Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

For asking the heating engineer to wear shoe covers in my house

136 replies

purplehearts21 · 03/12/2025 15:12

Guy came round this morning to the service the boiler, I greeted him in and asked if he’d wear the shoe covers as I’ve just had new floor fitted and new rugs. You have to walk through my whole house to get to the boiler and I get they they can’t take their shoes off for health and safety so I’ve came up with a solution. The guy looked at me like I’m a bit mad but I wouldn’t dream of walking through someone’s house with my shoes on. We’re a shoes off at the door family and you won’t believe the amount of people that will just walk on through unless you say something. ( including dh father and stepmother who are exactly the same and will stand and wait til you take them off in their home but will walk through ours with shoes on no bother) I find it so rude and would never do it unless I was asked to keep them on. This man looked at me like I was an alien though but at least he agreed.

was I being unreasonable to ask?

OP posts:
Original poster
purplehearts21 · 03/12/2025 17:38

MotherofPufflings · 03/12/2025 17:33

Maybe he was just surprised by you offering shoe covers as it's completely normal for tradespeople to offer to take their shoes off when they arrive? I've never had one say ghat they can't because H&S

Everyone of them has said they can’t take them off. I don’t know if it’s a lazy thing where they can’t be bothered to untie there boots but I just want them in and out so offer them covers. If they’ve got their own great but sometimes they need reminding

OP posts:
RecordBreakers · 03/12/2025 17:55

I personally think it is bizarre to have floors you can't walk on, but even I don't thing you were being unreasonable to ask him to put them on as you'd provided them.

You would have been unreasonable to ask him to take his shoes off.

Growlybear83 · 03/12/2025 18:00

I can’t remember the last time a work man didn’t either bring shoe covers with him or ask if he should remove his shoes when he arrived.

Gettingbysomehow · 03/12/2025 18:07

Nothing wrong at all with shoe covers. Perfectly normal. Id not want dirty boots all over my house. But these are men. They wouldn't even think about making a mess for us to clean up.

Original poster
purplehearts21 · 03/12/2025 18:25

RecordBreakers · 03/12/2025 17:55

I personally think it is bizarre to have floors you can't walk on, but even I don't thing you were being unreasonable to ask him to put them on as you'd provided them.

You would have been unreasonable to ask him to take his shoes off.

Really? It’s unreasonable to ask a man to take his shoes off in a shoe off household. That’s bizarre to me. Some of us like to keep nice homes..

OP posts:
BIossomtoes · 03/12/2025 18:45

Mariammaom · 03/12/2025 15:41

It doesn’t bother you that people wear muddy boots inside your house, on a nice clean floor??

Show quote history

Most people’s shoes aren’t muddy because they do the majority of their walking on pavements. I prefer people to keep their shoes, my hall’s tiny and I don’t want it cluttered up with shoes.

StruggleFlourish · 03/12/2025 20:00

I find it odd that he did not come with shoe covers on him,
I have not had a service person who has come to my house in the past 15 years who did not carry a pair of shoes covers to slip on.
Don't worry about it, it wasn't you being unreasonable and asking something so strange, it was him.

XWKD · 03/12/2025 20:21

RecordBreakers · 03/12/2025 17:55

I personally think it is bizarre to have floors you can't walk on, but even I don't thing you were being unreasonable to ask him to put them on as you'd provided them.

You would have been unreasonable to ask him to take his shoes off.

Me too.

Evaka · 03/12/2025 20:26

I'm such an outlier here. Wouldn't cross my mind to ask. I think a few have offered to take off their shoes but never turned up with covers.

I'm Irish and I think we are way less bothered about shoes off than brits. Any Oirish MNers who can challenge or confirm?

DappledThings · 03/12/2025 20:27

It's neither one nor the other. Not unreasonable of you to request shoe covers if you're that bothered but also not unreasonable for him to be a bit put out/surprised at the request.

I'm a shoes off as soon as I get to someone's house person but I don't insist on others doing it. It's nice if they do but not significant enough to worry about if they don't.

RecordBreakers · 03/12/2025 20:28

I'm with you @Evaka , but I'm English.

I find it bizarre that anyone would put flooring down that they feel people can't walk on.

JackGrealishsCalves · 03/12/2025 20:46

RecordBreakers · 03/12/2025 20:28

I'm with you @Evaka , but I'm English.

I find it bizarre that anyone would put flooring down that they feel people can't walk on.

Me too, in fact I've had a plumber round today, never dreamt to ask him to take his boots off.
We have laminate downstairs, guess what, I mopped it after he'd gone 😯, sorted

BIossomtoes · 03/12/2025 20:46

StruggleFlourish · 03/12/2025 20:00

I find it odd that he did not come with shoe covers on him,
I have not had a service person who has come to my house in the past 15 years who did not carry a pair of shoes covers to slip on.
Don't worry about it, it wasn't you being unreasonable and asking something so strange, it was him.

Two guys delivered our new mattress to our bedroom this afternoon. Not a shoe cover in sight.

AgentPidge · 03/12/2025 20:49

Mariammaom · 03/12/2025 15:41

It doesn’t bother you that people wear muddy boots inside your house, on a nice clean floor??

Show quote history

Maybe she's upper class and has staff to clean up any mud.

Mrspatmoresapprentice · 03/12/2025 21:05

Most tradesmen now bring shoe covers or remove shoes. I can’t remember anytime in the last maybe 15 years when that hasn’t happened? That said, unless they have really muddy boots, I wouldn’t ask them. And I wouldn’t ever ask a guest to remove shoes, again unless they were obviously filthy. Which has never happened.
I wouldn’t choose floors, particularly in entrance areas, that I couldn’t easily clean.

XWKD · 03/12/2025 22:16

Evaka · 03/12/2025 20:26

I'm such an outlier here. Wouldn't cross my mind to ask. I think a few have offered to take off their shoes but never turned up with covers.

I'm Irish and I think we are way less bothered about shoes off than brits. Any Oirish MNers who can challenge or confirm?

I'm Irish too. People from different cultural backgrounds have different ideas. I have been asked to take off my shoes once in 60 years. That was when my friend was in a house that came furnished with ridiculously impractical floor coverings (not of their own choosing).

I always understood that it was rude to change into slippers in someone else's house -not that I could be arsed with etiquette for the sake of it.

Evaka · 03/12/2025 22:22

Interesting mix of responses. Glad I'm not the only person who's not bothered. No judgement on anyone's choices but I defo dont think it's dirty to wear shoes indoors. They'll mostly have been on a pavement or inside a vehicle.

TTCbabynumber22025 · 03/12/2025 22:29

Tradesmen won’t and shouldn’t take their boots off because it’s a health and safety hazard. Depending what client they work for, if it’s a council or housing association and someone came and did an inspection and they had their shoes off, they’d get in trouble. DH is a trade and he always has shoe covers in the van and wears them. I’m surprised your man was surprised about it, he should be offering when he goes into anyone’s house, if you’re not bothered then fair enough.

Original poster
purplehearts21 · 04/12/2025 00:43

Mrspatmoresapprentice · 03/12/2025 21:05

Most tradesmen now bring shoe covers or remove shoes. I can’t remember anytime in the last maybe 15 years when that hasn’t happened? That said, unless they have really muddy boots, I wouldn’t ask them. And I wouldn’t ever ask a guest to remove shoes, again unless they were obviously filthy. Which has never happened.
I wouldn’t choose floors, particularly in entrance areas, that I couldn’t easily clean.

I’ve had laminate flooring fitted two weeks ago, I paid a lot of money for it and I like to look after my things that I’ve paid for. But it’s not so much the damage I’m worried about. It’s shoes that are worn out side being worn inside. The man had to walk all through my house over my rugs that I paid a lot of money for and up my carpeted stairs and in all the bedrooms. Each to their own but I personally think wearing shoes inside (especially in bedrooms) is filthy behaviour. Why would you want that when you can simply take your shoes off 😬

OP posts:
FunkyFringe · 04/12/2025 01:25

IcyPuddles · 03/12/2025 15:32

I’ve never asked a tradesman to cover his boots and it doesn’t bother me to be honest, although a lot of them bring their own covers.

My mother in law was stupendously posh and she considered it rude to ask guests to take off their shoes. I think it’s an upper class thing.

Edited
Show quote history

I’m not posh or upper class, but I definitely think it’s rude, bordering on unhinged, to ask people to take off their shoes. I honestly didn’t know that it was a thing with some people as I’ve never ever come across this in my life. Nobody in my family, friends or acquaintances have this ‘rule’. Muddy shoes, ok, but definitely not everyday shoes. If someone asked me to remove my shoes, I would turn around and leave.

FunkyFringe · 04/12/2025 01:33

purplehearts21 · 03/12/2025 18:25

Really? It’s unreasonable to ask a man to take his shoes off in a shoe off household. That’s bizarre to me. Some of us like to keep nice homes..

Show quote history

Clean floors don’t make a nice home. What’s really bizarre is the concept of a ‘shoe off household’.

PuffleHuffledon · 04/12/2025 01:36

Growlybear83 · 03/12/2025 18:00

I can’t remember the last time a work man didn’t either bring shoe covers with him or ask if he should remove his shoes when he arrived.

I have never, ever met a trademan or contractor who brought shoe covers or removed their shoes on entering my house. I think this is a custom that is very location dependent!
ETA I’m in Ireland @Evaka.

Mamai100 · 04/12/2025 01:46

Evaka · 03/12/2025 20:26

I'm such an outlier here. Wouldn't cross my mind to ask. I think a few have offered to take off their shoes but never turned up with covers.

I'm Irish and I think we are way less bothered about shoes off than brits. Any Oirish MNers who can challenge or confirm?

Irish here.

I agree. I'm 43 and I only know of one household I've ever been in that's shoes off and that's my best friends house but she grew up in Canada and she said almost every household was shoes off.

Even homes that are immaculate have been shoes on.

I'm always amazed at these shoes on/off threads because I wondered where all these shoes off houses were. So I'm glad you popped up!

I do actually think shoes off is a good idea but it never took off in our house, everyone (including me) kept forgetting to take them off.

FullOfLemons · 04/12/2025 01:52

In many cultures it is not normal to wear shoes indoors e.g. Japan, India, Malaysia, Sweden etc …

A host in Japan would provide slippers at least.

@FunkyFringe Are all these people “bizarre” and “unhinged” ?

Diditthough · 04/12/2025 02:02

I don't believe for a moment this happened 😅 ..... gave you a strange look 😅 I don't believe you

Swipe left for the next trending thread