Tradesman coming earlier than expected.

[Aquarius1234]

Thoughts?
Luckily I was up just. But was expecting 10am onwards. Not 8am.

Why were you expecting 10am, did they give you that time? If not, I think 8am is pretty standard for a tradesman.

Tradesmen start from 7am onwards so unless they specifically said they’d be there at 10am they are not early

DP always aims for 8:30, some people ask for earlier, he feels like 9 is late but will accommodate it for school drop offs. Most are happy to leave him to it while they do the school run though. 10 is very late for most in trades unless it’s a ‘small job day’ where he may be visiting a few people for smaller things…

I was originally told afternoon slot. Then changed to 2nd job of the day with that type of time.

I must have been 1st visit. But I thought maybe id have gotten a heads up day before.

I woke at 8am. Then door knocking 5 mins later. I was out late last night.

Didn't you ask when they would be starting?

I really couldn’t get worked up about this. Just good thing he’s arrived. I had someone this morning…. First thing. I thought c8.30 and he turned up 9.20 having called to apologise for late arrival.

If the job is done next year I will have to assume it will be 8am or earlier each day. And make sure all rooms are clear..

I just said I thought you were arriving bit later. Only cos I wasnt sure if the door had been knocking a while and I was a bit rushed throwing clothes on.

If he gave a 10am job time then I’d have just pointed this out and let him know you’ll try to keep out of his way but were in the middle of getting DC ready for school or whatever so he’ll need to accommodate the general chaos a bit. Beyond that I wouldn’t treat it as a big deal, timings often slip for trades depending on their schedule for the day and whether they had a cancellation on previous job or needed to collect materials first. If he just said “the morning” then tradesmen tend to start the day early, so bear that in mind for the future.

I’d be happy they actually turned up 😂😂 it wouldn’t bother me at all, gives me my day back

Thats true. Late last night I couldn't sleep for some reason.
I was given the date 10 days ago. So good he was near enough to schedule!
Hopefully thats not the last I see of him.

This has just reminded me that until I bought a house, I had no idea about the unwritten rules around tradespeople.
Disclaimer: probably autistic and just didnt have a lot of exposure to this stuff growing up!
Second disclaimer: These are not critiques, and are accepted as 'the way it is' in my area.
This might just be for my area but so far the rules I have gathered are:

They will not give you a time, they might give you an AM/PM.
If its AM, thats anytime from 7am until 10am. If you say 'can you give me a rough time' you get 'just in the morning sometime' not something like 'well ive got one job before you, which im hoping will be an hour, then I have to go pick up parts so hoping to be with you by 10'
They will in 2/3 cases never explain why they cant give a time, not even just to say 'I have other jobs on and dont know how long they will take'
If they dont show up, you might get a text telling you they need to come another day (but might not) and they wont always be able to tell you what day so might just show up randomly.
None of this is ever explained, you are just expected to know it.

However, if that tradesperson is under about 45 or female, they will always give you a rough time beforehand or ring you on the day to let you know a rough time and if they are held up on another job.

If you dont know the 'rules' its very confusing!

I was out late last night.

😂I mean, I don't think the tradesman arrive based on what time you go to sleep....

DH usually aims for 8.30-9am unless requested otherwise.

Trades always start at 8am. Whether it's builders, plumbers, heating engineers... Look on the positive side. At least you have the rest of the day to yourself and you're not hanging around waiting for someone to show up.

Indeed lol
Just probably why I was bit shell shocked.

Ok im so glad I woke at 8am. Better it was out the way.

Agree with all this - there are some trades who just assume there will always be someone at home. I just don’t get it!

Yes the irony of trades - never turn up to even look at job, give wildly different quotations, can't start for half a year, then suddenly they are there at the crack of dawn for what feels like months.

The plus side is they'll be gone by 3pm most of the time.

Is your home Housing Assiciation? If so the workmen just turn up when they like x

Yeh strange. I either would have to leave work early. Then they seemed to be sitting outside my house for ages previously. Even tho I said not before 3 30 pm one time.
Or I will take a day off work for a proper job or a whole week if its gonna be ongoing...
Another time I left work early when it was a bit bad for me to do so, then waited around for 90 mins at home to then get a call from company saying they wouldn't be able to get there on time due to emergency.
Then I got hassle at work on the Monday as I hadn't covered for a co worker!!
No wonder I put off jobs for long time.
Note to self don't agree to a Friday PM slot!

Ideally, he should have rung you first, but otherwise I think it's fine. Tradies can't afford to hang around for two hours if an earlier call doesn't happen for some reason, and I'd be pleased he got to mine early tbh.

At least he didn't rock up at 6am, like my builder BIL would given half the chance! He loves working on empty properties, where he can start as early as he likes as long as he doesn't do noisy work.

A tradesman once turned up, grinning broadly, at 7.30am when he was due at 9.30am. I could tell he was disappointed I was dressed and that my husband hadn't yet left for work. He later killed himself before his court hearing for sexually motivated offences.

I always ask what time tradesmen, or anyone, expect to be here. I know they often turn up a little early so make sure I'm ready but I'd rather be informed if they're going to be a lot earlier than anticipated. I have a disability which needs nurturing, the bastard, so I need to plan my time accordingly.

Communication is the thing that makes all the difference. When they have to use another trade themselves, in their own home, they're the first to complain like it's the first time it's ever happened if they're not kept informed. IME.

I had bricklayers and a joiner parked outside at 7:30am and knocked at 8am. The only annoying part was my front door was open all day so I was shivering my tits off 😂 I left them to it while I did the school runs

I absolutely hate trades people turning up earlier than they say they will. For some reason it irritates the heck out of me, even if I am ready and up.

That said, once it's over with I then feel relieved it was done early and it's over with. I do think they should stick to times though - I have often been told after 2pm and they've come at 9 or been told 2-5 and they've turned up at 7.

I’m always delighted if they turn up at 8! Nothing worse than them turning up at 2 and running out of time to finish.

If you are in though - if I was told someone was coming after 2 then I would think it was entirely reasonable to be out at 8am

DH is a tradesman he'd never turn up at 8am unless it was specifically agreed beforehand. Generally when booking he'll give a 2 hour window, but will call if customer needs a better idea of time on the day, and works around customer's who might have a school run to do etc.