Hi, can anybody tell me if there are any Aussie based carpet fitters using
this forum?

Just trying to tap them for some info

Steve

Assuming you are after info on job front.

Currently only these two positions going in Australia on Seek, and two in Seek NZ.


http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/i...JobID=14467595
http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/i...JobID=14268101

www.carpetcall.com.au
www.andersens.com.au
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...cr%3DcountryAU

Contact a few of these suppliers to see if the have anything going.

Cheers for the info.

Not looking for a job as such (already got one) but rather considering going back to the tools as a bit of a sideline, or as a fall back if the day job doesn't work out.

We are in South Africa at the moment and leaving for the Sunshine coast next year on a Business visa..........our businesses are a carpeting company and a ceramic tiling company.Anyway we did extensive research last year in the Gold Coast,Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Business opportunities for the flooring industry.The general concensus was that carpet fitters in particular are like hen's teeth-rare ! The ones that are around have so much work they can pick and choose and if the surf is up then committments were broken in favour of the beach !Basically,if you are keen to work,you could make a killing.Good luck

Many thanks for that. This is the impression I've got in the few carpet shops I've been into in Perth.
Would only be looking for 1 or 2 days work per week as I already work full time, but I would be interested to hear if the job over in Aus differs much from the UK.

Things have slowed considerably in the last 6 months or so. Blokes from the Sunny coast are now traveling as far as Bundaberg to the North & Brisbane to the South just to keep working. Builders are cutting their rates & many have stopped paying travel expenses.
I had a bloke ring me last week desperate for work, his rate with the builder he was working for on the coast was cut from $35 to $30. I'm finding that as things tighten up more & more blokes are going in at cost just to keep ticking over.
Now would be a good time to become a debt councilor or a repossession agent

I am a trained and experienced Flooring Installer/Carpet Fitter and at the beginning of the year I tried just about every carpet and flooring store in and arounf Brissie and Sydney trying to find one that was prepared to sponsor my visa in name only (ie no financial cost to them) and no-one was sufficiently interested so they can't be that rare!

We have now looking at the Perth area, but if anyone hears of a store (almost anywhere) looking for fitters I'd be really really grateful (if you know what I mean) if they could let me know!

and I'm not really into surfing either

Hi,
It was my understanding that the fitters sub-contracted predominantly as opposed to being fully employed which is probably why you had difficulty in finding a sponsor.So,you would be your own boss in effect and work between shops and so pick and choose your workload.Best bet seems to be the PR route really but can't say for certain ?

www.carpetcourt.com.au is one franchise I can think of straight off !

That certainly is the case Shirlw, but PR is not the quickest or easiest route from what I can tell, plus it would be nice to have work lined up on arrival!

Its that F--kin wanted down under program again aint it
a member of BEP has told it as it is but it just goes over there heads

Explain please?

Good luck Treganin.....

Also interested in what that comment was supposed to mean Hotton ??

My brother in law is based in Brisbane Alex hills he is a Carpet fitter
and has been in the uk and Queensland ,he earns a living,only Due to the
slowdown in the building industry and in general he does not have work
comeing out of his ears He has established contacts through good
work and long term contacts WORK HAS SLOWED DOWN

Yes that's quite accurate, very few shops in the built up areas have a full time fitter. Quieter rural places do tend to have them though.
I occasionally install for the mob you mention above, not often as their rate is probably the lowest in town.
The trouble with a place like the Sunshine Coast is that there are several large well established retailers: Solomons, Norm Evans, Neuendorfs, Andersen's & Carpet Choice. Each shop have their favorite installers & it's very difficult to gain an inroad both as a recent migrant and as a non Australian.
We arrived at a time when the place was booming & managed to get a few jobs from one or two of the above. We were cheap, efficient, punctual and neat & tidy yet only one stuck with us with regular work when things slowed down, it definitely wasn't pick & chose even in boom time.
A lot of the other guys we know are struggling down there, the local Cash Converters store {pawn broker}has plenty of carpet fitting & tiling tools on the shelves, a sure sign that blokes are struggling to find work & moving on to other forms of employment.

One of the infamously stupid dream life downunder shows had carpet layers earning $180,000 a year.

I guess it was as realistic as the people on those shows flying round Sydney harbour in a helicopter as an example of day to day life in OZ

On the real side as others have pointed out anything construction has slowed down big time.