To want to know what the builders do

[EggBobbin]

We’re getting our kitchen knocked into the dining room and extended.

They turn up a bit after 9. They do a bit of work. Today they then all upped and left at 10ish? No sign of a return yet but yesterday was similar and then they worked til about 4...

Where do they go?! Why don’t they just stick at it and finish sooner?! Currently have no fridge so it would be good if they could crack on...

Why don't you ask them?

They travel in spacecraft to their home planet

Going to get supplies?

They’re doing another job at the same time. I’ve had this. It’s infuriating.

I will ask them when they’re back. I don’t want to piss them off or look like I’m checking up on them but I do basically want to check up on them.

I don’t understand why they’d want to delay the work as presumably they can’t take on more jobs til it’s done...

This isn't my experience when I've had work done. They were always there before 8am but they were usually gone by 3. Never seemed to take lunch though.

Well I text their boss and they immediately returned... feel a bit embarrassed/pushy but also they’ve taken out the fridge and sink, I want them to move as quick as piss through this stage

Probably working on another job? That would annoy me, if you're left without sink/ fridge in the meantime.

Our used to come and wander around drinking tea for an hour and then go to breakfast

Any builders I've had have generally worked 8am - 4pm and grabbed a sandwich in their van at lunch time. If they've had to go off site they've told me why and been up front if they are juggling two jobs. I don't mind the juggling (things can get pushed out of whack by weather or whatever) but I do expect to be told what they're up to.

Your situation reminds me of the old joke:

Customer "Will the work be very noisy?'"

Foreman "You won't know we're here, love."
Translation: We won't be here.

Going for breakfast. Most I've used show up early, around 8am, work until around 11am then go off for brunch, then work until 4pm ish. It's basically an early lunch, but yours do sound like they are slacking a bit, showing up at 9am then disappearing at 10am!

Keep the pressure on OP, if they think you aren’t checking on them your work will get deprioritised in favour of other clients who shout louder.

I had a very simple 4 month project take 6 months and I found out later that in part this was because they had another client they were all terrified of.

You're paying them, you've got every right to know what they are doing on your time

Ask for a schedule of works, at the very beginning of our kitchen extension our builder provided a calendar with details of what was happening on any day, from the very start, to new kitchen being fitted and pretty much kept to it, we knew which trades were likely to turn up any given day, there were quiet days towards the end but a flurry of activity at the beginning which sounds where you are at.

@EggBobbin

I will ask them when they’re back. I don’t want to piss them off or look like I’m checking up on them but I do basically want to check up on them.

I don’t understand why they’d want to delay the work as presumably they can’t take on more jobs til it’s done...

It could be they don’t have any work, so are dragging this one out.

The 10am tea break is standard in the construction world - they'll be in their vans somewhere

Thanks all. Our grumpy neighbour complained about the noise to them which they seem worried about.

I’ll ask for a schedule of works tmrw- that’s a good idea thanks! They have told me broadly it will be 5 working days and the demolition has taken a day extra due to a complication. Kitchen being delivered Thursday...

@ivfbeenbusy it would have been a 2.5hd tea breAk!

Welcome to the world of builders, in my experience most of them are useless. Sometimes I have been made to feel grateful they've turned up

My builder of choice turns up at 8, works straight through till 12, stops for lunch for 30 mins max, works till 3.30 or 4, clears up all his mess, sweeps up and leaves everything as tidy and useable as possible before leaving.

Sometimes he'll ask if you want him to crack on with the next bit, that might leave you without a functioning oven or something till the next day, or leave it till the following day.

Not surprisingly, he's always very busy and is currently booked up well into Feb.

After some horror stories on here I was really nervous of choosing a builder for our renovation work but to their credit they have been here 8ish and worked till 4 or later most days. The boss does sometimes have to pull someone to do a task elsewhere but has always been open with me about it. To the extent that he told me this week he should never have said three week to completion, for the price he quoted it would definitely take longer. This is week 8. It the end is in sight. Hope you get yours sorted out.

YANBU. I too question why they start so early and finish mid-afternoon.

The neighbour opposite had roofers in yesterday. They started at 8, blasting out the radio in the street and then shouting at each other over the news. At 9:30 they drove off, saving "their" parking spaces by leaving ladders in the road. They returned and sat in their vans eating Greggs and smoking, windows open, blasting out the van radios. Another two hours' work and they were done.

I would ask them. They may be ordering/collecting materials. Pricing up another job. Tweaking something for a previous customer etc.

You get rogue builders but generally I've found many work quite hard given it's a very manual job.

When you pay a job price (rather than a day rate) you don't really get to dictate what they do on the day. Except if the job is unreasonably going over schedule or they're not turning up for crazy amounts of time.

@WotWouldCJDo we had roofers in the summer and they worked 8-3, I asked them why they started so early and they said it's so they're not up there in the hottest part of the day. They'd like to start earlier but there are noise laws.
No idea in the winter though lol...