Do you feed traders working in your home

And, without a kitchen, it was difficult.

Who else could provide?

I don't understand.
Do they live with you?
We employ local tradespeople, they have eaten before they come, have a lunch break, bring sandwiches or nip off to Gregg's, then go home.

I provide tea, coffee, biscuits, sometimes toast or cake.

And, as I mentioned earlier, an occasional child-mindng service!

Allira

Okdokey08

I feed them all the time, hot breakfast, proper lunch and have been known to do dinner… everyday plus tea, biscuits in between

Every day for weeks or months?

Really?

I do easy meals, they're here daily - far from food.

Who else could provide?

We believe happy content people work well.

Okdokey08

I feed them all the time, hot breakfast, proper lunch and have been known to do dinner… everyday plus tea, biscuits in between

Every day for weeks or months?

Really?

As a partner in a small to medium building business for over 40 years may I offer another point of view? My husband and I are past retirement age now so have reduced the business to just the two of us. My husband does the physical work and the estimating, and I do the book-keeping. When we had a much bigger firm, we contacted our clients before the work started and made it clear that our men had specific break times at 9.30, 12.30 and 3pm. The men would never ask for drinks or food. They would never play loud music, smoke or use bad language. Mobile phones were not the issue then that they are now.
They would need access to a w.c. and hand-washing facilities and drinking water. This would have been agreed with the client with the option of portaloos handwashing and drinking water or else the use of the client's own facilities if it was a small job. The portaloos etc. are factored in on larger jobs and are a health and safety requirement. They have to be paid for.
We have had brilliant client loyalty throughout our trading years.
What clients may not have anticipated is the fact that having people working in your home can feel very intrusive, even though we have always asked our people to be as invisible as possible. There might be a certain novelty for the first couple of days in creating extra tea breaks and providing food for the workers. Having people to chat to can also be a pleasant change to one's daily routine. After that, I promise you, it will become a pain. Please don't do it. The job will have been priced to allow the three regulation breaks. Every time the men stop for a nice chat and refreshments, outside of those set times, the business loses money. Building work is very expensive for the contractor and the client. You will get the same standard of work regardless of 'bribes'. If the work is not up to scratch or if the worker is not earning his keep then he will face some very difficult conversations with his employer, the work will have to be made good at the employer's expense. More money lost. So please be polite and friendly but remember the workers are there to do a job, let them get on with it without distraction.

It's just common British courtesy to offer any visitor to your home a cup of tea.

It goes a long way with tradesmen when you tell them they can use the loo and help themselves to tea and coffee.

Okdokey08

I feed them all the time, hot breakfast, proper lunch and have been known to do dinner… everyday plus tea, biscuits in between

Me too!

RedRidingHood

I have decorators in atm. I've been supplying endless mugs of tea but it never occurred to me to offer food. I don't have biscuits in because I don't eat them. Perhaps I should get some in!

They work better after a few biscuits!

Okdokey08

I feed them all the time, hot breakfast, proper lunch and have been known to do dinner… everyday plus tea, biscuits in between

Even when having a kitchen refitted? 😲

I feed them all the time, hot breakfast, proper lunch and have been known to do dinner… everyday plus tea, biscuits in between

Itg was the trades men who provided me with extras, The carpet layers laying a new stair carpet who loved Fray Bentos meat pies heard my electric tin opener making a hell of a noise on the Fray Bentos tin and rushed through to help an old woman in trouble in her kitchen
The painter in the sitting room heard me at the front door dealing with a persistent roaming roofer. The decorator who was a rugby player got rid of the roofer pdq .

I really enjoy feeding people in my house and I wish I had more energy to do it.

Menopauselbitch

Mel1967

No.
No tea, coffee or food.
I’m paying them to do a job, not eat & drink

I’ll bet you’re fabulous at parties 😂😂

I get the point re paying them to work - but I was trying to make sure I could get future tradespeople in (especially in a town with as much of a "grapevine" as this one has got!).

Also I've been treated appallingly by the employer I had to have for years and years. You name a way they could be nasty and they were to some of us (and that included me). I found the management stuff they used for their lower level management type people and they were deliberately telling them nasty tactics to use!!!!!! They were hateful hateful hateful to me and I longed for a big lottery ticket win or something and would have literally walked out the door the second I was sure of the money and sent my resignation letter back after me. I could write a list of their nasty tactics #shudders. They lied, they bullied, they were devious - whew!

My part-time jobs I had to have to earn more money (as I was single) gobsmacked me that they were actually pleasant to me. I nearly hit the floor at one of them come Christmas - where they were all standing round, having signed a communal card for me and gave me flowers and chocolate. That was so so different to how my main employer treated me - no wonder I was tearful at getting those presents showing appreciation.

So I do make a point of trying to be fair to tradespeople and the kettle goes on as soon as they turn up.

Mel1967

No.
No tea, coffee or food.
I’m paying them to do a job, not eat & drink

I’ll bet you’re fabulous at parties 😂😂

We have used the same workmen for a lot of jobs. We have a good rapport with them and have always given them tea's coffee biscuits and lunch. after a week of lunches when it got to Friday they offered to buy us something from the local fish and chip shop! My mother always taught me you have to keep the workers happy. A lot of her brothers and brother in laws were in the building trades.

My late mother always set a place at the table for workmen if they were there at mealtimes and they had what we were having. She was a farmer's daughter and that was the way they did it for their own workers and anyone working on the farm. I usually offer hot drinks and biscuits.
We had an extension built by someone working on his own, so he was with us for a while. There were teas, coffees, biscuits and cake. He had spent the previous year remodelling a home for a local 'celebrity ' and when I gave him a box of worms from my compost heap, (as he was going fishing the next day), I joked " I bet Mrs W never gave you worms" he said "Mrs W never gave me tea or coffee in the whole year. "

Tea, coffee or cold drinks in the summer. Biscuits and cake too.

I have decorators in atm. I've been supplying endless mugs of tea but it never occurred to me to offer food. I don't have biscuits in because I don't eat them. Perhaps I should get some in!

I wasn't brought up that way myself - unfortunately. I learnt some basic manners from my mother - but learnt the rest of the manners, a sense of humour and being sociable from anyone else I could. So I think it was the female friend that I met because she's my coulda-been mother-in-law that taught me all that and made sure I could pass muster LOL. She'd taught her son/my ex boyfriend impeccable manners and then she set about teaching me some too - I learnt.....

I always offer tea/coffee biscuits homemade soup etc. I am same as you,way I was brought up.

Mostly just a tea or coffee if they are there for a while. If the work doesn't take long they often decline - either they have flask or they stop off somewhere later I guess.
When we had an extension built the builders were there all day every day. I left tea and coffee out an asked them to help themselves as I had a young baby and would be busy with her. They not only helped themselves but often made me a coffee too! I missed them when the work was finished.

Most of the people who have worked for us have used their van to eat and drink - even when I've offered the kitchen, then the patio if it's nice, they seem to much prefer to be in their van.

LovesBach

Always hot drinks, and biscuits. When I had my bathroom refitted the men offered to install towel rails, bathroom cabinet etc. at the end of the job. They said it was because I had been 'so nice' to them. I thought that was the least I could do, to offer a drink and a biscuit, but it seems the previous customer wouldn't allow them to use her kettle, although they brought their own mugs and coffee, and they didn't usually get the offer of a drink from anyone.

😲 that was really mean wasn't it, LovesBach! I expect word has spread about her.

If I had to go out I showed them where the kettle/tea/coffee/ station was set up and left the biscuits with them anyway. I did have to remember to buy sugar.

Always tea/coffee/cold drinks. We don't usually eat biscuits or cake so have to buy it in if we remember. If they are only here for a few hours (eg boiler service) they get offered a coffee/tea when they arrive, that's about it.

We had three young men relaying our path last year and I offered them coffee every few hours. One of them told me he preferred not to drink most of the day, but his mates told him never to refuse incase they never get asked again 😁

I made hot sausage baps for breakfast for the men putting in our solar panels. I felt mean making them just for us when I knew they could smell the sausages cooking 😄The next day one of them told me he had eaten them both because his mate was veggie.

I do a bit of both. Have tea and coffee available , and I put out mugs etc and say that they can help themselves, so long as they wash up and leave it tidy. I also offer that they may sit in comfort to have their lunch, use what plates they want, so they can get fish and chips or whatever they bring and sit in the warm at the table and not have to sit out in the cold.

When I had people in actually sorting out the whole kitchen I chose to make some ginger parkin , which I left for them to help themselves to. My idea is do as you would be done by, and have always found workmen never take advantage of me and have washed up after themselves and left everywhere tidy, and have been grateful for the parkin.

My brother once years ago, spent nearly a whole day working in this womans house and she never even offered him a cup of tea, whilst making several for herself. He had his own stuff of course but personally I could not have had someone in my house and never even offered them a drink. Maybe I have been fortunate, but I have never had anyone take advantage of what I offered, and even , as one young man saw how difficult it was for me to move about, not only swept up all round where they had been working, but asked for the hoover and even hoovered my lounge for me, which they had not even been in, but saw how difficult it was for me. So we do what we feel comfortable with, but on a day like today, which has been really freezing cold, I would have invited anyone working at my house to eat inside .

ClicketyClick

I have a plumber and his mates in today and for next few days putting in a new boiler and other bits. As it was so very cold today I also gave them bacon cobs to help warm them up. They had brought their own sandwiches but I would have felt guilty doing hot food for just me today. Now I don't know if I should provide something hot tomorrow other than the usual drinks & biscuits. What would you do?

We had a plumber in doing a complete bathroom refurb. We made him sandwiches for lunch of the same quantity that we have & his response was "I normally have a lot more than that"!