OK had enough

[_V_]

Combining the two and having a wider set of services would be a good market. If you can get a house properly Ethernet cabled up while doing a rewire, throw in automation options (an extended version of hive) and you're on to a major portfolio of saleable stuff. The reduced costs to you of doing all three at once (rewire, Ethernet and automation) means that you can upsell easily.

Another good option is Part P certified electrician, Gas Safe trained boiler fitter. Then you can fit a boiler, plumbing, gas and electrical work.

1/2 a days work, about £500 profit in each one. And that's just fitting a new boiler, then there's servicing, safety checks and repair work.

[vetran]

Combining the two and having a wider set of services would be a good market. If you can get a house properly Ethernet cabled up while doing a rewire, throw in automation options (an extended version of hive) and you're on to a major portfolio of saleable stuff. The reduced costs to you of doing all three at once (rewire, Ethernet and automation) means that you can upsell easily.

pretty much my thoughts. The added value of covering the computer / automation stuff means I'm not just a wire monkey.

Premium customers will pay a premium price. All else fails I charge £50 to change electrical sockets/Lights.

[vetran]

Another good option is Part P certified electrician, Gas Safe trained boiler fitter. Then you can fit a boiler, plumbing, gas and electrical work.

1/2 a days work, about £500 profit in each one. And that's just fitting a new boiler, then there's servicing, safety checks and repair work.

did consider that but it doesn't excite me. Might as well do something I enjoy.

[Lockhouse]

What with the cost and red tape of gas certification, the same (although nowhere near as expensive) for electrical, the van, tooling and insurance costs, the lost evenings and weekends going round and giving estimates, the pricing and paperwork for countless jobs you're never going to get. Plus the fact it's a physical job and you're not getting any younger. Conclusion: You are better off just doing your 40 hours contracting any week of the year.

[BrilloPad]

Professional cyclist?

[Chuck]

It's not all milk and honey being a spark (or plumber). You will rarely rewire a house. It'll mostly be replacing a broken fitting, or adding a new socket somewhere. You'll charge £50 which won't include the travel to or from. Good luck if you're in a gridlocked town, or have to travel miles in a rural community.

If you do get a rewire, the majority of your work is not wiring up interesting, high-tech patch panels; it's running cables, and bashing holes in and along walls to run the cables. It's lifting carpets and floorboards and cutting notches in joists. It's working in filthy, boiling hot lofts, or up ladders in the freezing cold rain. It is hard, manual work.

You'll need tools and a van to carry them. You'll need to be qualified. You'll need to be assessed and registered with an approved scheme. You'll need insurance. Worst of all, you'll be the new boy on the block against the 20-30 other established sparkies on your patch.

I tried it and I've never been fitter, but it is bloody hard work, and the money isn't anywhere near as good as the stories suggest - 90k part time - in your dreams.

If status is important to you, you will be learn that most people treat tradesmen like tulip. Nobody cares that you had a good IT career, now you are the bloke who unblocks toilets or changes light bulbs and charges "too much" for doing it.

I'm sure there are many who make a success of it, but you are starting from the bottom rung of a career that takes years to build up. You will look back upon your boring IT job and you will realise just how fantastic it was.

[Chuck]

What with the cost and red tape of gas certification, the same (although nowhere near as expensive) for electrical, the van, tooling and insurance costs, the lost evenings and weekends going round and giving estimates, the pricing and paperwork for countless jobs you're never going to get. Plus the fact it's a physical job and you're not getting any younger. Conclusion: You are better off just doing your 40 hours contracting any week of the year.

What he said.

[LondonManc]

What with the cost and red tape of gas certification, the same (although nowhere near as expensive) for electrical, the van, tooling and insurance costs, the lost evenings and weekends going round and giving estimates, the pricing and paperwork for countless jobs you're never going to get. Plus the fact it's a physical job and you're not getting any younger. Conclusion: You are better off just doing your 40 hours contracting any week of the year.

If he's fed up of that, though, the day-to-day variety with the new job may appeal more than the project-to-project variety

[vetran]

It's not all milk and honey being a spark (or plumber). You will rarely rewire a house. It'll mostly be replacing a broken fitting, or adding a new socket somewhere. You'll charge £50 which won't include the travel to or from. Good luck if you're in a gridlocked town, or have to travel miles in a rural community.

If you do get a rewire, the majority of your work is not wiring up interesting, high-tech patch panels; it's running cables, and bashing holes in and along walls to run the cables. It's lifting carpets and floorboards and cutting notches in joists. It's working in filthy, boiling hot lofts, or up ladders in the freezing cold rain. It is hard, manual work.

You'll need tools and a van to carry them. You'll need to be qualified. You'll need to be assessed and registered with an approved scheme. You'll need insurance. Worst of all, you'll be the new boy on the block against the 20-30 other established sparkies on your patch.

I tried it and I've never been fitter, but it is bloody hard work, and the money isn't anywhere near as good as the stories suggest - 90k part time - in your dreams.

If status is important to you, you will be learn that most people treat tradesmen like tulip. Nobody cares that you had a good IT career, now you are the bloke who unblocks toilets or changes light bulbs and charges "too much" for doing it.

I'm sure there are many who make a success of it, but you are starting from the bottom rung of a career that takes years to build up. You will look back upon your boring IT job and you will realise just how fantastic it was.

Good comments thanks!

[LondonManc]

Good comments thanks!

Opening a coffee shop instead then?