AIBU to say that the key to a happy life is access to good tradespeople and the means to pay for them?

[Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight]

I have an old house which requires a lot of maintenance. Stuff is always going wrong.

I had a good tradesperson/bad tradesperson day yesterday and it affected my mood so much. My boiler was playing up (hot water), I picked up the phone, called the plumber, he answered and gave me a day and time next week to come and fix it. Bliss.

Meanwhile, the person who is supposed to have come round to fix a reoccurrence of a problem in my living room failed to materialise and it’s now been two weeks with all the furniture out of place waiting for them to come and do the job. Tried chasing them with no success. I was feeling quite teary after that.

YANBU: Good, reliable, easy to contact tradespeople that you can afford are key to a happy life.

YABU: A loving partner, family and friends make you far happier than finding good tradespeople.

I agree OP! When we moved to this house 2 years ago we ended up having to call the police on more than one occasion about the guy who came to fit the kitchen (longgggg story, suffice to say it was an unpleasant introduction to our new area), and DH and I actually had a row this morning about another tradesman we've hired who is taking the piss a bit (erratic attendance etc).

So yeah, I'd say reliable tradespeople definitely contribute to a happy, relaxed life 😄

I would say the key to a happy life is renting a good quality new build from the housing association and just having to pick up the phone to them whenever something goes wrong. Home ownership is definitely overrated from my POV.

Me and my partner say all the time we are so lucky that we are the trades people. We never have to call anyone. I wouldn't like to think how much money things would have cost over the years if we weren't.

Good tradespeople definitely enhance your life, neither my DH or myself are any good job and doing repairs or maintenance. We save up the little jobs and when we have three or more or one big one we get someone in.
My friends don’t do this and seem to spend a lot of time moaning and nagging.

YA probably being a little U but I LOVE good tradesmen (and tradeswomen). I'm a faithful customer too. I've had some of the same trades for 15 years and now that my kids are buying houses they are using the same people.

I never quibble and I'm never demanding or difficult so when something is an actual emergency such as the boiler not working they make sure they come and help me quickly.

No wonder they seem to have egos the size of houses. I never realized they were held in such high esteem 😄
Nope - they are not crucial to having a good life. You have to learn how to live with a bit of mess, a few broken things here and there. I'm not talking about burst pipes but you know, the odd scuff mark, unassembled flat packs sitting there for a few months. Once I learned acceptance, I finally felt home. Before that, it was more like living in a show home and policing everyone else's mess and filth.

Agreed. I married one..

You are so right!
My London house needed renovating and I've been so lucky. A friend knew a Dad from her kids school who kinda fell into building between acting jobs. He was fantastic. All his subs were amazing. Always turned up, always left the place clean, all took pride in their work.
I used to flip properties in another location and on one project went through four plumbers. And the builders I used for one part of a job quoted for the next job, came to the new house three times to look, measure, discuss. Then the appointed day came and they never showed and even when I got the other trades to call they wouldn't answer. Like they vanished. For two weeks we tried to contact them. So frustrating!

Yes I completely agree!