Would you / do you make tradespeople take their shoes off when they come into your house?

[Shitsandgigglez]

I know the great shoes off debate is done many a time on here and I'm firmly in the SHOES OFF camp.

What do you do though when it's a tradesperson - eg decorator/electrician/plumber/gas man/delivery person and they need their boots on to protect their feet. Do you make them wear shoe covers or do you happily let them walk round your house?

Most of the builders I know take their boots off , but unless they are really dirty I usually say not to bother , I think inviting someone into your home to do work is an acceptance that you might need to allow them to wear work attire needed to do the job

I give them shoe covers - shoes are often protective against accidental drops. Having said that, half the time, they refuse & leave their shoes by the front door.
Got the shoe covers from Amazon.

My husband is a tradesman. They aren't allowed to remove their safety footwear. They will put over shoes on but if that isn't acceptable then they leave the job, so you might find that people won't work for you if you insist they remove their boots.

Depends on what they need to do. IME people doing quotes or working externally will take theirs off without me saying anything. Delivery men I just usher in but sometimes the tesco man will decline if they have muddy boots. Internal building with I would expect them to keep them on for safety.

We had someone knock on our door once who wanted to come in to investigate a suspected gas leak in the street - I asked him to wear shoe covers and he swore at me and left 😂

Just having some work done to our house and they all took them off to use the loo, without me even having to ask to be fair. I was impressed.

Definitely - I don't want dirt on my pale blue wool carpet.

So you would rather have a gas leak than someone come in your house with shoes on ?

Had this conversation recently with a window fitter who was asked to remove their shoes when completing a job and remember thinking how ridiculous. In fairness I see it from both sides but they are protective equipment and I would hate to see the damage of someone dropping a window on their foot without them. Shoe covers seem the sensible compromise.

@Redshoeblueshoe not at all! Was a surprise knock at the door and he asked to come in to check where the source of potential leak may be. I said "of course, do you mind popping these shoe covers on?" and he told me to fuck off and walked off!!!!

@Redshoeblueshoe would you then have turned round and said "oh ok come in then?" Not prepared to have a strange man that's verbally abused me in my house but each to their own!

I think I misunderstood. Did he work for a gas company ?

Maybe the gas man wasn’t a real gasman.

I don't let random strangers in, but gas staff are about the only people to have legal access to your house, regardless of your consent

@Redshoeblueshoe apparently so. Neighbour had reported a gas smell so he was investigating. There was no gas smell in our house though. I only found out afterwards that neighbour had called them out so he was legit but very very rude (and I hadn't smelt gas at all so wasn't concerned)

No chance to give consent - he walked off in a huff after initial polite request

To be fair I think he knew there was no leak and just wanted to get home

No, never. I have wooden floors and usually move rugs to the side in advance of a tradesman coming to do work. It wouldn't be fair as others have said - would you do DIY or move heavy things barefoot or in socks?

So he's actually a real gas man, just a very rude one. I hope you reported him.

@Redshoeblueshoe I wish I had but didn't get round to it 😩

I used to write risk assessment for this kind of thing, and I’d certainly not have allowed trades to work in their socks.

Shoe covers are the way forward. We used to make sure all vans were equipped with a box.

Nope. The very rare person who is rude enough to actually bring mud in won’t kill me to clean up after. And is better than being one of those uptight people who insist everyone takes their shoes off coming into their house....

Tbh I wouldn't care but then it's all laminate here.

RevealTheLegend

The company my DH works for it's a disciplinary offence to remove safety footwear. It's part of their safety equipment and if the customer refuses to let them keep their boots on then they simply leave and the job doesn't get done.

if you have a supply of shoe covers, then may be they should put them on but some people like delivery drivers may carry something through to your kitchen for you but probably won't if they have to stop to cover shoes and will just leave at doorstep, which may be some peoples ideal solution

most tradespoeple need to keep safety boots on for a reason, also these boots do not slip on and off in 3 seconds, also if going backwards and forwards from inside to outside it is not always possible ie movers you can't expect anyone to cover and uncover boots 40-50 times while they unload a lorry load of possessions
if there are 2 people carrying something heavy from outside through doors and upstairs you may not be able to put it down in entrance leaving 1 person supporting it while other puts on shoe covers
people need to be reasonable about what is actually practical