D. Barrett Decorating - The Blog

It always seems to be this time of year where you start to question what you are doing is right for you. The past few weeks I have found myself doing exactly that, whether it can be put down to new year blues, the fact I have had enough of the current job I'm on or just want a complete change. Personally it is a combination of all three.To combat that, I need to know where I actually want to be. Have I had enough of working for someone? Yes and no. Yes because the appeal of being your own bos...

Didn't realise I had left writing my blog for such a long time, shows how quickly time goes when you are busy! I've learnt a lot this year on people you work for and how they can treat you.Started back on site 2nd January full of hope and excitement for the year ahead, lasted 4 hours. In that 4 hours I had my bag and mp3 player stolen out of the house I was working in, get told in a snotty manner that I wasn't even meant to be in work that day and whatever work I did do I wasn't getting paid ...

Well another year has been and gone, overall for me it has been a good one. First year in 4 that I've had a constant stream of work, good sign we are finally coming out of the recession and don't we all need that! It's hard enough providing for a family without the constant worry of not working always looming over your head and the relief you get when that is lifted is immense.Started this year off with the aim of working solely for myself, looks like this year has the same aim! Well maybe no...

I've found after 17 years in this business that us painters tend to work longer hours than a lot of other trades. One reason could be that our average wage is less than the other trades so therefore we work longer to compensate for the difference in pay. Another reason is that, especially on site work, the timescale to finish the job has been reduced because of the trades before our own running late. That in turn leads to us having to shoehorn all the work into a smaller schedule and obviousl...

StartFragmentIt's been a busy last couple of months, personally and professionally. On the work side I have worked non stop. For the company I've sub contracted to for the majority of the year and on a few private jobs on weekends. I think this site I've been on this year is the longest I've stayed on one site ever. Practical completion happened back in April but the level of snagging the client is going to borders on the ridiculous! Hopefully the end is in sight and a new site beckons me. Th...

Following on from a comment made on a painter forum I use, I thought I would write down my comments and thoughts on my blog. It's played on my mind for a week or so now but I've only had the time to write it down now.The post made was, at first, a gripe about site painters and how rough they are. Basically generalising a whole raft of decorators on the basis some are toshers. I'll stop here for a second and go a bit more in depth on what I mean. Site painters, in the eyes of most deccies, are...