workmanship and the pride they had in doing the best they could. So many skills have been lost, sadly. Thanks, Andy, for the interesting video.
Im a bricky and moved to Australia 11 years ago, did 5 years on the trowel here and packed it in at 49 to go work in the mines fly in fly out, best thing I ever did, im proud to have been a bricky but we don’t get paid anything like we should, and as for university educated snot nosed kids who’ve got no idea how to do my job, but their books says im doing it all wrong telling me what to do!
Ever was it thus . . .
Mate what’s the best approach to work in the mines
Ask Antony Albanese 😂
@@kingofthetrowel1725 get some tickets i.e blue/white card, forklift, working at heights, HR, or get your scaffolding tickets...
Rained off days is all I can say about my experience on the trowel. Never go back to that job
I have been bricklaying since 1978, did a Topps course and have worked ever since.
Retired at 66 but still doing a bit.
Enjoyed your comments Andy it took me back to the old days of site work and the highs and lows of being a Subby on pricework.
I also did a bit of teaching at college. They believe you can learn bricklaying from a computer. Spending more time at a desk than on a trowel.
I couldn't convince them that you needed to build corners and run the line to develop a half decent bricklayer. So I left.
I think a practical course of three months is a great idea.
I'm a dinosaur now. I wouldn't go back on site . I couldn't recommend it either.
How they will build all these houses I don't know.
I hope they find a way. . . JT
£350 a day Not a penny Less, or those Illegal immigrants will be building there own houses, because bricks won't get laid by UK Builders.
If only, I witnessed years ago guys saying they will all stick together for a decent price then they went in one by one undercutting each other.
450 a day for joiners
220 a day for 5 days doing 40 hours work a week is 1100 a week which is over 52k a year. To indigenous people it's not enough these days but to foreign workers it's an absolute fortune and they will be looking at increasing those hours to 60 hours or more during the lighter months.
Illegal immigrants are not allowed to work. And not illegal anyway. The reason ur life is shit is because ur own government jacked up utility bills house prices and everything else. The boats aren’t the problem it’s the private jets!! Oh and fkn Brexit!!
Eastern Europeans will happily undercut that and live six to house.
"A lot of the people I used to work with are retired or dead" ... I felt that one
From start to finish absolute truth and common sense!! I’m 47 joiner but I’ve recently taken a job offshore.
As a chippy ?
I don't know anything about being a Bricklayer but your video speaks to what I see all around the UK. The profits of the Subcontractor you mentioned is criminal. Private companies are taking more control and holding everyone hostage to their poor wages and high prices.
I could listen to advice like this all day long
Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate, cheap labour entering the country like never seen before, fraud rising, working mans tools are stolen at record levels, your now Taxed to death, sick welfare benefits are rising the list goes on and on, i suffer from HAVS and depression use to love bricklaying now i am a road sweeper
I'm quite a bit older than you Andy, started learning to lay bricks in 1965 and every word you say is true. We certainly had some good times in the sixties and seventies. For some reason, and every one will have their opinions about it, site work didn't seem to be paying good money after that. In my early days we did have local bricklayers unions, that all combined to form UCATT the building trade union. Older building workers will remember our strike, it lasted a long time and in some areas got quite unruly and violent. I've got to say I enjoyed my time in the building trade, would I enter it now? I honestly don't know, the problem as I see it is there isn't the money in it any more.
After 44 years in the building industry, I couldn’t agree more. With overheads, pensions etc… wages should be higher. Those calling for more tradesman, just want to drive labour prices down….
Listening to this, you are what Anuran Beven was to NHS as you are to the building trade. But I fear your walking alone to the wisdom your given to this youth of ours!
The foreigners have killed domestic extensions, working for a pittance. Some of the extensions we drive by brings a tear to your eye. You pay peanuts. 😂😂
Loads of interesting stuff there Andy.. There's No School, Like The Old School...
Self employed plant fitter 55yrs spent a lifetime on sites its changed beyond recognition now on all levels, really miss the old school bricky gangs best time of my life its utter crap now cannot wait to sell up & never thought I would say it France looks more inviting property prices a no brainer. Is any decent trade worth doing in the UK these days I think not.
I signed up for OND at Belfast college of technical. 2 years full time and of course exams . The CITB was paying 20 quid a week and this was an excellent course. There was 2 or 3 former bricklayers who were in late 20,s early 30,s who saw the light and went back to school. We all got hired by the big names and some like me went on to University. The thing is it was a government sponsored program and it was working well . The ONC and HNC classes were day release and these were full also . People were engaged, the lecturers and instructors were top notch and it was fantastic. The CITB was respected and had some teeth , not sure what the heck they are doing today.
The big companies paid the CITB to do the training for them. It was a tax loss and led to a constant flow of apprentices. We were all on the cards then. But when the subbies started to emerge in the 80's and the big firms went management contracting, it all changed. They stopped paying the CITB and the subbies didn't give a shit about training, just profit. That's why there's been a decline in the amount of tradesmen since the 90's.
I did a 5 year CITB course, it was fully funded by them. 1 year full time college, 3 years day release for the C + G's and a further 1 year day release for the advanced craft. I was 21 when my indentures finished and I was a foreman by 22 with John Laings. Happy days.
Glad to hear someone talking sense about the reality of our wages now,220 a day isn't good money now,, it was good money in 2002, funny enough I just worked out recently I'd need to be earning 2500 a week to have the same buying power,
Very interesting looking forward to another video im a roofer... From south UK 😅 i think you should setup your bricklaying class 💯
I thought I was listening to myself for a second there. I couldn't have put it better.
Were have you been fella, missed you 😊 same age same sort of mind set. Keep on doing what your doing.
Brilliant ,love this bloke spot on everything you said.
Totally true and honest. You've basically said what we all think. I'm 55 been bricklaying all my life... The foreign bricklaying gang turn up with 6 of them 4 laying 2 labouring.. Then after lunch thay get 2 tubs of muck and thay start laying.. We can't keep up
Hi mate watched your channel for a while was a joiner for 10 years left went into college got a job in finance now and make a lot more than I ever would as a joiner I will always respect all trades but I don’t think it’s the best choice for young ones these days with tech/youtube and so much more online opportunities
Well done Andy everything you said is brilliant and correct!
Nice listen andy , not just relevant to brickies …. All trades really
Plastering has gone down the swanee big time
I'm a kitchen fitter the
They guys from abroad have f my living right up can't make jobs pay anymore, I'm out jacked it all in.
Symphony want me to fit a u shape kitchen + utility room 2 sinks, 2 worktop joints, supply van tools silicone screws, accountant etc for £250 pd.
It's not even minimum wage, start at 7 finish at 6 no break or dinner all day.
Lucky to get £21 an hour where I am Andy and I don’t entertain price work as some of the reasons you have mentioned ,it’s sad as I did used to enjoy it but I’m 36 and I’ve called it a do ,you literally can earn more driving sat on your arse.trade is fucked tho even if your a tidy trowel it doesn’t matter anymore
Why I left the trowel and started in roads n sewers ground works no more rainy days lost and works good
@@Trekman78 I bet you can still get a steady 50k a year doing what your doing mate 👍
@@kingofthetrowel1725 100 %👍🏼
I’m 77. Did a 6months course in 1973 at a government training centre. 2 classes of 35 trainees. Only ever met 2 on site. Not many carried on with the trade. I did and had a good time. Good Money in 1982. 35k a year. Then bubble burst. But the crack made up for it. I miss the banter not the job now. Good luck to anyone going for bricklaying as a trade
@@DavidJones-lv6li That's strange as most in my class did.
Glad i got out of the UK 21.5yrs ago and made a new life here in Perth Aus. It’s still the land of opportunity and a nice life style to boot. 👍😎🇦🇺
Irish Brickys here,leaving for Perth end of February can’t wait to be honest
Care workers “today” who look after those who cannot look after themselves are paid no more than £ 12.50 ph and that is for Gov.Uk employees, a bloody pittance !
I went onto a site in Milton Keynes looking for a start and the lads told me they were getting paid every two weeks. It made me look into the company...Crown... they owe the tax man a shed load of money apparently ( published accounts so in public domain) I need weekly payments one week in hand. I couldn't believe the lads on site were accepting these terms of payments.
Andy you have hit the nail right on the head we were better off ....even the yts sheme which i did ... 27.50 a week we still had money monday morning to get you through the week ... .... supply and demand drives up the prices ... the woke youth will run away from construction...
@@chebarden8278 the youth our generation betrayed. Their better than we ever were.not as racist and bigoted ( woke) but every bit as hard working for less than we did.
Nice one Andy mate 64 still laying you nailed it merry Christmas mate and many more🎄🎄👏👍
Scaffolder here. There’s tons of work there, but alot of rules. And the money just doesn’t go as far as it used to be. I saw more on £160 a day 10 years ago as apposed to £225 a day today. Thanks for the video I’m subscribing
Well done for speaking out ,real tradesmen seem to be voiceless at the mo !
great insight there Andy, what do you think about dry stone walling, beautiful features for golf courses (dry stone bridges), national parks etc, they seem to pay more over in the states, canada etc it seems for that stuff and seem to appreciate it more, ace video. new subscriber! All the best, god bless.
@@Orange_tickle7261 Thanks Jack, unfortunately in the part of the UK I live in there isn't any stonework.
A disturbing video.
Sad but very true.
I am nearer Rob Songer than a Charlie Coulson.
Constantly called slow and probably only worth £100 a day going by the current TH-cam hype.
Luckily for me, my sons watch my back.
Well done Andy.
I agree with most of this the nhbc is just an insurance company making millions off the back off hard working grafters. The new insulation is horrendous for brick layers even worse to try adapt into domestic extensions. We have just been made to dig 2m deep because of a hedge how the house is still upright with its 150mm foundation 300mm deep in the soil is beyond me 😂
Sound man Andy. They also decimated the long haul drivers wages with the foreign lads. The truck drivers just weren't prepared to stand together, at least in Ireland. Drivers with families were told to disregard the taco hours, just keep running as they needed the truck back in Ireland as soon as possible. If they didn't like it, they were told there was a Polish man waiting for the job at €50 a day less, so be thankful . I am a bachelor without dependants, so I just told them text me that instruction so both of us will be going to jail together if I have an accident on bent cards, no pushing after that.
@@Tom_1956 Terrible
As a Carpenter Joiner who's been self employed since 1986 I wholeheartedly agree Andy. With regards to earnings what people need to understand is for decades now Governments in the West (US,UK,France,Italy,Spain,Geece etc) have de-valued their currencies by various ways including printing money. A couple of years ago I started buying gold coins to preserve the value of my money. People saving in Bank accounts getting 4.5% gross interest are literally giving the value of their savings away.You aren't boring me mate, I'm 56 next month and as you said, I'm close to being burnt out.The idea that I have to do physical graft each and every day until I'm 67yrs old so I can get a few poxy quid in a State Pension whilst so many people I know have worked barely ever work but will be entitiled to the Pension credit which is about £5 a week less than my full state pension is a sick joke. Add to that the Pension credit is a gateway to other benefits. The UK is a sick country.
Not a sick country its shit
Same for carpenters. I’m making the same now as I was in the early 2000s. Foreign labour was brought in on purpose, to hold the working man down ….. and it worked. I don’t recommended the skilled trades to any young folk now. I only see tramps and foreigners coming in, working for drugs or beer money whilst claiming dole or living in a hostel. Where have all the Poles gone? Most have spotted what’s going on and either went home or another country. Some guys are doing well, the vast majority aren’t when the time, cost and effort are factored in. The few subsides that are doing very well are burning the candle at both ends, committing fraud, or up to something. Most of that money will go up their beak and they’ll lose everything, including their family, or they’ll spend some time in HMP. Either way, sod grafting for crap money in the UK. Either go abroad, or do something else. The UK is bust and it’s going to get bad under the new government.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and research. Completely the issue of the monetary system and usury, and those who propagate it all whilst it's easy to keep blaming foreign labour and immigrants.
100% spot on I’m 52 and the motivation is gone to lay bricks and tap a wall tie 😂
53,lying on the bed watching this with back shot to bits and can barely walk some days,don’t do it kids,I wished I had listened to the old fella’s!!
Great video, Andy.
Bricklayers are building houses now, which in a lot of parts of the country are worth on average 10 to 20 times more than the same houses we were building. As just pointed out by you, we were getting well paid for it in relation to the cost of living. Wages paid to the trades is nowhere near on par.
The large developers, along with the banks and allowed and backed by successive government's is the reason why.
@@richardfitzgerald4812 Exactly Richard but a lot of people especially the younger ones can't see it for the simple reason they never experienced the good times and think this is the norm.
Not just the trades - most salaries have stagnated since 2008 while everything else has doubled or tripled price.
Brother in law retired last year @71 still misses it!
Well said...i packed sites in other year and do more extensions,house builds privately...i no other gangs jacking sites some the game altogether...ive said and will continue to that if bricklayers truly stuck together they could demand pretty much their worth...without bricklayers u essentially dont have a site..sadly most gangs are selfish and in it for themselves...out of 10 gangs u might bump into 1 helpfull one..seen all the underhand tactics...bunging forkies to hide material,emptying the cabin of ties,damps etc,known of gangs taking the silo lead so u cant get a tub in the morning...list goes on and on...there will always be a greasy gang who will stay despite pay cuts,despite extras been added and subbies know this and play on it.. so even if the gangs on site walked one will always stay....bricklayers truely are their own worst enemies...brilliant job...shit industry...
Well said.
I was a Hod Carrier for 25 years, I’m semi retired now but I still drive the forks occasionally, In my experience we always complained about the day work rate and our bosses ran around in new 4x4s and took the piss because they could,the only option is to go out and find your own work, then take on your own men, very little has changed But most of the trowels I worked with were so much faster than the brickies of today, I checked this with an chap who I knew as an apprentice that now has his own gang, he said I was right and he had to take this into account when pricing jobs.
I think a lot of the brickies of today are being paid what they are worth.
got developers pleading poverty while flying around in their helicopter while paying the same prices as 5 years ago
Spot on Andy 56 now and feel it all the best mate
BUILDINGF HOUSES FOR YOUR REPLACMENTS
Wages are not worth the bad back. Got out this year, as last winter killed me off months without earning even half a good wage. Now spray painting backs golden and still taking 1000 a week or more with overtime, holiday pay and bonuses.
A few of things worth mentioning. Firstly health and safety is only there because of suing. If there was no suing, there would be no health and safety. Insane h&s policies are there to protect people from getting sued, not to protect people from dying. Companies, employers ect have to put these ridiculous policies in place or some one grazes a knee and sues.
Unfortunately the reason us brickies will never get our worth pay wise is because you need zero qualifications. The public perception is that we are thick. If everything else fails at school send them to the building game to be a bricky. That is why we will never earn that much money.
@@MrBez007 Never used to be,when I started they still wore suits and ties, when I worked in Holland in the 70s we had a Dutch Translator who was married to a Girl in Northern Ireland and had worked in the UK and he used to say to the Dutch Bricklayers that the English read a newspaper educate themselves.
@bricklayersworldwithandy6277 I know. It's a sad thing but in other countries they take the building game a lot more serious than we do. The publics general perception of a brick layer is no longer that of a skilled craftsman, and to be honest the modern " how many a day" breed aren't helping. The skil is dying fast. My apprentice told me the college don't even teach arches or bonding in the curriculum anymore ! Stretcher bond only. I appreciate you can't get stuck in the past but come on. A bricky should know his craft and the more it gets thinned down, the less skil is involved and the less money we can command.
The only the that gives people the illusion of wealth is debt. You just couldn’t borrow money like you can now. That started in the late 80’s . I often say. ‘ if we took away the ability to borrow, that includes overdraft, credit cards etc, we would actually be poorer that we were in the 70’s.