Builders, Decorators and Tradesmen/Women

Too true Monica!

Since we moved in 28 years ago, updated and decorated as we could afford, he’s announced after the completion of each job, that’s the last time I’ll be doing THAT!

Fortunately for him I’m not a wife who wants a new kitchen/bathroom every few years so it’s more maintenance these days. He happily trots around his domain looking for work and I’m glad he’s still able to!

The problem - or not Pantglas2 is that handymen eventually grow old. DH, by profession is an engineer, and i swear he was born clutching a screwdriver. For 55 years almost everything around the house was done by him. His specialty is electrics, but he hates plumbing.

Sadly, though, a point gets reached where old age and infirmity mean the handyman can no longer do what he did and help is needed.

Gosh!

Reading all the above posts has made me realise that my dad was right when he advised me to marry a handyman rather than a rich man! When I asked why, he said the rich man could lose his money but the handyman would always be handy!

The only job my husband hasn’t done on PG Towers is a new roof 18 months ago but fortunately his roofing mates only took four days and didn’t need to come indoors. Copious amounts of tea and cake were a small price to pay for their efficiency!

With any interior alterations dragging on due to late deliveries etc I was forever being told how fortunate I was to be sleeping with the builder as it meant he’d get the job done in double quick time if only to stop the nagging…🤬

I don't like 'having people in' either, but like others we have got the house ready to enter our 70s with no major disruption left, we hope. Well, apart from the new windows I am putting off getting done, and we should really replace the garage 😢.

We had the kitchen done a couple of years ago (time flies - it feels like yesterday!) and it took a lot longer than expected. It was very stressful, as it ran perilously close to Christmas, the contents of the kitchen were in the dining room, and we were having the bedrooms decorated at the same time.

As with Flippineck's men the first thing they did was use the downstairs loo, and once one couldn't wait so used the upstairs one at the same time as his mate was downstairs. I could have cried. I suppose their digestive systems were used to going an hour or so after their breakfast, which would be used travelling to work. It was very intrusive though.

We went out for breakfast every day to get out of the way, which was quite nice at first, but got wearing when it snowed and the novelty had worn off. It was expensive, too. The power was turned on and off without warning, so the heating went off and the house got cold, and when I could put the heating on they would go out to their van and leave the front door open to let the cold air in. I couldn't settle to anything, as I never knew when someone would come in and comment on what I was doing (that really unsettles me), and in any case the Internet/TV/lights/water could go off without warning. I really longed for them to just Go Away . The decorators arrived towards the end, having been booked to come when they (should have) left. They were very understanding, and did the bedrooms first, and the kitchen after Christmas, which was kind, but meant that we couldn't even escape upstairs as that was colonised too.

We have most recently had a boot room fitted out with cupboards, and the decorators left last week after a gap of a few weeks. It was a lot less traumatic than the kitchen, but I was still relieved when we got the house to ourselves again. I think it's having people with access to all areas that is stressful.

Oh, well we don't have a cleaner, although I should have had a deep clean after a kitchen renovation instead of DIY! Climbing on stools, moving furniture etc.

However, I did draw the line at DIY the kitchen this time, although we have done that more than once, rewired a house, DH dug foundations for an extension (with the help of 2 year old DD 😁).

Flippinheck

Norah

Flippinheck

About two years ago I had to have the DPC done in my house. I live alone and hate having strangers in my home. This experience, which was over three weeks, was nothing short of traumatising and not just because of the absolutely horrendous mess it made.
To be fair the three workers were cheerful and hardworking. But, this is a small two bedroom house with a single bathroom. These men turned up at 8am prompt, thankfully giving me time to get out of the bathroom before they arrived. At about 8:30 the first of these men would visit the bathroom and after a long stay would emerge, leaving the door open and allowing the house to fill with noxious smells. The other two followed suit at 30 min intervals and similar results. I would then wait for their tea break (taken in their van) before I could rush upstairs for a wee, but not before I had wielded the toilet cleaner to remove the disgusting remains of their visits and open the window. This happened every day to the point where I still wonder if it was deliberate.
Then I had a decorator for my living room who made a terrible job and destroyed a light switch.
The electrician who came to repair the light switch, and other things, did a grand job but never stopped talking. He nearly drove me insane.
This is why my step ladders are ready, the paint brushes are all clean and Amazon has delivered a big can of white paint. I will do it myself if at all possible. After that things, like me, can gently decay.

Sounds horrible. People have different tolerance to tradespeople underfoot and some trades are just horrible.

DIY is good alternative. Brushes and ladders are user friendly.

Well, I am all for a bit of diy and have just finished repainting my dining room and stairs, using my brushes and ladders. But they wouldn’t have been much use for the damp proof course. Any attempt by me to fix that would probably have ended in demolition.

DIY is good for many things and not for a few others.

We'll keep up DIY until we're not able. We're ladder capable.

We pay cleaners and garden help, those may be DIY to others?

Norah

Flippinheck

About two years ago I had to have the DPC done in my house. I live alone and hate having strangers in my home. This experience, which was over three weeks, was nothing short of traumatising and not just because of the absolutely horrendous mess it made.
To be fair the three workers were cheerful and hardworking. But, this is a small two bedroom house with a single bathroom. These men turned up at 8am prompt, thankfully giving me time to get out of the bathroom before they arrived. At about 8:30 the first of these men would visit the bathroom and after a long stay would emerge, leaving the door open and allowing the house to fill with noxious smells. The other two followed suit at 30 min intervals and similar results. I would then wait for their tea break (taken in their van) before I could rush upstairs for a wee, but not before I had wielded the toilet cleaner to remove the disgusting remains of their visits and open the window. This happened every day to the point where I still wonder if it was deliberate.
Then I had a decorator for my living room who made a terrible job and destroyed a light switch.
The electrician who came to repair the light switch, and other things, did a grand job but never stopped talking. He nearly drove me insane.
This is why my step ladders are ready, the paint brushes are all clean and Amazon has delivered a big can of white paint. I will do it myself if at all possible. After that things, like me, can gently decay.

Sounds horrible. People have different tolerance to tradespeople underfoot and some trades are just horrible.

DIY is good alternative. Brushes and ladders are user friendly.

Well, I am all for a bit of diy and have just finished repainting my dining room and stairs, using my brushes and ladders. But they wouldn’t have been much use for the damp proof course. Any attempt by me to fix that would probably have ended in demolition.

As a fit healthy 80 plus. I cannot do DIY or anything energetic the way I did.

When we bought our last house 30 years ago , i would spend all morning, from 8.00-12.00 doing decorating, ceiling painting etc, have my lunch and then work until 6.00 clearing a huge overgrown garden.

One of the reasons we moved was that the care of the large well-tended work was getting too much. After an hours gardening I needed to sit down for half an hour and recover. if i\ did too much I am tired out the following day.

This is why we took our current house on knowing it would not be us doing the renovating. Instead we have a steady flow of tradesmen through the house. There is one getting the moss off the roof and pressure washing the front of th house as I type. I am just about to get him another cup of tea. It is freezing cold outside and, like me, he suffers from Raynauds syndrome in his fingers and outside work in this weather must be a misery.

Norah

M0nica

David49

All our up dating was done 5 yrs ago so all the heavy work is done for our dotage, its just decorating and maintenence from time to time and we can do that ourselves.

Well, you can, now, but when you get over 85 you may no longer be able to.

Depends on when one ages. We're all different.

Our grandparents were still active into their 90s.

Only a small minority of people born in the late 1800s lived until their 90s, fewer of that number could still look after themselves well at home and a very tiny percentage would still have been climbing ladders, decorating, doing DIY etc.

So having both sets of your grandparents was very fortunate indeed, especially to be doing their own DIY in their 90s.

We extended our kitchen. Estimated timescale six weeks, reality nearer 15 before the decorator could finish .
For one week we lived in the front sitting room with a kettle and microwave (and three dogs)
I’m sitting in the was kitchen now family and kitchen room. What was the garage is now a utility, plus walk in shower, toilet sink. The side door means I can walk the dogs onto the slate floor, into the shower.a tall dog safety gates means they can be dried off before coming into the rest of the house.
I found it all consuming but 12 years on, I’ve counted my blessings daily. It’s a great space, designed by me 🐶🐕😇

Hang on in there GG13, all will be wellx

M0nica

David49

All our up dating was done 5 yrs ago so all the heavy work is done for our dotage, its just decorating and maintenence from time to time and we can do that ourselves.

Well, you can, now, but when you get over 85 you may no longer be able to.

Depends on when one ages. We're all different.

Our grandparents were still active into their 90s.

Reading through these comments, I’m so glad it’s not just me who dislikes ‘having men in’. I really don’t know what to do with myself and usually invent jobs to do, possibly trying to display a work ethic, while Me F is ok reading or watching tv.

David49

All our up dating was done 5 yrs ago so all the heavy work is done for our dotage, its just decorating and maintenence from time to time and we can do that ourselves.

Well, you can, now, but when you get over 85 you may no longer be able to.

All our up dating was done 5 yrs ago so all the heavy work is done for our dotage, its just decorating and maintenence from time to time and we can do that ourselves.

Memory, not memoirs.

We had workmen in for three months last year, after our house was flooded. Thankfully, it was summer, because it would have been utter misery in winter with downstairs a building site all through, outside doors open, no inside walls etc. I had no kitchen for most of that time.

We made a little nook for ourselves in a bedroom, with a breakfast bar and a garden bistro set to eat meals on and I fashioned a system for washing up in the bathroom, plus used paper plates and wooden cutlery quite a lot. We ate ready meals, I was so sick of them by the end of three months.

The workmen were lovely, very helpful and there were no loo issues as the cloakroom had to be removed so they had a portaloo outside on the drive. A neighbour complained about it being unsightly. Did they think I wanted a toilet sitting on my drive??

Probably the most difficult aspect was that we had two kittens, which we had to keep in a bedroom for much of the time, for safety. I’m sure you’ll think why on earth get kittens at that time, but we’d booked them well from a breeder before the flood took place, so had no option but to take them.

It was a relief when it was all done, though the chaps kept popping back in for small jobs for weeks afterwards! It’s a fading memoirs now, thank goodness.

Flippinheck

About two years ago I had to have the DPC done in my house. I live alone and hate having strangers in my home. This experience, which was over three weeks, was nothing short of traumatising and not just because of the absolutely horrendous mess it made.
To be fair the three workers were cheerful and hardworking. But, this is a small two bedroom house with a single bathroom. These men turned up at 8am prompt, thankfully giving me time to get out of the bathroom before they arrived. At about 8:30 the first of these men would visit the bathroom and after a long stay would emerge, leaving the door open and allowing the house to fill with noxious smells. The other two followed suit at 30 min intervals and similar results. I would then wait for their tea break (taken in their van) before I could rush upstairs for a wee, but not before I had wielded the toilet cleaner to remove the disgusting remains of their visits and open the window. This happened every day to the point where I still wonder if it was deliberate.
Then I had a decorator for my living room who made a terrible job and destroyed a light switch.
The electrician who came to repair the light switch, and other things, did a grand job but never stopped talking. He nearly drove me insane.
This is why my step ladders are ready, the paint brushes are all clean and Amazon has delivered a big can of white paint. I will do it myself if at all possible. After that things, like me, can gently decay.

Sounds horrible. People have different tolerance to tradespeople underfoot and some trades are just horrible.

DIY is good alternative. Brushes and ladders are user friendly.

Flippinheck

About two years ago I had to have the DPC done in my house. I live alone and hate having strangers in my home. This experience, which was over three weeks, was nothing short of traumatising and not just because of the absolutely horrendous mess it made.
To be fair the three workers were cheerful and hardworking. But, this is a small two bedroom house with a single bathroom. These men turned up at 8am prompt, thankfully giving me time to get out of the bathroom before they arrived. At about 8:30 the first of these men would visit the bathroom and after a long stay would emerge, leaving the door open and allowing the house to fill with noxious smells. The other two followed suit at 30 min intervals and similar results. I would then wait for their tea break (taken in their van) before I could rush upstairs for a wee, but not before I had wielded the toilet cleaner to remove the disgusting remains of their visits and open the window. This happened every day to the point where I still wonder if it was deliberate.
Then I had a decorator for my living room who made a terrible job and destroyed a light switch.
The electrician who came to repair the light switch, and other things, did a grand job but never stopped talking. He nearly drove me insane.
This is why my step ladders are ready, the paint brushes are all clean and Amazon has delivered a big can of white paint. I will do it myself if at all possible. After that things, like me, can gently decay.

We had similar with one of the removal team a couple of houses ago. We'd given the whole house a thorough clean, special attention to bathrooms. One visited the loo for an extended period returning with "sorry I went for a curry last night" and oh my God a bit like your experience Flippinheck, horrible, one of us had to address that, we wanted the house to be as clean as possible for our buyers. Thankfully I've never had a repeat experience of that nature.

Gosh Flippinheck, you were unlucky. In the last three months we have had over 12 different workmen from about 7 different trades in and around our house. All have been a delight to know and have round the house, meticulously clean and considerate.

You really have been very unlucky.

About two years ago I had to have the DPC done in my house. I live alone and hate having strangers in my home. This experience, which was over three weeks, was nothing short of traumatising and not just because of the absolutely horrendous mess it made.
To be fair the three workers were cheerful and hardworking. But, this is a small two bedroom house with a single bathroom. These men turned up at 8am prompt, thankfully giving me time to get out of the bathroom before they arrived. At about 8:30 the first of these men would visit the bathroom and after a long stay would emerge, leaving the door open and allowing the house to fill with noxious smells. The other two followed suit at 30 min intervals and similar results. I would then wait for their tea break (taken in their van) before I could rush upstairs for a wee, but not before I had wielded the toilet cleaner to remove the disgusting remains of their visits and open the window. This happened every day to the point where I still wonder if it was deliberate.
Then I had a decorator for my living room who made a terrible job and destroyed a light switch.
The electrician who came to repair the light switch, and other things, did a grand job but never stopped talking. He nearly drove me insane.
This is why my step ladders are ready, the paint brushes are all clean and Amazon has delivered a big can of white paint. I will do it myself if at all possible. After that things, like me, can gently decay.

We used to DIY.

How do you still manage it in your 80s, Norah? 😲

What do you do when you have men in 🤷‍♀️?

We DIY.

If we must have trades invade we pray for fast completion.

GrannyGravy13

Allira yep, the cleaning company is booked 👍🏻

Well done!

Allira yep, the cleaning company is booked 👍🏻

I must say, I'd known ours since they were at school with our children which made a difference 😁