To not give builders food

[ThiswillDoItsfine]

Help me settle this difference of opinion. I have a company coming out in 3 weeks time to install a lot of fencing. I mentioned to dh that I will get them coffee, tea, and biscuits/cookies in to have with drinks. Dh is saying just the drinks is fine, and for me to just offer it as and when. The job is going to take 2 days. I want to give the men something to eat as well, at the very least.
DH is then saying he doesn't want them trailing through the house, which I do understand. However, I was going to set a table outside with a flask, tea bags, coffee, milk & sugar, and bowl of biscuits so that they could help themselves. I thought this would be less restricting and mean that they can get it when they want, without waiting for me to ask. I also think it saves me running around when i have a child to look after. DH is saying that this is well over the top.

Is this okay? Or is it wrong i set this up outside for them? It is an outdoor job, so I thought it would be easier all around, and they'll be working hard.

Thank you.

Yes, I do individually wrapped too. I'm worried it'll rain and I won't be able to do the outside set up. I'm thinking i'll have to have a table indoors just inside from the back garden. I'm thinking if this is the case, I'll leave the snacks/pop and water out permanently, and just ask as and when about the hot drinks. I might ask if Dh is working from home, then I can get him to serve "as and when."" 😂

I let them help themselves to tea and coffee and would provide sweet treats. I put some sheets down so they can get to the loo without taking boots off

Treat others as you would like to treated yourself.

I would always leave tea and coffee and packet of biccies out on the side and tell them to help themselves as and when they wanted. And of course let them know where the loo is if they need it.

Respect your trades and they will respect you.

@ThiswillDoItsfine OMG a pee bottle hahaha. Maybe you need to be out and DH can stay home showing himself up. I always offer tea/biscuits/loo break. Last person didn’t use any which is his choice. But most do. And yes, if you don’t want to keep offering, a kettle and stuff outside is also fine …

We clean our own windows, so we don't have that issue. When we did have one, he was around and done in about 10 mins, we must have a small house 😂

Locked out of where? I wouldn't expect the men in the house unless they need the toilet; I will tell them where this is when they arrive. It is a downstairs one, but in the middle of the house. Outside of the toilet, they don't need to come in when it is a 2 day outside job building a fence. They work for a company, so it'll be in their best interests to get the job done promptly, as it'll mean they can have an earlier finish!

😂 I know it's grim, this imo is their place of work, and that comes with a toilet as a basic requirement! I have told dh this.

Your DH is totally unreasonable for thinking/expecting tradesmen to wee in a bottle 🤢
I’ve had a basement conversion done this year and was happy for everyone to use the downstairs loo inside, though the builders offered to hire a portaloo. (not all have hand basins) They kept it immaculately clean and even supplied their own loo roll.
Hot drinks and a tin of biscuits are both an icebreaker and a way to show your appreciation. You don’t need to go over the top baking homemade cakes- but do if you want to.
Your idea to set up a drinks station is great & exactly what I do, though on a bigger job we’ve also made the first cup of the day so that we can talk things through if we need to. It’s so much easier to have a (difficult) conversation about progress, costs etc over a cuppa!

Biscuit tin outside and offer a hot drink morning and afternoon - I usually offer at 10am and 3pm, as that's when I tend to have my coffee break when I'm wfh.

Of course they need access to the loo.

Just a thought to put you off supplying "breakfast"..,,
What if one or more of them are vegetarian/vegan?
Nah, a two day job fencing, I would think that hot/cold drinks, the biscuits you describe.., the choc bars are a very generous addition, but I must admit is thoughtful and will probably be very much appreciated by them.
With the loo situation, you can't tell what weather conditions will have been like, so even if it's not raining on the two days, the ground may be muddy..,
Just lay some old worksheets on the area from entrance door to the convenience, and all should be fine.
Hope they do a good job for you, and that you (and your worried husband) will be more than satisfied.,,,

I've had quite a few men working in the garden at different times.

I always offered them drinks, most have declined as they seem happy to go to a local café during their breaks and otherwise bring their own drinks.

During a particularly hot summer, the only request I had for drinks was one of the young men asking if I'd mind filling up his water bottle.

And regarding the use of the loo, something else I always offer and never been taken up on, because, as your DH said, they have a bottle in the van, or so one man told my neighbour, who was also having work done by the same men.

Can't see that you need to provide them with an endless supply of biscuits. They're there to work, not eat biscuits all day.

I had a loft conversation which took a couple of months and I used to buy the odd pack of doughnuts, biscuits, Ice creams etc for the builders depending on the weather. It’s not obligatory but they seemed chuffed when I did!

My DH is a tradesman. He absolutely doesn't expect drinks and especially food but some people do make them drinks and offer a biscuit and occasionally a filled roll and they absolutely love and appreciate it when anyone offers anything. They don't always accept depending how busy they are and what they took themselves that day.

I tend to do a setup because I am not a regular break taker or hot drink drinker.

This is the fucking wildest thread I’ve read in a while. Does no one here have a job? Who has time for this? How are you even home all the while?

Agree with some other posters saying that it’s very unusual for tradespeople to even accept a snack/drink.

I’m not a total arse but I’m not sitting around waiting to make the next hot drink. I’ve left tea bags and coffee on the side before. We don’t ever have biscuits though - and they’ve been almost universally refused previously so I don’t buy them now.

The Russian guys who did our kitchen - lovely, but they wouldn’t even take a glass of water. Even if I was out or working upstairs, they’d still go sit in their van and eat their own packed lunch. In winter! I said sit in but they wouldn’t have it.

The toilet however, sheesh, yes of course they can use the toilet.

I can never understand why people on here seem so reluctant to let tradespeople use their loo. How would you like it if your boss decided that you can't use the loo at work,and expected you to piss in a bottle or find the nearest cafe or supermarket? Are we a lower form of life,good enough to do the jobs that you can't or won't do,but not good enough to be shown common human decency?
I'm very thankful that none of my customers have ever had this attitude. It'd be the last time I worked for them if they did. Plus most trades have a blacklist of people with bad attitudes, non payers and people that no one wants to work for,and word gets around.

that's why I would do the help yourself setup. I find acceptance/ non acceptance to be about 60/40.

Yeah agree. But it’s not a tea party!! And they aren’t guests or visitors to my home. They’re at work. In my work place, no one gives me a filled roll/stew/bacon butty/individually wrapped biscuit. Honestly, I am blown away that people do this!!! 😆

Haven't RTFT, but does your DH have a bottle in the car to wee in when he's at work? If not, why on Earth does he think it's OK for workmen to do this? Oh, don't tell me, workmen are 'only' workmen and don't deserve to get treated with any sort if decency and dignity in their working day. 🙄

If I've got people working outside, then I'll set up a wee area in the utility room with a kettle, tea and coffee and biscuits etc, and there's access to a cold water tap to refill water bottles.

We have a 'garden loo' which means that people can use the toilet without having to come into the main house or having to remove their shoes (it is a proper nice clean indoor loo with loo roll etc, not an outhouse or anything!).

But I do expect professional tradespeople to provide their own lunch: I'm not feeding them, I do have my own actual job to do.

I do biscuits in a tin handed over with the first round of hot drinks. Offer another mid morning and maybe an afternoon one, but theyll probably be gone by 4 anyway. And only if it's convenient for you to offer! Top up tin every so often after they've left (but I wouldn't do this on a 2 day job).

We've had a ton of works done (months); always get some biscuits and sweets in to keep them going. The odd pack of donuts or whatever, and sometimes a bottle of beer on a Friday.

I have never cooked breakfast or made a sandwich etc. I do know others do though, as a treat, especially when you've had the same team for weeks, but I don't think it's expected (not are the biscuits etc but I do think it's nice).

Oh and the loo - yes I would let them use my loo!! On big jobs they usually order a portaloo but I would never expect someone to piss in a bottle or drive to a public loo instead of using mine.

When I have had builders in I’ve always given them free access to the kettle with tea coffe milk and biscuits
along with some cold bottle of water /sqash

we had builders build a huge deck a few years ago in the middle of summer it was boiling hot
I was horrified to see that all they had was a bloody pot noodles on the first day

I went to our local bakers and got them a pasty each
( they are huge ones ) and a box a cakes each day that they worked

I didn’t have to do it but they were building a deck that I was going to be walking on so I wanted it done properly 😂

They were a lovely bunch of blokes 2 brothers and a son and they did a cracking job of my garden

Ive used them several times since for other stuff and they always do a great job
I have given there details to friend and family as a good builder / tradesman is like winning the lottery ticket

I gave mine free access to the kitchen for drinks and left them a big tin of biscuits. They'd make me a coffee sometimes. I also made them bacon sandwiches if I was around. They did a few odd jobs for me, put some furniture together and some shelves up that were nothing to do with the build, and also fed my cat when I was away a couple of days, so I was glad I'd made them welcome.

You seriously expect them to go trooping off to a cafe to use the toilet?

They are far more likely to "water your hedge" than go off in search of a cafe. You are massively unreasonable.

Do you expect to have to go off and find a cafe for a loo visit when you are working?

Sounds far more economic to provide tea, biscuits and access to the loo instead of having them wandering off to a local cafe two or three times daily.

Yes. The job will either take longer or be left unfinished because they will be committed to the next job. They will add the cost of buying food and drinks to the bill as well.

You just have to suck it up for the sake of a few days.