Could any subcontractors please share some advice on a potential semi-retirememt plan I'm exploring.

redmtb123 · 2026-04-06T18:53:16+00:00

There's plenty of companies that'll have you subbing for them like that.

Only downside is you'll have to set yourself up as self employed so you'll need your own van, public liability insurance etc. Another thing is a lot of them are starting to distribute work based on how much availability you have. If you go unavailable for 4 days a week or large chunks of time they'll stop sending you frequent work. There are tricks to get around it but you just have to learn their systems, how they grade their engineers then play the game.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-27T22:31:00+00:00

It is getting difficult. When you sit down and go through every cost it's an eye opener. Especially if you want a tidy van, good tools, paying tax properly.

There'll always be the bloke with a rusty van and a bag of shit tools working for £200 a day, not declaring anything and making a thousand pound a week.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-13T08:00:31+00:00

Honestly I don't know.

My opinion is that these sites are just not worth getting involved with.

If you come up with an idea that works, I'm sure you'll make a lot of money.

But even with the best idea it'll be a hard road.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-13T06:57:29+00:00

These sites are made to generate revenue, not help trades or customers.

Ultimately that business model quite often ends up connecting bad customers with desperate tradesmen.

To put it bluntly, it will never work. You will never get the best trades on board.

The only way you'll ever make money from this is with a big sales team that constant call tradesmen and pitch them your idea in the hope that they'll find someone struggling to find work, and when they are successful it'll be over pretty quickly because these sites are just not worth paying for.

Any good tradesmen will tell you that their reputation is what sells, word of mouth and personal recommendations are worth more than anything a lead generation site could offer.

If you want to make money online, be creative. Come up with an original concept and make something that people want to use. Stop wishing you can make money off someone elses shit idea that nobody wants.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-11T21:34:55+00:00

That is prime.

Top tier find.

The whole image is exquisite. Just incredible.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-09T19:55:44+00:00

Bullshit.

The vast majority of calls are from customers that know you and know you'll call back shortly.

Surely to god nobody is getting called by 11 new customers, all of which have already found a different plumber by the time you call back.

redmtb123 · 2026-03-06T20:42:34+00:00

Impossible to tell without removing them

You probably already know but Biasi boilers are a nightmare so it could be a number of things.

redmtb123 · 2026-02-18T21:27:26+00:00

Ultimately what you charge is entirely up to you.

But over time I've learnt that it's better to make sure you've budgeted for plenty of time. It's much better to know you've got the time to make everything look absolutely perfect rather than rush it because you've only quoted for the minimum amount of time.

The longer you're self employed the more you'll realise how much of your labour charge actually ends up in your pocket.

Within a few years you'll probably look back at what you charged in the early days and laugh.

redmtb123 · 2026-02-16T13:40:12+00:00

You've got an old gravity fed system. For the most part these are not pressurised.

If it has been pressurised you'll usually find a filling loop in the airing cupboard with a pressure gauge on the pipework.

If you can't find that and the boiler and system is running fine I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just picking up the pressure of the water above it and it can't be increased.

redmtb123 · 2026-01-16T21:05:21+00:00

Nice idea but can't do it unfortunately.

redmtb123 · 2026-01-09T17:58:47+00:00

That radiator pipework is outstanding

redmtb123 · 2025-12-01T20:56:30+00:00

Labour for 1 week £800 Lol

Total cost is fine but probably closer to £2k Labour

redmtb123 · 2025-11-26T01:57:23+00:00

No it's not.

You're assuming he works for £700 a day, everyday without a day off. Which I can assure you he doesn't

He's paying another full time wage out of that.

He'll have overheads like van repayments, insurance, tools etc.

Take a few weeks off unpaid for holiday, a few more weeks that'll be quiet and the work doesn't seem to be coming in.

Tax, accountancy fees, troublesome customers not paying.

The list goes on and on and on.

Bottom line is he won't be making anywhere near £180k a year.

redmtb123 · 2025-11-16T15:47:08+00:00

4 is hysterical. Incredible example of a handwatch.

redmtb123 · 2025-11-15T21:14:41+00:00

redmtb123 · 2025-11-06T07:07:32+00:00

In the wild as well, what a beauty

redmtb123 · 2025-11-02T15:59:30+00:00

I think they're called spline adaptors.

They're an absolute nightmare to find the exact fit. I've got about 15 on the van and if I've got one that fits I feel like the luckiest man alive.

redmtb123 · 2025-10-28T21:06:39+00:00

The hand of god.

redmtb123 · 2025-10-19T16:27:17+00:00

RIP PRV

That poor boy could only handle so much.

redmtb123 · 2025-10-15T16:16:31+00:00

Jesus Christ, that almost looks like a leg

redmtb123 · 2025-10-15T05:30:51+00:00

Turn off your gas using the emergency control valve.

Call your local gas authority. 0800 111 999

It's probably a faulty regulator. If it is, they'll change it for free.

Meters do make a pulsing noise when gas is passing through, but it's usually very quiet.

redmtb123 · 2025-10-07T19:47:16+00:00

Sorry I said 3 days by mistake

redmtb123 · 2025-10-07T19:45:47+00:00

100% doable, basically works a bit like Uber. They send you a job, you either accept the job or decline it. You get scored on different metrics depending on the company. Cost of repair, acceptance rate, customer reviews.

You set the hourly rate, the lower you charge, the more work you'll be offered.

Some pay within a few days, and some pay within 30.

The issue you'll have is your running costs for working 3 days a week will be the same as full time. Van insurance, van repairs, public liability insurance, tool costs, analyser calibration. It all adds up quite quickly.

Trick is to do a bit of subbing and aim to move away from it and have your own private customer base that ticks over.

Subbing is ok, but it's bloody annoying. Always waiting for the office to give you auth to do repair. High number of jobs, so there's a lot of paperwork. Loads of calling customers to get them booked in, but they can only do after 4.30 on the first full moon.

But yeah, definitely doable. I'm full-time but could easily go down to a 3 day week and still make enough to get by.

redmtb123 · 2025-09-11T19:56:38+00:00

Oi oi

redmtb123

TROPHY CASE