Does anyone else just hate having workmen in the house?

Well, having looked through most of these posts all I can add is this.
Putting up with work people is not the end of the world! And are you not you all lucky to be able to afford all these additional THINGS!
In fact I find this whole Post altogether too materialistic.
Give me the natural countryside any day.

Yes, loath it even with the nicest of workmen. I never know what to do with myself when they are in the house particularly if they are all over the house such as with boiler service and going back and forwards between boiler in kitchen and radiators in all rooms. Have to tell myself (1) to be grateful that I can get work done when needed (2) to get a grip -I'm nearly 80 for goodness sake!

Germanshepherdsmum

It is, Doodledog, a miracle after sad and anxious years for her parents. I didn’t dare start knitting for so long, in case, and I still hope I’m not jinxing things … still a way to go, but thank you. 🤞

Wonderful!

Blanket knitted by Nan, lovely! Soft little hands, sweet faces, and snuggles.

I went to my daughter's when they were putting in new central heating. My daughter was at work so my 2 Westies and I went up there during the day for the 4 days they were in the house. The ideal situation. The workmen got on without me and the dogs being under there feet and we came home at night to our own beds. My daughter lives 3 miles away.

My washing machine broke - guy came took details - ordered part - came back - spent ages fiddling around and realised he’d ordered wrong sized part!!! 😡😡😡😡totally agree - just hate workmen in home! Take ages, make a mess! Never stick to time lines! Now as we’ve hit the weekend spare part won’t be available until Monday or Tuesday! And he asked for prepayment!!😡😡😡😡

I expect the tradesmen hate. coming to our house more than I hate them coming; DH watches their every move, asking them questions about things and is generally overly interested. It drives me mad so it must be irritating to them. On the plus side, he makes them plenty of hot drinks.

Oh, that’s lovely- enjoy her❤️.

It is, Doodledog, a miracle after sad and anxious years for her parents. I didn’t dare start knitting for so long, in case, and I still hope I’m not jinxing things … still a way to go, but thank you. 🤞

Ah, he'll only be there for an hour or two, won't he? That's no bother - it's when they are there for days on end that it's a nuisance

I feel sorry for my poor husband after reading this. He’s a handyman/blind fitter I’m glad he doesn’t encounter some of you’s!

Is that a grandbaby, GSM? Congratulations, if so.

I think I am a minority here, I quite enjoy have people in. I happily make them drinks, bake a cake if they're here long enough, make a bit of conversation but mostly leave them to it. We are having some work done in a few weeks and I'm quite looking forward to it, especially as it will be impossible to cook for at least a week. Toast or takeaways will be a treat.

I daren’t think about how many more days there will be Dickens. A lot! But the knitting was a promise so it’s a blessing in disguise on days when I can’t garden. Babies wait for no woman!

Germanshepherdsmum

I have just survived Day One of the decorators - something we have always done ourselves in the past, but the ceilings in this house are just so high. I felt like a prisoner, sitting knitting in the kitchen - too wet to go out in the garden - but they’re nice chaps and it will be worth it in the end. Although I need to make progress with my knitting, I’m praying for good gardening weather soon!

Day One... how many more days do you have left?

Maybe you will have knitted the complete garment before they're finished? .

I sympathise about the ceilings - I lived in a flat with those. We did once manage to paint them, the Landlord said he would pay us to do the job if we were willing We were, and he did (handsomely) but, oh, what a job it was, it had ornamental cornicing around the edges and in the middle! But he was very happy with the result and bought us a bottle of champagne too!

I have always been wary of men in my house which I put down to having been a victim of sexual assault as a 6 year old.
I try to have a friend or a relative round if possible .
I now live with family so I don’t have to worry about it too much .

I can't relax in a house where there are people in one room and I'm stuck in another that has its own furniture and the contents of the one that's having work done crammed into it. I feel self-conscious if I put the TV on, I can't concentrate to read, and even trying to do things in the kitchen is difficult when people are in and out wanting water or to wash brushes in the sink. I hate having to get up early so I am dressed before they get here, and I've used the bathroom, had breakfast and tidied up. All my routines are thrown out, and whilst I'm not really a routine-based person I don't like having to second guess when I'll be able to wash up, or use my own facilities. Trying to work over Zoom is difficult too, as I don't like being overheard, and background noises are distracting.

I am fine for a day or two, but last time we had decorators in they were there for three weeks, by which time I was tearing my hair out. I went away for the last week as I couldn't bear it.

Oh yes, I can’t relax at all, and normally very chilled, hate hate hate it, I’m a pacer 🤣

I have just survived Day One of the decorators - something we have always done ourselves in the past, but the ceilings in this house are just so high. I felt like a prisoner, sitting knitting in the kitchen - too wet to go out in the garden - but they’re nice chaps and it will be worth it in the end. Although I need to make progress with my knitting, I’m praying for good gardening weather soon!

I don’t like it only because I’m worried about the dogs escaping. We live in a small town so find tradesmen don’t have the need to advertise and rely on word of mouth to secure work. I’m quite happy leaving them in the house but it is a relief when they go.

For me the advantage of having the job done completely outweighs the inconvenience. I know the job will be finished eventually so I don’t worry about it. What I do find stressful is living with things which need redecorating, repainting or repairing. Moving things around before a job is done isn’t a problem if you do it in advance in an organised way.

Doodledog

I am waiting for the carpenter to fit three new shelves - one long one for books, and two to go in a cupboard to store CDs . He was supposed to be coming today, so we moved hundreds of CDs out of a cupboard onto the dining room table, and I didn't sort out more books to go out to a charity collection that happened this morning. He didn't come. That's the sort of thing that I find maddening. We now have nowhere to eat tonight, and it will be a month before I can arrange another collection for the books. In my experience builders etc don't consider (or don't care about) the inconvenience of last minute changes of plan. It's just work for them, but it's home for their clients.

This, absolutely.

Today is the day the electricians planned to come and fit new ceiling lights in the kitchen.

'Mike' would be coming - late afternoon.

We planned our day - including a medical telephone appointment - around it. My partner is disabled, so a little planning is necessary.

I discover an email in my Inbox at 1100 am - could they change the time to 1200 mid-day... the exact time of the medical telephone appointment. Oh, and it will be 'James' and not 'Mike'.

I send an email - make it 1245, we are otherwise engaged. No response by 1130, so I call the telephone number - no answer. So I send a text message, still no reply. Then at 1230 a call from 'James' he will be here at 1245.

At 1320 - 'Mike' arrives, not 'James'.

Ten minutes later 'James' arrives... "is Mike here?"...

Disabled or not, I've given up and left it to my partner to deal with them - he can toddle around on his zimmer frame and look after them.

I can't make tea or coffee because the kitchen's covered in dust sheets. Our dust sheets - theirs are full of dust, apparently...

I don’t particularly enjoy it, but don’t hate it either - helps to remind myself they are making some necessary improvements!

I can't say I hate having workmen in but I'm always glad when they've been and gone.
I just keep out of the way and offer a drink and biscuits.

Just an inconvenience which I stoically put up with in order to have certain jobs done. Fortunately, neither of us are driven to regularly redecorate or to replace kitchens/bathrooms/carpets etc. Why bother if it's all OK? So it tends to be short term, either for boiler/burglar alarm annual servicing, or for one-off plumbing/electrical repairs. I'd never leave the house unattended though, although I'm sure the tradesman we regularly use are trustworthy. Just basic risk management, plus we're on site if there are any queries. .

Yes, I leave them to it, too. Depending on how long the job is likely to take, I either offer a drink early on and tell them to let me know if/when they want a refill, or tell them to help themselves, and leave out a tray with mugs, teabags, a cafetière, coffee and biscuits next to the kettle.

My carpenter has been and done the little tweaks I asked for. It took about an hour as he'd cut the wood in his workshop and came prepared, but the emptying of the shelves, the table being out of commission, the putting back of the things that came off etc have all taken a lot longer than that, and I think it's that sort of inconvenience that makes having work done such a chore.