Labourer to Lime Plasterer
Being a lime plasterer’s labourer is a skilled role which takes time to learn. I want to train up and work with people who have interest in joining the traditional wet trades sector, who will take time to learn those ways as well as My working ways.
Taking on a new person with no prior experience in the field of lime plastering is risky; teaching someone from scratch is time consuming and conflicts with the goal of performing a job to commercial deadlines. This I why traditionally, manual trade apprenticeships lasted seven years, during which time apprentices weren’t paid very much.If a labourer has little experience they won’t be able to manage a problem or crisis on their own, which means I will have to abandon a task to sort it out, wasting my time. It’s also a physical risk: I need somebody working alongside me to ‘have my back’, literally, because I can’t afford for my body to get broken at work.
It’s my livelihood; self-employed workers don’t get sick pay. My labourer is primarily employed to do the heavy lifting of the job, so that I can conserve my strength for the plastering itself.
Job Description
Supporting the plasterer to create beautiful, functional finished surfaces.- Unloading & loading the van
- Bringing materials and equipment to the point of mixing/ plastering
- Masking up the space
- Spraying walls
- Keeping the public safe from hazardous substances and processes on-site & adjacent
- Mixing lime plaster from raw ingredients including quicklime, hemp shiv, perlite, sand, chalk. This may be achieved using a 110v forced action mixer eg Baron, or a stand-up plasterers whisk, or by treading plaster underfoot wearing snug-fitting wellies in a plasterers bath. Ingredients are measured by volume in 15/22L buckets, often needing to be lifted, full, to the height of 1.5m. Sacks of dry readymix can weigh 25kg and need toting around site, as well as wheelbarrows/baths full of wet plaster.
- Scratching and floating plastered surfaces
- Helping to neaten edges of plastered surfaces to finished product level
- Cleaning equipment, tools and worksite
Person Specification
Active listenerEngages in balanced dialogue allowing space for me to talk/respond as well as silence. Aware of the possibility to dominate in conversation.
Can talk and work at the same time
Can accept (female) authority
Follows instructions to the letter
Fast learner
Attentive & Observant
Focussed – can maintain concentration and finish tasks/ return to them if interrupted
Can work quietly
Industrious
Strong/ Fit
Knows the limits of their body and mine, applies appropriate ergonomic working methodology
Good timekeeping at beginning and end of day as well as breaktimes
Motivated to be efficient
Clean and tidy
Has own PPE and tools – gloves, goggles, mask, bucket trowel, gauging trowel, small tool
Able to invite and receive critical feedback
Can tolerate Radio 6 Music
Daily Work Schedule – 8/9 hour work day
8AM Start work10:30- 11AM Morning break
1 – 1:30PM Lunch
3/3:30PM Begin clean-up
4/4:30PM Finish
The mixer MUST start work on-time and finish work before me, as I cannot start plastering without any mix, and I have to quality control their work at the end of the day.Breaktimes need to be actually restful for all workers in whatever manner they require. Eg away from noisy plant, out of the weather, somewhere to sit, and nobody talking over or at others, talking shop, or subjecting them to noise from their phones
What I know about ME on the worksite:
Flow is important to me. I want to dance my plaster onto the wall while listening to great music loud! I want to produce beautiful surfaces that heal buildings. I love bringing homeowners’ dreams into reality. I like to be efficient and ergonomic. I want to be respected and listened to. I want to show people especially children that the construction industry is not only for cis-gendered heterosexual white males.I want the heritage sector to meet the modern eco-build movement and for all construction to become more sustainable. I have high expectations of myself and others. To be able to continue working as a plasterer, I need a labourer to do the heavy lifting for me.
I plan to come off the tools before menopause and be paid for what I know rather than what I physically do.
I can also be impatient, particular, and irritable. I have a social-anxiety habit of trying to keep my teammates occupied and entertained at all times, even when I just want them to stand by quietly awaiting instructions. I can come across as judgemental. I’m not the clearest communicator. My focus is easily broken. I get tired of having to train new people to help me instead of stick with workmates who know me inside out.I can’t think or plan ahead if people are talking to me. I find it difficult to give critical feedback in case of explosive results. I forget that people can’t read my mind, or that they don’t know what I know/ see how I see. I get rotten PMS. I can exude stress and anxiety when trying to manage challenging situations and crises.
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So if that hasnt put you off, if you think you fit the bill and could give working for me a go, please send me a short response to the Job Description & Person Specification above, informing me of any prior relevant experience, and transferable skills.I’d also appreciate hearing what you predict might be a challenge for us as characters to work together. I’m happy to provide you references of others who have worked alongside me if you want to quiz them.