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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Tradespeople using the loo

464 replies

JeanneDoe · 14/07/2021 09:53

Want to canvas opinions here.
We had a man over to service our burglar alarm.
It’s an annual service provided by the alarm company.
I’m WFH and my home office is above the downstairs loo.
Heard the alarm guy walking around checking out the alarm points around the house. Then heard him in the bathroom. Didn’t think there was a motion sensor in there.
He was in there for quite a while and then I heard a toilet flush.
Turns out a rather pungent bowel movement was had.
I am a bit pissed off. I know I’m unreasonable (and a bit precious) that I hate people that don’t live in my house taking a dump in my house.
But AIBU that he should have at least asked me if he could use our bathroom?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
lostandlonely20 · 14/07/2021 10:40

At least he flushed, which is more than our chimney sweep did one time!

My husband is an electrician and he says it's really difficult sometimes - he gets embarrassed about any smells, but what can he do, especially if he is working somewhere all day? It's a normal bodily function. He does tend to wait until the owner is out if possible and to air the room as much as possible.

RedRiverShore · 14/07/2021 10:40

Is it just tradesmen that shouldn't use the loo or tradeswomen as well as these threads are usually about men

GiantWingedWaspMoth · 14/07/2021 10:41

@aubreyii

He should have crapped before leaving for work. Like most people.
Nice that you have your bowels on a timer! Unfortunately some people have issues (chron's, colitis, IBS, BAM etc) which makes that a bit trickier.

Op, Imo YABU. It's a toilet. That's what it's for.

You think he should have gone upstairs, where you were working, and disturbed you, in order to ask if he can use your loo? You could have been on a call.

I would pissed off at having my work interrupted by a grown man asking to use the loo, when he could have just gone ahead and use it.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 14/07/2021 10:41

Do you remember the thread where the poster was having some roofing done? Stick their head out of the skylight to see if he wanted a cuppa and he was mid point on the roof.

Now that was unreasonable.

Was this the chap?!

Tradespeople using the loo
Sparklingbrook · 14/07/2021 10:43

@RedRiverShore

Is it just tradesmen that shouldn't use the loo or tradeswomen as well as these threads are usually about men
Not sure but I’ve never had any work done by a tradeswoman. I imagine ladies are allowed to use the loo. One might even need to because of their period although don’t know what rules there are with that. District nurses/health visitors/community midwives etc what do they do?
tommmanndjjerrry · 14/07/2021 10:43

Yabu

Had he asked, would you have said no? I her would be unreasonable too.

Maybe he should have asked, but perhaps he didn't want to disturb your work, perhaps he was suddenly desperate and couldn't wait.

Googlewasmyidea1 · 14/07/2021 10:46

@Shedbuilder

I work in the construction business and employ tradespeople. I think if someone's working in your house for several hours it's unreasonable of the householder to object to workers using the loo on the premises.

But in the case of someone servicing burglar alarms, who's presumably only on the premises for an hour or so, I would have expected him to have stopped at a public loo or bought a coffee in a cafe on his way to you and used their facilities.

Everyone gets caught short occasionally, but the situation you describe does sound unnecessary.

Unnecessary? He needed a poo so had one, what was unnecessary about it?
NerrSnerr · 14/07/2021 10:46

@Sparklingbrook I'm a community nurse and do sometimes ask to use the toilet (not since Covid, but we're in houses for less time at the moment). I'm usually at someone's house for an hour, sometimes longer and we have limited time between visits.

I do have an internal list of people who I think wouldn't mind and there are some I would only ask if I was desperate.

ifonly4 · 14/07/2021 10:46

I think it's courtesy to ask.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/07/2021 10:46

@RedRiverShore

Is it just tradesmen that shouldn't use the loo or tradeswomen as well as these threads are usually about men
Now you don't want a tradeswoman using your loo.

She might be a Mumsnetter so will judge you for having a toilet brush, if your bathroom is insufficently spotless, if you don't have the full range of Zoflora available, whether you have a bin and when it was last emptied, where you keep your towels and what colour they are, how long since they were changed and whether you have show towels as well as those you are allowed to use.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 14/07/2021 10:46

I think you should expect a tradesperson to use the toilet, indeed I have read of some companies insisting on it.

I'd love to know which firms force their employees to have a poo on every single house visit Grin

Sparklingbrook · 14/07/2021 10:47

[quote NerrSnerr]@Sparklingbrook I'm a community nurse and do sometimes ask to use the toilet (not since Covid, but we're in houses for less time at the moment). I'm usually at someone's house for an hour, sometimes longer and we have limited time between visits.

I do have an internal list of people who I think wouldn't mind and there are some I would only ask if I was desperate. [/quote]
That’s good to hear. And understandable you’d have a list. You have to go somewhere.

Googlewasmyidea1 · 14/07/2021 10:48

@onlyhereforthecake

I can't stand a loo in a bathroom to start with, they don't belong there. Most of us had to put up with that arrangement because it was built that way, or lack of space.

Having a random pooping in the place where you brush your teeth is beyond grim frankly.

Of course any normal human being would throw some bleach in there immediately after.

It's easy to mock, but when people have guests loo, they don't have that issue do they.

I don't have a guest toilet and it bothers me not one bit if someone has a a shit near where we brush our teeth. And why chuck bleach in the toilet if they haven't made a mess?
ThePluckOfTheCoward · 14/07/2021 10:48

He was completely unreasonable, he should have done his dump on your front lawn.

EspressoDoubleShot · 14/07/2021 10:48

Well he used the wc, could have been worse. He could have had a shite in your kettle

EnterFunnyNameHere · 14/07/2021 10:50

I really don't get the angst about this. Fair enough if he'd left a massive mess, but just using the loo for its intended purpose isn't an issue for me. Maybe he was desperate, and worried if he asked and you said no he wouldn't make it anywhere else? When I need to go i NEED to go (IBS), I'd be fucked if I asked and someone said no!

MeowPurrGrr · 14/07/2021 10:50

Having worked with patients who have inflammatory bowel disease, this post makes me very sad. They already struggle to leave the house knowing most public toilets aren’t open right now and almost become house bound.

We need to get rid of the stigma around pooing, which seems to be more amongst women than men! We all do it!

Brouhahaha · 14/07/2021 10:50

@Sirius99

Sorry, but what else should they do, poo in your garden, yes maybe they should of asked, it’s a natural bodily function, you can’t always do it at home. If they left, drove around for a while to find a public toilet, came back and charged you for their time would you have preferred that ?

Haha I read a thread on here recently where a poster suspected a tradesman had done a poo in her garden so who knows 🤣🤷‍♀️

I wouldn't exactly like it if a stranger did a big poo in my toilet but also when you gotta go you gotta go!

emilylily · 14/07/2021 10:51

I'd hate that. I do think he should have asked.

'Only poo' but poo which could contain viruses (like Norovirus), pathogenic bacteria etc.- it's not about being precious, just about not wanting a potential source of infection in your house!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 14/07/2021 10:52

He was completely unreasonable, he should have done his dump on your front lawn.

Or maybe up in a tree.

Tradespeople using the loo
Hallyup6 · 14/07/2021 10:52

You invited the bloke into your house. You were working. He didn't want to disturb you more than he had to. You'd have said he could use the loo anyway. The outcome would have been no different if he'd have asked. Stop making an issue out of nothing.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/07/2021 10:53

Does that only apply to people from outside your own household emily?

Are we somehow immune to the viruses and bacteria in the poos of our immediate family?

After all, we're in the vicinity of all their poos every day of the year, but somehow this single extra tradesman poo puts us all at dire risk.

Yepyes · 14/07/2021 10:54

@emilylily

I'd hate that. I do think he should have asked.

'Only poo' but poo which could contain viruses (like Norovirus), pathogenic bacteria etc.- it's not about being precious, just about not wanting a potential source of infection in your house!

Oh unclench

It's not like he shat on the floor

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 14/07/2021 10:54

Pic didn't post.

Tradespeople using the loo
FourTeaFallOut · 14/07/2021 10:55

'Only poo' but poo which could contain viruses (like Norovirus), pathogenic bacteria etc.- it's not about being precious, just about not wanting a potential source of infection in your house!

Jesus, this is unhinged.