Does anyone else just hate having workmen in the house?

I don't like it either, but needs must as we had a new shower room recently and obviously not something we could do ourselves. I kept him supplied with drinks and biscuits and a quick chat about how it was going. He was a lovely guy actually and he did a fantastic job but still, I was very glad to get the house back to myself.

I'm with SueD in that I make myself a wee haven in one of my other rooms. Most of my workpeople are long-standing and I think I would go out for short spells if necessary but I'd prefer not to. Hate the invasion. Love the results so sometimes needs must.

Our plasterer gave me an earful when I tapped on the bathroom door to ask if he'd like a cup of tea. I guess he was in full flow at the time!

DH favours the long screwdriver approach as he likes to feel "involved". This can lead to subversive muttering from the pros.

One thing that's useful when hidden pipes and cables are being installed is to take quick photos as a reminder of what goes where.

I don't think anyone enjoys it especially when the house is being knocked about, really knocked about. Two houses ago we had a loft extension put in which was pretty involved given requirements, a new staircase and leading to a bigger bedroom and bathroom at the top of the house. The builders at the time told us they would give us plenty of notice as to the knocking through of the ceiling. Did they hell! As I was leaving the house on the school run one morning to take my then five year old to school with my baby in tow, the head honcho builder said something along the lines of "where you going love and how long will you be?" me "School, then Sainsbury's about an hour" him "make it two love we're knocking your ceiling out, It'll be a bit dusty for a while" dust! dust! and more dust! like I'd never experienced before. That was definitely the worst! house was like a building site for quite a while, but I was younger then and probably could cope with it better than I would now.

We are fortunate as we only use tradesmen we know and use our local pub, they’ve all had keys in the past, so can get on when we’re not here. The exception was the kitchen refurbishment, when they needed us on hand for advice or unexpected issues. They all get kettle, mugs, their own tea/coffee/sugar and biscuits, bacon sandwiches have been known!

We are having the decorators in March.
It was fine, months ago when we asked him for a quote, but now it's looming, and I am not happy.
We have had him before, so know he does an excellent job, is a lovely chap and trustworthy.
It's just the early starts, as I'm not good at those any more.

I hate it and so be honest have not had much work done because of this.

I even hate more, which I am going through at the moment, plumbers who do not turn up, do not phone and have left me in the lurch.

We have a leak and rather them say they do not want or cannot do the job have just vanished.

In our last house we had a massive extension which doubled the footprint of the house. It was horrendous, we spent most of the budget on groundwork because there was some suggestion of movement, so we had to go and beg for more.
Then the builder disappeared, and we learned he’d gone bankrupt.
We had to hurriedly employ more builders, and although they were nice enough, they were useless, practically everything they did we had to have done again.
We got there eventually, but the cost had spiralled.
One thing we were sure of, was that we would never build another extension, fast forward, see this house, love it but it’s too small, so off we go again, but a lot of lessons had been learned.
We are having another single story extension in the spring, dreading it, but hopefully it will all be worth while.

o be honest, it doesn't bother me at all. I just let them get on with the job, while I get on with my day, but offer them coffee mid morning and mid afternoon.

However, we do have quite big house, big rooms rather than lots of rooms, so it is easier to be separate, when we have more space to share.

I hate it too (doesn't everyone?).

I get on well with my decorator, but even then, I feel I can't relax when she's working. I hate having everything moved about to clear space for whatever's being done, so the whole house is a mess. In the summer we had quite a lot of work done, and I went away for a chunk of it. Mr Dog was less keen to leave them to it, but forced himself to join me for a couple of days. I find it really stressful having people there - I don't even like going to the loo, and feel self conscious if I put the TV on when I'm banished into the sitting room to let them get on elsewhere.

Ha! We cross posted, M0nica, and I missed you saying it didn't bother you .

Next time you can house sit when I have anything done?

You all seem very happy with your tradesmen. I must be unfortunate.

I don’t hate having work people in, but I’m always glad when they’re finished. I would never leave them alone in the house though and go out. I prefer to be around.

Depends on the workmen really. Most of mine have been fine. The ones who repaved the patio weren't very sociable, mainly because they were mostly Romanian and spoke very little English. Did a great job though.

I recently had a leak in my central heating system which meant taking up the bathroom floor to get at the pipes. So I decided to bite the bullet and have the suite completely replaced. I also had to have a plasterer and an electrician in for other jobs. Like many of the posters here I feel really ambivalent about tradespeople in my home even though I knew the men in question. I'm fortunate to have a downstairs loo, so having the bathroom out of action was not a complete pain. There was a lot of banging and crashing. And of course workpeople never really "clean up" peoperly. I just paid my cleaner for a couple of hours extra work. I just looked forward to getting the jobs done.

The sprinkler system in all the flats here had to have remedial work done on them. It meant cutting holes in every ceiling in my flat. I hated the early starts putting everything away covering things up. The mess afterwards plaster dust every where. Just when I thought it was all finished they found another problem and the building is only 3 years old! I'm just waiting for them to find something else that's wrong.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

It seems like a lot of us feel the same way. It is difficult to have workmen in the house but it is a means to an end so just have to put up with it sometimes and be pleased when all the work is finished. I hope you will soon be enjoying your new bathroom.

I have an electrician coming this morning, I will wait for him, give him very explicit instructions, and go to work.
My heart will sink if I get home and his van is still in the driveway.

We’ve got to know a local reliable team of skilled workers. They are great and I provide drinks and bacon sandwiches at 11am. I have a chat and then try to keep out of the way in my tiny house unless they want another drink when offered.

The downside is the not knowing when they’ll finish and the expense especially with emergencies.

We have been lucky with most of our workmen as they have been quite quick but we have not had anything major done in the last five years.
DH normally hovers as he likes to supervise and / or learn.
Decorator is due in May and it is a friend of my son, a lovely guy. I have decided, hang the expense, I am going to put furniture into storage as we have no room in other rooms. Not sure how DH will cope with it all but it is so overdue and will be lovely when it is done.

I’ve a brilliant decorator, thanks to DD1. She has him in when she’s away on holiday, makes it easier with DGS1 around. I did get him to do too much at once last year, but lesson learned and just the lounge and outside booked for ‘23. The decorator in my last house, who I knew quite well, once rang me and said he was holding off painting DD2’s bedroom as the paint she’d chosen was a luminous pink and he ‘knew’ I wouldn’t like it - he was right!
I’m fine with my choice of gas and electric engineers, both are very helpful. Struggling with a chap who has been coming to replace posts in the garden fence - I’ll give him another chance, as he’s a recommendation. I’m really not bothered about the ‘invasion’ - it’s worth it for the end results, although can’t say I’m sad to see the job finished!

When we had our extension built we had workmen on the premises for twelve weeks and the noise and mess was horrendous. When the workmen left each afternoon DH would get the Henry out and vacuum everywhere and would then wash down all hard surfaces. It was a thankless task for him but it meant that we had a few hours in the evening without having to look at dirt.

I don't prefer anyone to be in our home apart from family.

We typically do for ourselves, except the actual physical building of extensions, mansard roof to loft, windows along backside, adding conservatory. We stay home while work is done. We've renovated what were 4 daughter bedrooms into 2 offices and 2 sitting rooms, plenty of space for each of us to get away.

I don't like it either and I feel worse the older I get. I hate having salesmen here too - seen quite a few of those lately and all were pushy and obnoxious.