Builder etiquette help

[thoughtsandprayersdownthestairs]

Hi all

We have a team of builders starting work at our home soon for a fairly big job expected to take between 6-8 weeks. My husband and I will be working from home during this time, but upstairs or in a different part of the house. The nature of our jobs means that we won’t be able to keep offering tea / coffee / biscuits constantly but I don’t want the builders to think we’re unfriendly or tight. We’ve never had anyone in to do work before because we have done everything ourselves in the past.
I was thinking of setting up a tray with tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits etc and making it clear they can help themselves to whatever they would like. Does this sound ok? Thanks

I have often done this, it's so much better than having to think about how many cups of tea, and how often. They will appreciate it.

When they start just let them know they can help themselves to tea, coffee. Most will bring their own milk and supplies.

are they setting up their own toilets ? A DavLav or similar?
If you set up a kettle, milk, tea, coffee and biscuits and some mugs that you don't mind losing or getting broken (ask me how I know) and a jug for them to get water .
The last load of work we had done there were maybe 4-5 , we took out tea/biscuits and one of them went off to McD to get their lunches .
Set your privacy boundaries early on

@thoughtsandprayersdownthestairs

I think that'll be fine. Just explain you're both working. Last time we had work done, we had to go elsewhere for a few days (only one bathroom) and left a tray of mugs, coffee, tea, sugar and a fridge full of snacks aswell, like porkpie, sausage rolls, etc.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget im hoping that they will set up their own toilets as a major aspect of the work is that we don’t have a downstairs toilet so they’re building us one!! I never thought they would need to use our facilities because our only bathroom would be a family bathroom upstairs and I don’t feel like that’s ok? Omg new fear unlocked as it never occurred to me they wouldn’t set up their own facilities!!!

@KrankyKumquat did they not set up their own facilities? This has me panicking as we don’t have a downstairs toilet and never imagined I’d have to host them all in the family bathroom my children use!

Sorry I wasn't clear - they were refurbishing our bathroom and as we only have one, we didn't want to stay without facilities. No idea what they did to meet their own needs 😅

I think its best to ask the building firm about toilet facilities, just let them know there isn't one in the house. Our guys (ex contracting business) used to have a portaloo they took to jobs. They always had their own flasks and lunch. You don't have to do any hosting. It's nice it they are offered a cup of tea and biscuit before work, but it's certainly not expected.

@Supportbritishfarmers I presume they know we don’t have facilities as that’s what they’re building us!! So hopefully it’s all hand!!
thanks for the advice, I think I will go ahead with my tray idea then as it’s not much effort for me but hopefully appreciated by them!

DH and I have recently finished YEARS of having major renovations done and also both WFH. After being left with 12 mugs to clean on the 1st day in our temporary sink (it was a bucket!) I quickly learnt some tips

-Buy sugar cubes. FAR less mess!
-A few old mugs, not your best china
-Buy a cheap kettle if you don't want yours covered in dust, plaster etc
-1 builder took the entire, closed packet of biscuits with him, but most of them never ate any!
-I sometimes made a cake.
-A few times did bacon butties. Some builders were here for months, so we got to know them quite well
-In really hot weather I put ice in a cooler box with canned drinks in and offered ice lollies.

They are used to working at places with no one on site and no drinks/snacks, so generally they were self sufficient and anything we provided was seen a bonus- not mandatory. Just make it clear which toilet they can use. Also clarify that if they need you, they should text/whats app/knock on the door or whatever works for you.

We have a large, front drive but some days we'd have 3 vans and 4 cars trying to squeeze on there. We pre-warned neighbours if we knew any loud work would be done and in turn, they let us park in their drive if ours was full. Much easier to me to head out if needed, rather than getting 3 workmen to move all their vans to get my car out.

@7238SMthank you for the advice!! However, regarding the toilet, we don’t really have one they’re able to use (nothing downstairs - that’s what they’re building us) so presumed they’d set up temporary facilities outside. I can’t really accommodate up and down the stairs to the family bathroom that my children use. I see now I should have not assumed this bit!!

What do you mean you can't accommodate them using the upstairs toilet? They're not going to be jumping in the shower just popping up for a quick pee. We're having the same done and assume they'll use the upstairs toilet. I'm not paying for a portaloo when there's an option upstairs. Dh's parents had 5 kids between 0 and 10 and 2 parents sharing 1 loo for nearly a decade. Sure you can cope with a couple of builders for a while

@DarkForces no sorry, I can’t, for reasons I’m not going to explain here. I know lots of people who have had work done recently and they’ve always had the portaloos set up outside. So I assumed that would be the case here. But I now know to check next week.

I have worked with dozens of trades. I say ‘here’s the kettle/tea/coffee milk in fridge help yourself’. I don’t normally offer biscuits, though if I go out I might bring back donuts on the very odd occasion (particularly a Friday). They are all happy with that. If I do come down to make myself a cup of tea I do offer them one however (and they’ve offered to make me one)!

@mondaytosunday donuts on a Friday is a good idea - thanks!!

Our builders did their own drinks. They went off at 9.30 every morning to the local Greggs and got their coffee. I did offer some cake one day but they were happy doing things themselves.

Yes, when I was project managing a new kitchen, we set up a coffee station with a kettle, mugs, tea coffee sugar etc for them to use as they wished. At lunchtime they went off to McDonald’s or somewhere for their lunch so that’s what yours will do. They won’t need to use your bathroom.!

Re the toilet issue. I think if it's a 'team of workmen for 6-8 weeks', it's a pretty big job and not unreasonable to expect they have their own facilities. I've never been bothered by one or two using our loo for a day or two as it's easy enough to adapt and clean up afterwards if necessary, but a couple of months is a bit different, not least tramping mess up and down the stairs.

You don’t want them traipsing builders’ rubble, cement dust and whatever else from their boots all over your stairs and bathroom, if at all avoidable!

I'm sure that a hoover will sort it. I've had plenty of experience with having builders in. They usually pop a runner up the stairs.

I always thought you had to pay extra if you wanted builders to use a portaloo? OP, you need to check about the loo asap. I wouldn’t want builders traipsing up and down my stairs using my family bathroom either!

I left an old kettle, mugs, tea, coffee, sugar and a jug of milk on a tray each morning, also put down heavy plastic sheeting in the hall to the downstairs loo (hundred year old tiles!) they actually brought their own on the first day but I did say use mine, I didn’t provide biscuits but a few times I did bake cakes and leave them some

so presumed they’d set up temporary facilities outside

The builders wont set up their own toilet facilities outside unless this was written into your contract. A few options:
-hire a port-o-loo for the garden yourself. The company need reasonable access to drop them and a flat, hard surface at the front. They come weekly to clean it and replace toilet paper etc.

-Buy a camping toilet and set it up down stairs somewhere. You'd then have to empty it yourselves somewhere.
-Let them use your toilet

We were in a caravan with a toilet for some of the build and we said they could use that- but none ever did. I know some used the garden to urinate in and a nearby petrol station for the rest. This was until we got the portable loo sorted!

@7238SM thank you, we are going to ask on Monday and can organise ourselves if needed. If it’s just one or two of them, I can probably sort it if they’re respectable going up the stairs (cream carpets!) but it is a 6 week (at least) project and so could be a fair few of them.

They'll be fine with you making them a single cup of tea throughout the day and offering one plate of biscuits. If not then a diy tea tray is a great idea. But they'd be equally fine with nothing.