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

I WFH also and tell contractors the deal about music before I start.

It’s a big house so if they’re working downstairs with the door closed i can’t music anyway.

But if the work is near my study - then no music, but they’re welcome to use ear buds and our wifi.

Never had any complaints.

i can’t music anyway.

I can’t hear the music anyway. ^^

I agree with you, and personally i don't understand why he wouldn't prefer some bluetooth earbuds, as long as he informed you that he may not hear you if you call him. Sounds like a case of him being stuck in his ways tbh and I think your offer to buy him earbuds and use your wifi & spotify is more than generous.

Ear buds or a headset seems like such an obvious compromise, I'm surprised he's resisting it.

Voicefacearse well fair enough then, I suppose plastering is quite quiet? I was thinking more of the workmen in buildings around me in many, many places I've lived making the whole street listen to their music. I really hate it, I can't tune music out at all, and I can't concentrate with music on that I dislike. I am aware though that I need to move into my dream house in the middle of a moor to achieve the level of quiet I prefer though. (And play my own music as loud as I like to...maybe I'm projecting.)

There's a real Poor Menz vibe in this thread.

Yeah I do think some (SOME) women feel really obliged to run around after men doing manual jobs for them.

Your house, your rules.

Three adults in our house. Two ASD, two need peace and quiet/no distractions in order to work. Husband has regular and sporadic calls, including video calls from bigwigs at places like IBM. One of my roles involves applying current legislation to documents and reports, and then updating the report.

Anyone contracted to work in or on our property does so under the conditions we stipulate. No smoking, no radios. Tea/coffee/biscuits would be supplied, and they're welcome to sit in the garden for their breaks/lunch if the weather allows. The people who've needed to come in over the last year or so have also worn face coverings, as have we.

@onlyhereforthecake

It's interesting that you never hear such complaints with cleaners... I am sure some are noisy, but generally it's tradesmen who inflict horrendous music across the neighbourhood or through your house. Why is that?

They’re generally women innit.

Husband has regular and sporadic calls, including video calls from bigwigs at places like IBM. One of my roles involves applying current legislation to documents and reports, and then updating the report.

🤣

@21Bee

Having managed tradesmen previously they weren’t allowed to use earbuds to play music on site, it’s quite dangerous!

It would depend on the risk assessment for the specific job though, surely. Not all jobs are particularly hazardous.

@21Bee

Having managed tradesmen previously they weren’t allowed to use earbuds to play music on site, it’s quite dangerous!

Be serious! He's plastering cracks here & there, not painting the top of London Bridge without a harness fgs.

@Heronwatcher

If you want the plastering done well (and it sounds fiddly) let him use the radio. Also offer drinks and nice biscuits. I’m sure he’d be happy to turn it off over his lunchtime so maybe schedule calls in then abs wear ear plugs at other times.

You serious? OP is paying. Their house, their rules. No radio = no radio. OP is being more than generous.

@VoiceFaceArse

Husband has regular and sporadic calls, including video calls from bigwigs at places like IBM. One of my roles involves applying current legislation to documents and reports, and then updating the report.

🤣

Okay. Why is that so amusing?

@VoiceFaceArse. What's so amusing?

Okay. Why is that so amusing?

Oh come on. Read it back. 😬

Anyone contracted to work in or on our property does so under the conditions we stipulate. No smoking, no radios. Tea/coffee/biscuits would be supplied, and they're welcome to sit in the garden for their breaks/lunch if the weather allows. The people who've needed to come in over the last year or so have also worn face coverings, as have we.

This is hilarious!

*I don't understand how this has got to six pages. Surely you say "we're working from home, so we need peace and quiet" and tradesman says "ok I'll keep my music on low, let me know if it's too loud and I'll turn it down more".

Why make things difficult that don't have to be?*

Finally, some sense!

@VoiceFaceArse

Okay. Why is that so amusing?

Oh come on. Read it back. 😬

Quite!

Did gods sake let him have it on low that is so mean and unnecessary

For

@ZeroFuchsGiven

so that he couldn't use it outside my house or pass it on. I cn log on to my wifi quite some distance away from my house and when I look for wifi connections at home, I can see about 5 orhers people's

Jesus, Yep thats what tradespeople do, get customers wifi passwords and sit outside their house to connect

Quite! Unless the workman was also your next door neighbour (or likely to sell the wifi password to your neighbours to fund his crack habit) @godmum56, that was a massively paranoid overreaction!

@IntermittentParps

Completely missing the point of the thread but £209 for a radio I think mine cost more... It's a lovely Roberts retro one and plays podcasts, and radio from all over the world.

It most likely has a Bluetooth headphone connection capability too.

I can now understand why more people really struggle to find tradesmen. 😬

@BeetyAxe

Surely he could have had it on low? It’s only for a few hours of the day for a few days, hardly a big deal.

You obviously don't work from home!

He should be able to attach earphones/buds to his radio. His working environment does NOT trump yours.

@VoiceFaceArse

Okay. Why is that so amusing?

Oh come on. Read it back. 😬

Nope. Sorry. Do please explain yourself. That's what we do.

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

@Alcemeg

You each need different working conditions and you've bent over backwards to accommodate his. It would be only fair for him to respect yours too. Actually you're doing him a favour as you can't be the first or the last to need him to work quietly, so finding a solution is going to benefit him going forward.

Exactly... is he not very experienced or something OP? I'm just surprised he has never had anyone request no radio in the past.

Going forward he will need a solution because he will come across more clients in future who don't want his music in their homes.

If he "needs" to listen to music on whilst he's working then he will need to sort something out. So you've probably done him a favour.