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Original poster

What do you provide for workmen?

56 replies

NewGardenProject · 23/04/2022 13:06

We bought a fixer upper and have had various bits of work done in the last 6 months. The latest (and most expensive to date) has been replacing all the fences in the garden. The workmen are here again today hopefully finishing.

I have been offering a coffee when they first arrive and generally bring another one out about 11am with a plate of biscuits. I was making bacon sarnies and was going to offer them one but DP said that was weird and that they would have brought their own lunch.

My question is what’s the appropriate level of refreshment to offer tradespeople when they are at your house doing work?

I don’t want to come across as stingy as we like these builders and would like them to do work for us again in the future.

OP posts:
PurpleDinosaurpark · 23/04/2022 15:54

Nothing. My husband is a builder him & his gang bring their own food & often like to leave site for a short lunch break. He said the offer of a cuppa is always appreciated but not expected. With the clients who offer constant treats & food the assumption is they fancy someone in the gang.

Hugasauras · 23/04/2022 15:55

Ooh MN loves this.

If it's a one-day job, I'll offer to make a hot drink every so often. If it's longer term, I provide a tea/coffee tray, kettle and biscuits and leave them to it.

Definitely no bacon sarnie making here I'm afraid!

Hugasauras · 23/04/2022 15:56

Also when we had builders in for our extension, they seemed to prefer going out to Costa etc anyway to my homemade coffee offerings!

Parker231 · 23/04/2022 16:02

Make tea/coffee when they arrive and then let them know where the kettle and supplies are together with biscuits.
We’re usually at work whilst they are there so letting them help themselves is appreciated.

movemyshed · 23/04/2022 16:21

If it's a one-day job, I'll offer to make a hot drink every so often. If it's longer term, I provide a tea/coffee tray, kettle and biscuits and leave them to it.

This.
According to past threads you're stingy, inhospitable and will be rewarded with a shoddy job if you don't give endless tea and lots of food.
People who've done work in my house for more than a day have generally brought their own lunch and flasks as well because they're adults and professional.

I don't get a shoddy job and they're happy to come back because they're treated with respect and paid very promptly.

Hadjab · 23/04/2022 19:15

My builder buys me a bacon roll once a week 😍

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 23/04/2022 19:19

Nothing, I’m at work all day when they are there

WellTidy · 23/04/2022 19:19

These days, I leave a tray with mugs, travel kettle, pint of milk, small jar of coffee, small tub of teabags and a pine of milk. Maybe some biscuits. We’ve had times when we’ve had workmen at home for weeks and this seems to work best.

Gone are the days when I would offer tea and coffee when I was having one.

XingMing · 23/04/2022 20:18

I tend to make tea (or coffee, I ask preferences first thing) and deliver it about 11.00 and about 3.00pm. Cold/iced water/squash is appreciated by outdoor workers if it's even slightly warm, but beyond that I expect them to bring what they want or need to consume. They get use of the cloakroom too.

Ifailed · 23/04/2022 20:56

They get use of the cloakroom too

Gosh, you have people turning to work at yours wearing cloaks - do they have to hide from the sun & have an aversion to garlic?

Original poster
NewGardenProject · 23/04/2022 21:42

It would never occur to me to say to someone they couldn’t use my loo. I sort of get that it’s a bit annoying - I like my toilets very clean and three extra blokes taking a regular piss doesn’t lend itself that way - but I don’t get how you address it? When they ask you use the toilet do you say “sorry no you’ll have to hold it or drive to Tesco”. What do you expect them to do?

OP posts:
Original poster
NewGardenProject · 23/04/2022 21:43

Also thank you for the feedback. I feel satisfied with the three cups of coffee and Oreo’s on offer today

OP posts:
JustJam4Tea · 24/04/2022 08:40

Ice lollies and juice when it was roasting and they were working exceptionally hard.

normally a cup of tea.

JustJam4Tea · 24/04/2022 08:42

There was a portaloo on our drive for 18 months. I used to dream about the day it would go. And the portaloo emptying guy took out the gatepost with his truck.

any one working in the house can use the loo…

DreamThrum · 24/04/2022 10:46

Tea/coffee when we're making one anyway which we do regularly. Would never think of offering lunch. In my experience they like to go off elsewhere for a lunchbreak anyway.

LittleEsme · 24/04/2022 11:20

I'm not onsite but I provided a kettle and a load of mugs. Every now and again, I'll take everything home and wash them and refill the sugar coffee and tea. When on special offer, I'll buy a ton of biscuits too.

To be fair, when I show up onsite, one always asks me if I want a brew!

Sswhinesthebest · 24/04/2022 11:21

Tea, coffee, water and biscuits if there for a whole day or longer. They are welcome to use the toilet.

Just a drink and loo for short visits. No biscuits.

Qwill · 24/04/2022 11:25

Offer them a drink whilst you show them what needs to be done, then show them were the kettle is and how to work the coffee machine. We both work so can’t really hang around all day catering to their whims, and if we are off we like to go out somewhere with the children.

Salome61 · 24/04/2022 18:29

I bought bacon and sausages when I was expecting workmen in January, but they bought their own food, I was quite relieved.

What they did appreciate was the soup, I bought those individual microwave cups and some different tins of soup for them, and told them to help themselves. They were working on my roof and it was absolutely freezing.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 24/04/2022 19:50

I don't muck about like you lot, I usually just order a hamper from Fortnum & Mason and let them organise luncheon and afternoon teas themselves.
Of course they have the Samovar in the pagaoda, so they came have a 'brew' (as they call it!) whenever they chose.

bellsbuss · 24/04/2022 20:06

DH has a building company and has always said that customers who offer drinks and aren't sniffy about him and his lads losing their loo, they will do little extras for.

BlueMongoose · 24/04/2022 20:46

Tea, coffee, I ask for requests for anything else, just in case I can provide something they prefer (one chap preferred blackcurrant juice). Biscuits unless they don't eat them.
I always tell them to ask when they want one, they never do, so I also always ask when I'm making one for myself, and they pretty much always say yes.

legosnowqueen · 24/04/2022 21:01

Tea or coffee several times a day plus biscuits- keep 'em sweet! I had a giggle to myself a few months ago, walking the dog overheard a workman through a hedge complaining to his mate that they'd asked for a cuppa & had been offered green tea....

CasperGutman · 25/04/2022 15:20

If they're working all day, I offer tea/coffee around 10am once they've got a couple of hours' work in. If the weather's horrible I might offer another hot drink at lunchtime or about 2pm, but don't usually bother.

For smaller one-off jobs like appliance repairs, I offer a tea/coffee on arrival which is refused more often than not.

I might consider asking if they wanted something like a sandwich at lunchtime if I lived in a remote area, if only to save paying for their time driving to get something, but I don't bother here because there's a Tesco, two cafes and a sandwich shop less than five minutes walk away.

CasperGutman · 25/04/2022 15:21

I also offer the option of cold drinks when I remember, which is more likely to be in hot weather. When the sun's shining a pint of iced orange squash is a pretty popular option.