How do you cope with workmen in your house?

[stillholly]

I asked them to be here of course as work needs to be done, but after a few weeks it's starting to take its toll.

Is anyone else stressed out by having people working in their house?

I've had to raise an issue, which was awkward.

We've had a few days where they haven't turned up so it's rolling over week by week to compete.

It's just annoying that I don't have the house to myself like I usually would.

Is this normal for me to feel like this?

I love and hate it in equal measure. Generally they’ve all been really nice people. I hate that I have to make sure I’m up and ready before they arrive which means changing my routine. Hate the mess and chaos. Always feel awkward if I want to check we are on the same page about what’s being done, or I want to add or change something. They’ve always been accommodating so I guess that’s just me. Love seeing how they do things, love the fact it’s done. Love a chat with them. Always make tons of tea and biscuits.

Wonder if it’s an introvert/extrovert thing. I’m always excited to get work done,and enjoy talking to the trades, find the progress interesting as said.

but I know when we were having some hard landscaping done and I was out talking to the men as I brought them coffee, my neighbour commented she’d seen me and couldn’t understand how I did that, as she didn’t feel able to talk to them and felt she had to stay away. Which I couldn’t really understand at the time, they were just normal people.

my husband is somewhat similar, but he is an extrovert, but he tries to be away and doesn’t really engage past great work sort of thing,but with him I always suspect he feels he should be able to do it himself 😂

Absolutely, most jobs here now compete but last job is a new kitchen which is a nightmare at the best of times, I've been putting off for two years now.

My kitchen was done last year and I kept putting it off until I couldn't any more. I knew the builder quite well anyway which was good but the whole week I had him, his workmate, the plasterer and the electrician traipsing in and out and was hard going. Luckily the weather was really good so that helped dry the plaster really quickly so everything could be finished off.

It did became rather more stressful though when I had a gas leak and had to call the emergency gas number and have a new gas meter put in. The end of that week couldn't come fast enough.

Totally normal. I renovated my house snd felt paralysed when they were here, even though they were lovely guys. For some reason I couldn't really work properly. I took to escaping to the local cafe.
As for things like toilet roll fittings - no that's totally extra. Towel rails etc - it's not part of a bathroom fitting job you have to specify the details and get them quoted for.
And I tidy too - I had an electrician come the other day and he said he'd drop by after his job, so I figured 4.30-5pm, but he showed up at 3.30 and I hadn't cleaned up the kitchen from lunch snd that was where he was working! Felt a total slob.

You need to be very specific. It's not 'cheeky', it's just being clear. They're not psychic.

We've just had some painters in (who didn't really speak any English, so we communicated via Google translate and pointing and gesturing, which had its own complications), and things that were obvious to me weren't to them, so I needed to be very, very specific. It seemed obvious to me that a shelf painted to match the wall needed to be repainted when the wall was being repainted in the same colour (and we had provided the appropriate wood-finish paint, and put it on the shelf), but it wasn't obvious to them.

One thing I've learned the hard way is that tradesmen often (not always, obviously) have the aesthetic sense of a rock, and can't apparently see the difference between something that is adequate, but nasty-looking, and something that looks right (like a loo roll holder, for argument's sake), or where the positioning of something is right or off in terms of ease of use or aesthetics. Presumably your sense of what stuff looks and feels like gets blunted by staring at a lot of plumbing/tiles/skirting boards etc. I discovered that one of our builders was colourblind when he was completely unable to distinguish between two corridors, one painted a deep mustard, the other dark green, when I'd asked him to install something in the green corridor.

I don’t like the disruption and the mess but on the two occasions we’ve had significant work done we’ve had the option to move in with other relatives temporarily.

We're fine with a few "good ones" that we've found over the years and who are respectful, turn up on time and do the job we ask. We use them time and time again.

The ones that I can't stand are the arrogant ones, the ignorant ones, the incompetent ones. Trouble is, you don't know until you've used them! The best you can do is not use them again when you've suffered them!

But even with the good ones, we're still anxious the entire time they're here and feel we have to keep on top of them to check what they're doing, etc.

Trouble is that the good ones are getting older and retiring. We had a brilliant joiner who did fantastic work, even brought his own brush pan and vacuum to clean up after drilling etc. He started having trouble with his back due to hanging heavy oak doors and retrained as a lorry driver!! We used a local firm to replace our decking and the "joiner" they sent was a joke - he didn't listen to what we said we wanted and ended up having to re-do it all, he even left the newel posts about 10 feet high, saying it was "regulations" - more likely he was too lazy to cut them! If we hadn't been in keeping an eye on him, heaven knows what kind of mess of a finished job it would have been!

I cope by spending as little time in the house as possible. Make sure I’m at work some days, take long dog walks, visit family, go shopping. If dp isn’t around either and they need to contact us, they have our mobile no’s.

Over the years, we've tended to do most things ourselves, i.e. basic joinery, decorating, minor electrics, etc. A lot easier than trying to find tradesmen, waiting for them to come to quote and them not turning up, them not sending quotes, them not turning up to do the work, and them often bodging it or making a mess! OH has even bought himself a scaffolding tower so he can do basic guttering and roof work as scaffolders and roofers are, in our experience, the worst!

You sound like my kind of person 😊

You are always pleased when they leave even if they’ve been great.

However I get very antsy with tradesmen when I know they are taking the piss eg coming late, leaving early, taking breaks disguised as errands for parts.

Many tradesmen don’t like really getting into too much detail about the exact job, hours, breaks etc. it leaves them much more freedom to take advantage.

Obviously not all are like this, but I’ve seen my share of them. It helps to get a written agreement of all these things.

Paying by the hour/day can mean they work slowly, and paying by the job can mean they don’t necessarily do everything. We once had some paving laid and tradie said it would take three days. He finished in 2 days but asked for three days as that was the quote.

After he left we realised he hadn’t laid the slabs to account for rain and drainage.

If you find a good tradesman they are worth every penny and are deserving of your very best biscuits.

Oh my gosh is that really extra for towel rails and toilet roll holders!

I'm not sure how I would do that myself. I genuinely thought they would compete the new room in its entirety.

I bloody hate it. I keep out of the way as much as poss but drift through to make drinks etc.
We had a new bathroom fitted and initially told 2 weeks,,,in the end it took over two months and i hated the sight of the blokes by the time it was finished

It doesn't bother me, I just make them a brew, give them the biscuit tin and leave them to get on with it while I do my own thing.
A couple of years ago I had three rooms replastered and by the time the plasterer had finished, we got on so well that he invited me and my DH to his 40th birthday bash, which we attended and had a great time.

Currently not well. My upstairs neighbour is having problems with his electricity which is apparently run via my metre. So had his electricians in and out all day yesterday. They were still here at 8pm and warned me the electricity would have to be turned off for 3 or four hours. Sat waiting for this to happen which it eventually did, at 11.30pm. It came back on at 1.45 am and they left saying still not fixed, will be back today!

I have workmen in at the moment ...and I have just realised my biggest bug bearer is not realising or being explained about the consequences!...

They needed to switch the water off..
Fine , I showed them where the tap was ...

Water off all day ...and I didn't get a chance to fill kettle up or any jugs !

So , not only have I got workmen in...I can't have a cup of tea 😭🤣!

The only liquids I have that don't need water are ...a couple of cans of lager and a bottle of wine ..🤔🤔🤔??

Humm! 😅

They left ...and are now on their way back...as the water didn't get reconnected properly!

No water 😡😡