Builders requesting drinks

[crazydiamond222]

We are having an extension built whilst I am on maternity leave. I have a 3 month old. We have 2 builders on site laying foundations who started on monday. I have been making them a drink first thing and on one occasion made them a bacon sandwich. I don't offer drinks all day because my son keeps me very busy and only naps on me and it is a 4 month job so I don't want to have to do drinks all day for this period.

This afternoon whilst I was playing with my son in the living room one of the builders walked past the window and requested a coffee and tea. I thought the request to be a bit cheeky as a) he shouldn't have been looking in the living room and b) he shouldn't been requesting. I made him the drinks anyway leaving my son on the playmat getting upset. I rushed outside as my son was upset and I wanted to get back to him. When I took the drinks outside I tripped over rubble breaking a cup and scratching my arm. The builders reply was you should have passed it through the window. I remade the drinks but suggested in future setting up a kettle in the garage for them but they said they can just bring their own drinks. I am now feeling pretty upset with them.

Just needed to vent really but what do people feel is reasonable regarding builders and drinks.

It's maddening if you're working from home and get interrupted often though. I'd make one whenever I had one and say help yourself. I wouldn't expect to be asked to make one of I was busy. If I was a builder I would bring my own drinks and food but would also accept what was offered. I wouldn't ask for things though.

If I was a builder I would bring my own drinks and food but would also accept what was offered. I wouldn't ask for things though

Seems sensible and obvious to me. A lot of posters don't appear to credit the builders with that much common sense though.

@HillsandSea10, imagine paying people loads of money to build part of you house, but thinking these people were incapable of packing their own lunch.

I left a kettle and tea/coffee stuff in our garage when we had builders. Seemed to work well.

So, the OP sees the builders as Neanderthals. Maybe they are. But if you want a temporary office set up and all mod cons inside it and builders with 5 star interpersonal skills then ... you'd be paying top whack for it.

There’s a simple solution to all the people whinging on here about having builders and contractors at their houses for extensive work - don’t organise it in the first place? Cut your losses and move? Whatever the circumstances it’s hardly the builders fault that they’re there! Make them drinks and stop being so elitist. Awful attitudes on here.

A 3 month old is tricky, but not tricky enough to stop you being hospitable. And no one has suggested you walk over rubble whist the baby is in the sling, this is not the crisis situation you imagine. You may look back on this when things don’t seem so hazy and cringe, most of us have been there OP.

Jesus, the builders can make their own flipping drinks. OP is totally reasonable suggesting to set up a tea station so they can make their ofen drinks and ffs bacon sandwiches! She's a f-ing saint, if I was building an extension and got made bacon sarnies I'd put an extra bloody story on for her.

Is it really any different to other people who spend days working at their customer/client premises?

I'm an accountant. Many years ago, I worked in an audit department and we'd typically spend a couple of weeks working in clients' offices poring over their books.

By default, especially on the first couple of days of each job, we'd take our own drinks/lunch, i.e. flask, sandwich, bottle of water and snacks etc. If there were shops nearby or vending machines, it would be our choice whether to use them or continue taking our own. Occasionally, the admin/accounts staff would bring us a brew mid morning and mid afternoon, but it wasn't the norm. Very rarely, the occasional client would invite us to the executive dining room and we'd get a "proper" lunch, but that was basically one job per year.

Not sure why tradesmen are so special they expect the householder to wait on them several times a day. In my experience, whether you offer them drinks/snacks or not, they bugger off mid morning for their bacon bun, bugger off at lunch for fish & chips and bugger off mid afternoon too (no idea what they each then). I work opposite our village pie and bacon buttie shop - the sheer number of local tradesmen vans I see every day is huge.