Plastering is a skill that is always in demand, but for second-generation plasterer Karl Dorn, 46,  there is another advantage. 
Karl, from Eastwood, is well known as an award-winning inventor, turning out a steady stream of new ideas and prototypes. 
His latest brainchild, a screw fixing device for plasterboard, has already been taken up by one chain of shops. 
While he waits for his screws to take off, however, Karl needs a day job, and plastering, his full-time trade for 26 years, works ideally for him. 
Of plastering, he says: “I can do a good job without needing to think about it all the time, which gives me plenty of brain time to think through my inventions.” 
Karl also finds that his customers are useful sounding-boards for his ideas. 
He says: “I ask them, ‘what do you think of this notion’? If they’re positive, I’m encouraged to take it further. If they rubbish it, I may think that it’s a waste of time. The feedback is always useful.” 
The current generation of plasterers are mostly college trained, but Karl acquired the skill directly from his father. 
Karl says: “Dad made a good living by following the work, which was often in London.”
As a child, Karl started to accompany his father on jobs during the school holidays. 
He says: “I learnt the skills mostly by watching. Of course, when you’re young, you want to do things differently from the older generation. I was always looking for ways to make the job easier. I think that attitude also passed over into my inventing.”
Karl’s key advice to young plasterers involves personal health. 
He says: “Plastering can really take it out on your skeletal frame. You have to discipline yourself. Tailor the jobs so that they don’t do permanent damage to your body.” 
He adds: “I don’t think you ever completely master this trade.
“You are always looking for ways to make it cheaper, make it quicker, make it better.”