providing lunch for builders?

[vguil]

we’ve got builders in for three weeks replacing a kitchen.
We’ve set them up with a kettle and coffee/sugar/tea bags/milk and biscuits. There are three or four of them.
They’ve just asked my husband for lunch/ sandwiches. Is this the done thing; the expected thing?

Definitely not. I had 4 for a week and 3 of them went into the village at lunch apart from the young lad who popped a tupperware into the fridge each morning that his mum had given him and microwaved it at lunchtime - chilli etc. I did do a bacon sandwich run in the morning of the last day for them (takeaway) but they didn't expect it.

We had them for six weeks and never fed them except biscuits. But on the last day I did them a cream tea because they had been brilliant.

Well... You say that, see my post above...

One cheeky git said - you haven't got one of the orange clubs going spare have you? 🤣

My elderly neighbour always used to make bacon sandwiches for the workers.
They never asked, in fact they probably felt quite awkward. She was lonely.

Terraced council housing having same jobs done before anyone enquires as to how I know what the neighbour fed the window installers.

No way! That’s so cheeky. Our plumber brought a packed lunch every day while he was fitting our kitchen. We supplied water, biscuits and the occasional coffee/ cuppa. Same for the landscapers who did our garden.

Not normal. DS is a builder and takes his own salad (he gets the piss taken out of him by the others because he has hummus). The others go & get a Greggs.

Cheeky buggers! I was told by a neighbour, who'd just had her roof redone, that she made them bacon butties every morning and it kept them on side. With that in mind, when WE recently had our house re-roofed, I offered this to our roofers and they looked at me like I'd just fallen out of a Martian's nostril. I made them drinks every day (which they hardly ever finished or even drank) and sometimes biscuits, and once some homemade cake.

I think I make a rotten cuppa but the offer of the odd bacon butty was genuine. A world of difference away from them expecting lunch every day, mind.

No, it is not.

@vguil A new kitchen? where do they want you (because it will be you) to make the sandwiches? in the bath??

Nope, they are very much chancing their arm. If you decide to tho, charge them the equivalent of a meal-deal each per day to be deducted from the final bill.😁

Reckon they’re pulling his leg and having a laugh.

does your DH usually miss subtle jokes perhaps….? Or have you heard them and they’re genuinely asking?

Culturally some people will invite builders to share a meal sometimes, but it's not expected, it's a gesture.

My dh is a builder. Own kettle, coffee etc. Buys his own lunch every day. He's a grown up. You are not responsible for feeding lazy fuckers who cannot be bothered to make or buy their own pack up.

No.

I had builders in for quite a few weeks some years ago, provided them with kettle, tea, coffee and biscuits. They went to a local greasy spoon for lunch every day. That is normal.

I did have a builder at my current home for a couple of days and did lunch for him but he is a friend, I've known him years.

It's not usual or expected for the customer to provide lunch. Often the customer will not be around anyway, out at work or doing other things.

If your place is miles from a town they need to bring their own lunch. I have never heard of any work person actually asking for food to be provided.

I'd say no problem and I'll knock £1k off the final bill for providing you all lunch for 3 weeks. They'll quickly bring their own sandwiches after that.

Just say ‘No problem lads, I’ll knock the cost off your invoice shall I?’

I've never offered more than tea or coffee and a biscuit. Mind you, in this weather I would let them keep sandwiches in the fridge if they wanted to.

We had a side extension built last year. The builders had unlimited tea and biscuits while they were here but we didn't provide lunch, they'd never have accepted it anyway.

Never heard of that. Why would they expect lunch when no other workers I can think of have their lunch provided free of charge by their employer? Weird!

We just had someone do a job for us and he semi jokingly suggested using our pool on his lunch break. It’s a temporary pop up pool which we chlorinate but don’t maintain to public safety standards. Was a hard no (in my head) and a tinkly laugh out loud…

Cheeky fuckers. That’s not normal at all. We’ve done 3 house renovations involving 10s of tradesmen. Drinks and biscuits, yes. Lunch? No. They always bring their own or walk to the shops. You can offer to store their lunch in the fridge but hell no to making them lunch for weeks on end. I’d just say you had expected them to bring their own. You can do them some toast today but other days they’ll need to bring their own.

Cheeky bastards

No it’s not the done thing but I normally offer something and would leave cold drinks etc in the fridge for them

Give them an inch they take a mile eh

How was it specifically worded? Were they asking your DH to provide lunch or were they asking where they could get lunch? I.e asking “is there any lunch about” could be interpreted either way

Also, how are you expected to make lunch when they’re ripping your kitchen out!

My DH is working in a super rich family's home and last week he was working in the roof space in the blazing heat. Never offered anything by them. So what you're kindly offering your kitchen fitters is very generous and not the norm. They were either joking or taking the p