To be worried about leaving builders in my house alone.

[Teapotqueen]

We are thininkg about having our loft converted into a bedroom, it is the first time we have had " the builders in". Both me and DP work full time and I don't know what is normal when it comes to leaving builders in your house un supervised. Am I being paranoid about strangers in my house alone or is it just what you have to do. Help.

It must work the other way though as well. Some poor innocent builder gets accused of taking something, either done nastily so householder can do an insurance job. Or householder has mislaid something and blames builder.

Your right it must VivaLeBeaver .

Though it was a tad annoying to be told that I must have mislaid the things - no I knew I hadn't but before even thinking of accusing anyone I did a through bloody search literally everywhere even impossible places.

Obviously some people wouldn't be as conscientious as me though.

is it the turn of those fucking bastard, thieving tradesmen to get a kicking today ?

nice

fancy them trying to make a living ?

how fucking dare they ?

would you prefer they came and knocked your walls down around your ears (or whatever) while you were eating your dinner, having a bath, watching telly, sleeping in bed ?

then if you work, it's quite likely they will have to spend some time in your home "unsupervised" although I suppose you install a cctv camera to spy on them

you want the work doing...but no inconvenience whatsoever ?

not.gonna.happen

You do just have to leave them to get on with it, if you're having a big job done then it wouldn't be possible to take enough annual leave to cover months of work.

It's why it is best to use someone that comes recommended if possible.

Yes cause those of us who have been unlucky must all be lying .

I expect is like the rest of society most people are honest and some aren't.

You can reduce risk by getting recommendations, locking away valuables and paper something I didn't get chance to do, be around or have some else around or by dropping round and checking up unannounced.

If you can't be round and need the work done then you just have to trust and take comfort in knowledge chances are it will be completely fine.

Of course I'm not saying you're lying. Totally twist what I say why don't you? Have you not bothered reading my earlier posts where I say I would try not to do this due to a minority of tradesmen being unreliable.?

sorry posting in response to AnyFucker fucking bastard, thieving tradesmen post.

I did agree with you earlier VivaLeBeaver that it cuts both ways.

what do you do for a living, hex ?

I expect a small proportion of people in your chosen profession are dishonest

like all people, regardless of what they do to try and earn a crust

would you make generalisations about them, because you had a bad experience ?

I didn't say anyone was lying, btw

My FIL is a builder - and as I stated earlier a more honest person let alone tradesman you couldn't find so yes I am aware there are a lot of good people out there - funny enough I have said that in both posts.

I was a computer programmer before DC - hard to be a dishonest one though managers and marketing in such companies can be. I am now a SAHP - again hard to be a dishonest one. However both have stereotypes attached - which I am aware of.

The OP asked if she was being unreasonably to be concerned.

No people can and do have issues.

She can take steps to reduce risks of her having problems.

Way I've read you post you seem to be taking that as as attacking tradesman rights to earn a living.

I don't think anyone is generialising that its all builders. But I can understand people being concerned that they might end up with one of the minority of dishonest tradesmen.

I used the same company to lay the floors downstairs and upstairs in my old house. Both times they did a great job, and left the place immaculate. The people who did downstairs had to come back several times, and I have no complaint about them at all. Different people from the same firm came back a few months later to do upstairs. Again, I was very pleased with the work they did- just rather less pleased about the knickers they stole from my laundry basket.

I've left painters, tilers, joiners, plumbers and a host of builders in our house. But in saying that they all came reccomended and here in n Ireland everybody knows everybody else so they weren't totally strangers.

Oh D0G please don't take it personally, I've known some wonderful builders and your husband is clearly one of those but if people have had bad experiences they're bound to share them. You're right, it's the shitty ones that give the brilliant ones a bad name.

I have a contractor on my friend list and he has posted pictures before of his colleagues holding clients underwear and sniffing her vibrator! It was sickening, and it did colour my view a bit. I would be less inclined to trust a team of younger lads who might be inclined to egg each other on though. I'd feel much more comfortable with an older more experienced and mature man being alone in my house.

I don't think you are unreasonable OP but I do think choosing someone who makes you feel comfortable could take a lot of the worry out of it for you.

We had some work done recentlyin the house - very messy and noisy. I didn't want to be in the house whilst it was going on.

i like to think I can trust someone who I am paying to do a job for me. I had no qualms about leaving these guys in my house.

There are folk out there who aren't trustworthy - and unfortunately they make the news. We don't hear about the regular people who get on with their lives with no detriment to anyone else.

Agree that a loft conversion takes so long (shorter if you're not putting en suite/plumbing in) that you can't possibly stay at home throughout, so you have to choose an impeccable firm with great references that don't subcontract too much (or just stay at home for the subcontracted bits, eg if a random electrician or plasterer is coming in for a couple of days).
NB that a loft conversion may start with a few weeks of work in the roof space before they break through, and they don't need access to the house for that - we used that time to get comfortable with the guys doing the work and get used to the idea of them having access.

Over the years I've had loads of trade people left in my homes.

When I was living with my ex we had a guy in to plaster the chimney breast. I let him in then went off to work. You wouldn't have known he'd been in when we got home.

Then there was the artex guy, been used by ex's family for years, we'd done one room at a time so he'd been in our home 5/6 times. Sometimes alone for a while, sometimes I was in. The final time he came I had to go out pretty much straight away as I was working away. He asked me if he could smoke in the house, (never asked before just gone outside) now it was a nice day, I was a smoker but never inside, so I said 'I'd prefer it if you didn't, Ex hates smoking, even I don't smoke inside' 'no problem' he said. And off I went.

ex got home from work at 10pm that night and phoned me, the guy had poured artex down the drain, used the bathroom upstairs (brand new) and there was artex all over the taps, flusher etc, and walked into the carpet, all over my fridge, kettle, tea pot. I mean every where. In the past he'd always left my house spotless. Ex said it was my fault for asking him not to smoke in our house. (If I'd have let him I'd be at fault too though)

But this is only one guy, the builders, electricians, plumbers, more recent plasterer have all been fantastic.

No I wouldn't for the simple reason that when you have work decisions will need to be made on a day to day basis and you need to be there to make them.

I had workmen in for a year when we did up our house and there were only a few that I was happy to leave there when I wasn't.

We've had lots of work done on our house - a new kitchen, walls knocked down, plastering, when we first moved in. Last summer we had a new drive and at Christmas a new bathroom (done by the same builders who did the work when we moved in).

The first lot of work took three months. Who has that amount of annual leave? Even just the bathroom took three weeks.

I never even considered not leaving them to get on with it. If there was a decision to be made, they rang us. Nor did we change the locks after they'd finished. I'm pretty positive they didn't go through our drawers - why would they?! Just like why on earth would someone steal dirty knickers from your laundry basket?! Are you sure they're not down the back of a drawer somewhere?

The builders were recommended to us by our estate agent (who played football with one of them!) but the guys who did our drive we chose because I'd seen their boards and vans around.

Mrskbpw - I have asked myself the same question. All I know is that the knickers were both parts of a set with bras. I had worn them during the week and put them in the laundry basket. When I came to do the laundry two days after the carpet fitters had been, the knickers were missing. I was single at the time and the only people who had been in the house were me and the carpet fitters. This is now 5 years ago and they have not turned up.

I left the contractors fitting my kitchen alone. They had been here with me a couple of days but I couldn't get AL for the days I worked. But they had been doing the other houses. My neighbour popped in with cuppas for them every so often.

They thought it was hilarious to text me at work telling me that my underwear was chafing but that was only because I told them not to be rummaging through my drawers.

My DH is a builder/decorator and is often left in the house whilst his client are at work........I think its crazy to take AL just to be around but then DH is a fab builder and most of his work is through recommendations.

If you want building work doing then I think that there is no way around leaving them to it, I'm afraid. I am a SAHM and when we had work done last year I was always in and out, be it school run, shopping, out with friends, etc. There was no way I could be there all day, every day and I don't work. You have to trust, I'm afraid, if you want the job done. But this is where getting recommendations is vital as is making sure that if you have any concerns, you stash valuables in safes etc.

We have just had our loft converted, almost finished. I was very wary of who to use as I knew it would be impossible for someone to be on site with them all the time during the 12 week process. For this reason we used a builder that came highly recommended to us personally by one of our neighbours, they have been absolutely fantastic, they have keys and I have had no qualms whatsoever about leaving them in the house on their own. They have cleaned everything up and left the place spotless.

However, I would not have done this if they hadn't been recommended and whenever we have had other odd jobs done by people who are basically strangers to us, I would make sure one of us is there.

OP I think you will have to let the builders have access when you aren't there and so I would therefore recommend that you vet who you use very carefully indeed. Good luck.

Always use someone who comes to you by way of recommendation. Be careful with your valuables in a discreet way. It's important to meet the builder/people who will be working on your house ahead of the project. First impressions count for a lot. Have done three extensions using two different firms and have had no problems whatsoever.

Don't be paranoid about strangers being in your house. If it's a long job, it won't be long before you don't consider them "strangers". We've had builders in and trusted them to get on with the job whilst we've been away on holiday.