AIBU to not allow the plasterer to play his radio?

[Shedbuilder]

I have a plasterer booked for four days of fiddly work all over the house, repairing the mess left by the so-called specialist fitters we paid a small fortune to install triple glazing —but I'm not going there!

We both work from home and around us we have other households with people working from home and noise-sensitive older people. It's a hot day and our windows are open because it's hot and to keep the air moving just in case of Covid. So when he arrived yesterday with his giant radio we nipped the problem in the bud early on and said sorry, both working from home, both need to be able to think and make calls without background noise — no radio. Which he glumly accepted. Today he's had a brief conversation with us about how tedious his work is without music in the background, so we suggested he use his phone and some earbuds. But no, he doesn't want to run out of data and he doesn't have earbuds.

We've ordered some cheap earbuds and we'll see if we can rig up some kind of free wifi connection for him tomorrow, but he's really huffy and I'm wondering whether we'll see him again tomorrow. He's a good plasterer and we've waited two months to get him. Are we being unreasonable?

Yes = we are unreasonable
No = we're no unreasonable

Our handyman always comes with his own earpieces

@Zlk02

OP, this is very timely because we have had the exact same issue very recently. I had a decorator start here the other day. He’s been before and plays music without asking, which is generally fine as I don’t work so it doesn’t bother me. DH is generally WFH these days. The decorator was in a massive strop with me the other day as apparently, DH had caught him on the way in and told him not to play music as it would disturb him. The decorator told me he was about to walk out! I had to explain to him that my husband has calls with various governments etc and he can’t exactly have Magic FM playing in the background. Hardly professional!

But this decorator doesn’t get it at all. He says, “I’m a music man and I’m going to play it anyway with the door shut.” His attitude has really annoyed me actually (more than the music itself). So entitled! When you enter someone’s house, surely you are respectful of the people who live there? I couldn’t imagine imposing my workplace habits on a family, let alone when in someone else’s workplace. Many people are WFH these days and workmen are going to have to adapt accordingly. Luckily, he’s been right up at the top of the house so far, but as he works his way down, I know that at the first sign of the radio being on, DH will confront him and probably tell him to leave. He’s very blunt (I’m not)! How can I avoid this confrontation?

@Zlk02 does you husband also have calls with Bigwigs when he is finished talking to "various governments"?

It's his house being decorated too, isn't it? I suggest you fill him in on the likely consequences of his insisting on the radio ban and leave it up to him to decide whether he prefers to shut his office door or end up with a half- finished paint job. If the latter then it's his turn to use his formidable professional skills to find a replacement who will not play music.

I don’t know who these teenage mutant builders are, but I’ve never had a problem finding grown ups who are respectful.

Next door had builders for about 6 months before they moved in and they requested the builders played no music as quite a few people in the vicinity work from home. I didn’t request that but it was very thoughtful of them, and it made a big difference.

Jesus

Don't be so dramatic, he's working inside the house, touching up plaster around windows🤣🤣🤣🤣

[quote 21Bee]@AlmostSummer21 attitudes like yours are why construction has one of the highest workplace fatalities. The plasterer will be presumably up a ladder, noise cancelling headphones playing music mean he won’t be able to hear anybody approaching. He could easily jump and fall off the ladder, drop plaster onto himself. Nobody working in construction should we wearing noise cancelling headphones.[/quote]
That should have quoted @21Bee's post

Don't be so dramatic, he's working inside the house, touching up plaster around windows

To be fair, there’s lots of drama on both sides of this argument. I don’t know how some people cope if they have neighbours as they seem to have such an issue with a radio being on or any noise at all. But then that’s why there’s so many moaning about neighbours threads on here I suppose. 😬

@VoiceFaceArse

Don't be so dramatic, he's working inside the house, touching up plaster around windows

To be fair, there’s lots of drama on both sides of this argument. I don’t know how some people cope if they have neighbours as they seem to have such an issue with a radio being on or any noise at all. But then that’s why there’s so many moaning about neighbours threads on here I suppose. 😬

It's very quiet were we live. No radios. Just birdsong.

We have neighbours. Most are respectful of each other. Loud radios/music wouldn't be tolerated.

Loud radios/music wouldn't be tolerated.

Radios have a volume control. If someone moved in and played their radio low, there’s nothing you could do.🤷🏻‍♀️

[quote HaveringWavering]@Doodlebug71 “my husband takes calls from bigwigs at IBM” sounds like parody- the kind of thing a proud but clueless-about-work Mum would say about her wonderful son’s “top graduate job”, when said son actually works in a call centre on the IBM customer service line and the closest he has come to a “bigwig” is his greasy-haired manager Dave.[/quote]
Not parody. We're in our 50s. We WFH. Our house is a standard detached with a small garden, so I have to be careful about using power tools during his working hours, too. Does that sound like parody, or just a normal, adult relationship? Clue: It's a normal, adult relationship. I'd ask what the MN-acceptable terminology for BigWigs is, but I don't really GAF.

@HaveringWavering: okay... just seen your other post poking fun at bigwigs, so it's clear you're taking the piss. My mistake.. waste of time engaging with you. WOn't make that mistake again.

@ZeroFuchsGiven

Perhaps you could explain. I'll have a look later, maybe. I'm guessing you're both trolling right now, so...

Trolling? Nope. But read your post back, Its been a while since Ive read anything quite so pretentious on here tbh.

I mean come on.... they're welcome to sit in the garden for their breaks/lunch if the weather allows

Husband has regular and sporadic calls, including video calls from bigwigs at places like IBM

Is that You Mrs Bucket?

I was quite serious. You don't have a nice garden for people to sit in?

It's clear you were/are trolling. No further engagement with you. Sorry you felt the need to take the piss.

@VoiceFaceArse

Loud radios/music wouldn't be tolerated.

Radios have a volume control. If someone moved in and played their radio low, there’s nothing you could do.🤷🏻‍♀️

No further engagement. Goodbye.

Last summer there was a national shortage of multi finish plaster.....literally none to be had

This year it's plasterer tools. Plasterers are working to a backlog. You could lose him over this small thing

It's his 'workplace' so should not be expected to wear earbuds and can surely play his radio (makita are superior to Dewalt) quietly. Maybe he catches up on the news this way and keeps track of time for him

No further engagement. Goodbye.

📻 🎵 😜

@gardeninggirl68 and postcrate. That very hard to get hold of at moment and cement

Having a radio on low while a workman works is fine

Those who are wfh assume in another room. Shut the door

does you husband also have calls with Bigwigs when he is finished talking to "various governments"?

It only counts if they work for IBM though.

A close family member works for IBM

One of the joys of working from home during the pandemic is that I CAN listen to music.

If the ops dh has to focus on very complicated things and the plasterer wants the radio on, can't he go into work and work there until the plastering is finished?

And all the people with partners who do important jobs, can't they close the door and/or tuck away to a different part of the house?

I wonder if calls with ‘IBM bigwigs’ are more important than calls with ‘various governments’. Poor important husbands…

And the company I work for has contracts to supply the government, public bodies and the emergency services.

My family are very "important" dontcha know

God, where I am plasterers are so sought after I'd let them sing an entire opera while plastering if that's what it took.

If the only way to work effectively at home is in absolute silence, no wonder employers want everyone back in. It must be impossible to achieve for most people.

@carlywurly I agree. I texted the plasterer we use to ask him to quote for a future job. He said he didn't have time at the moment.

If the only way to work effectively at home is in absolute silence, no wonder employers want everyone back in. It must be impossible to achieve for most people

Ot is - that’s why most people don’t need absolute silence. It’s much easier to work productively without the inane office chat and noise from open plan offices though, which is why so many of us prefer to work at home.

I have Classic FM on when I'm working from home, so would have no problem with that or a similarly sedate music station such as Radio 3, Jazz FM or Smooth Radio.

If he put Radio 1 on or anything with idiots gabbing on and on about nothing at all, I would feel compelled to smash his radio with an axe after 5 minutes of it.