To pay to hire portaloo for workmen when they could just use the toilet in our house?

[CandidAzureReader]

I'm planning on having some renovation work done in my home which will take about a week to complete. I'm aware that the tradesmen will need to use the toilet while performing the work. I simply can't bear the thought of letting them use our toilet. We have no downstairs toilet, just the one upstairs. I wouldn't want them using a downstairs one even if I had one.

My reluctance in allowing it is due in part to the stories I've read on MN over the years about workmen "shitting nuclear waste" and stinking out the whole house. DH thinks I'm mad to want to hire a portaloo. It would cost around £50 to hire one for a week and around £60 for delivery and removal of the loo. That to me seems a fair price to not have to deal with them using the toilet in the house. What are your thoughts MN?

You sound like a crashing snob. If I knew you thought like this I'd find another customer.

I know, it’s just strange and icky. I even get funny when my DFIL goes for a Jimmy Riddle as he calls it.

maybe that’s why

They’ll probably appreciate it rather than being embarrassed and stinking out your bathroom.

Yep, we hired one when we had an extension - it was actually our builders that suggested it. While the works were being done, we only had the upstairs bathroom accessible and it would have meant tramping up with boots or removing them. I was also working from home for much of the work in the upstairs office so didn’t want them disturbing me or walking past when on meetings. They were absolutely fine about it and it made life so much easier. Some days we had 10+ tradesmen on site, drinking lots of tea! It would have been constant otherwise.

HIRE. dirty boots up and down the stairs, vile smells that don't belong to your family. half-washed hands and dirty towels, hands on the stair rail. just blugh. too much for my clean freak nature

That's really not logical, which I'm sure you realise. You must have used public toilets, which have been used by thousands of people?

Yeah, this. Our neighbors did this. For this and other reasons... They're insufferable snobs.

You're unreasonable, not because of the cost but because it's not a nice way to treat people.

If the

We had builders and other tradies here for 11 months - on one or two days there were nine of them here at once. It was never a problem, you wouldn't have known anyone else other than us was using the loo.

Actually I do avoid those like the plague, I’d sooner have a UTI than use a public toilet

Ok. Perhaps it would be useful for you to get some help with this. If you contact the GP they can do those referrals for Talking Therapy.

I did this.

Portaloo!!

If they are working mainly outside then I would be tempted to. Purely so they are not having to take shoes on and off, even more so if they are having to go upstairs. Indoor work, id let them use the normal loo.

We have never had a problem with workmen leaving our loo a state and we have had quite a bit of work done to the house over the years. I have more problems with elderly male grandparents making a mess of the loo when they visit. Especially the men who will not sit down despite been wobbly on legs or have poor eye sight.

I would like to think we have reached a point where most of the working male population have mothers and wives who will not tolerate them making an absolute mess of the toilet and have trained them better.

Get the portaloo. I work in gardens all day and I hate when I have to knock on the door to ask to use the toilet. I’d rather hold it in.

I’d never even think of doing this. Screams stuck up and snobbish to me.

We had our garden landscaped last summer, they were working for about 6 weeks and used our loo. It was left perfectly clean, they took their boots off before walking through the house and even fixed the wonky loo seat. No issues at all. I’ve never had any problems with trades using our facilities, loo, kitchen etc the ones we’ve used have always been incredibly respectful of our home.

I would have to get the portaloo. I simply couldn't entertain the thought of letting workmen use my toilet. The mere thought of it gives me the ick.

Bloody hell OP how on earth do you cope with public toilets

I'm guessing these women never stay in hotels, go to restaurants or cafés, the cinema, the theatre, never travel by plane or train, never go on holiday.

Don’t be ridiculous - there’s a world of difference between using a public loo (single sex presumably) and having various workmen traipsing up and down the stairs to the only family bathroom for a full week.

Withholding urination increases the risk of UTIs, so you'll probably get what you wish for.

Plane toilets are used by both sexes. Same with toilets in hotel rooms. Many of these toilets will, at some point, have been used by tradesmen.

Portaloos are so gross. Tradesman are just like anyone else. The vast majority are utterly capable of using the toilet without leaving it in a state. Leave loo cleaner & brush and a can of air freshener readily accessible & spare loo rolls.

Do you have children OP?

have multiple and then invite their friends round.

you will never have the opportunity to think about toilets again.

all joking aside, I have had many workman and never an issue with a toilet.

to the contrary, I have a self catering cottage and clean two others, nappies. That’s the issue. And people who flush them down the toilet. Try rodding that down. Not pleasant.