Just being a grouch because I have a workman in my house.

ClicketyClick

CariadAgain - thanks for jogging my memory about fittings being too high. In my last house the bathroom wall mirror was put up at the height that suited the bathroom fitter. He disputed that it was too high for me until I showed him that, as at 5 feet nothing, I could just about see the top of my head .
You've got me worried about your ceramic tiles comment so could you explain further please as I'm having these on the bathroom floor. The fitter and tile company haven't commented on this being an issue being fitted on the existing concrete floor.
Regards the toilet, DH (who can't got through the night without a toilet visit) had said about a bucket in the shed. I'd like to see him traipsing down the garden in the middle of the night. I'm thinking also of the trades people having toilet facilities over the 2 weeks they will be here. This is partly why I'm considering hiring one of those portable chemical toilets. I'm gagging at the thought of putting our waste down the drain never mind other people's.

To me personally - I didnt want ceramic tiles on the bathroom floor anyway. I wanted vinyl.

My thoughts are that the damp they had created on my bathroom floor (because it hadnt dried out in the time they told me it would...) managed to "climb up" through the vinyl from the concrete floor and emerge the other side of the vinyl (ie though I think it was a year or two before it did so). There is, I would think, a degree of permeability to vinyl.

The concrete needed to breathe and warm up - as it dried out and - because it hadnt - then it got through my vinyl.

If I'd chosen ceramic tiles instead then I'm guessing it wouldnt ever have been able to "climb up through" and penetrate to the upper side of the ceramic tile and it would have taken a lot longer (I think) before I'd seen signs that the concrete underneath those tiles hadnt dried out properly before they were laid. That damp would have had to "go somewhere" and who knows when and how it would emerge and I'd see signs of it. I'm wondering whether the first I would have seen of it would have been when it "climbed" the bathroom walls and maybe headed through one of my walls into the back of my kitchen cabinets the other side of that wall iyswim.

If I were you - I'd put in a query to ChatGPT or similar and ask it how long it thinks a new concrete floor has to dry before ceramic tiles could be laid on top of it. You could also ask it what would happen if it hadnt dried properly before those tiles were put on it. That way you'd get a full handle on what was what for your particular choice of floor covering.

That bathroom fitter putting the mirror too low really wasnt very strong in the brainbox department was he? It's blimmin' obvious that the whole point of a mirror is to be able to look into it. Ditto obvious the person likely to be planning on looking into it most would be the woman - so check the height of the woman first before deciding where to place it. If in doubt - bear in mind the average height of a British woman is 5'4" (though I think the next generation or two after us might be a bit taller than that).

I had a tradesman in (inadvertently) once who was far from the worlds brightest button. I was told by the bathroom firm that I could employ the guy they used to plaster the bathroom subsequently to paint it for me if I wanted. I decided to do so. Now I've had my entire house painted in what I feel is the most suitable colour for me and my sorta Scandinavian tastes - so it's all (supposed to be) Dulux Jasmine White. So that's the colour I said.

That guy asked me numerous times - more than 10 - what colour and I repeated myself again. I had expected him to write it down somewhere to help him remember it. I was gobsmacked that he kept asking and asking and asking and he even turned up specially outa the blue one evening and asked me yet again - so I wrote it down for him that time.

I realised, after he'd painted it - that it wasnt that colour. It was a shade of white - but a different one! I also caught him in the act at the end of the painting throwing the chemical he'd used to clean off his paintbrushes over the earth in my garden!!!!!!!! I yelled blue murder obviously about that - especially given I'd certainly said to him in conversation I'd be growing a bit of fruit and vegetables (organically of course) in my garden. I think I might have said I'd paid for a truckload of earth in my garden too - as it was a poor bare desolate garden that had just had a few "old lady" shrubs in it before and there wasn't one single sign of life (not even an earthworm) and it was obvious previous owner had used chemicals on the garden!!! Hence my sheer horror when he ignored my "It's all gonna be food...it's all gonna be natural" thing and thrown a chemical on my expensive "new" soil. I lost my temper VERY bigtime at that point. In hindsight - daylight dawned that he'd been "forever on the ask" about the paint colour I said to him because he couldnt write it down - he couldnt read and write. That must be why he asked me the exact same question about 15 times!

I'd never encountered anyone who couldnt read and write before...I'd barely heard about it in fact. Even my 80 IQ erstwhile brother could read as far as I knew (though I never once recall seeing him do so - but our father would have definitely commented about that to me somewhere along the line if it had been the case). Hence I hadnt quite believed that there are people who can't do so. I'd literally never encountered that before to my knowledge.

I guess he'd only gone into that type of job as he couldnt do any other. NB; Not saying that's the case for anyone else before someone decides to misinterpret and get annoyed. Cue for latest tradesperson I had in was a female plumber - and there was no flies whatsoever on her. She didn't miss much - not surprisingly - given that she'd retrained from starting work in Customs & Excise and had to leave the job and retrain as they kept swopping those people on to varying duties and renaming them. When they said to her "You're to be Border Force now - out in our boats in the English channel dealing with the 'traffic' coming over from France!" she had a fit at being made to do a job against her conscience and promptly retrained and left. She even spent some time working (apprenticing) for free to a Council to help herself retrain away from Border Force and stop helping those boats against her will. No flies on her at all...

I just added a bit onto my question in ChatGPT - and it boiled down to being safe by waiting up to 10 weeks and then "moisture testing" to be sure the concrete is dry before putting those tiles down. Yep....the tiles will be mucked up if they're put down before that concrete is dry enough.

Oreo

Doodledog

I don't think anyone is afraid of tradesmen, are they? I'm not. At the risk of repeating myself, I just don't like having my space invaded - it's really as simple as that.

That’s exactly it for me.

But most of us have people in and out of our houses, friends and family, including the nes we do notlike, if your teenage grandaughter brings an unknown friend or boyfriend, you welcome them in. Wht is the difference between them and a tradesman?

I usually chat with my workmen. Not endlessly but when they come, before they go, when I take them refreshments. They are just ordinary people.

Unlike DeeDaa, we have never owned a building company, but we are serial old house restorers so we do know uite a bit about the work being done and can discuss methods and materials with our tradesmen.

Today our specialist plasterer and I discovered we were both in several of the specialist house restorer sites and we had a conversation about some of the most regular posters, some of whom he knows professionally.

Flippinheck

Does anyone else hate having workmen / women in their home? I am having a new gas boiler installed in my kitchen which will also include substantial work in my only bathroom and take two days. The fitter seems nice enough but my entire downstairs is already upside down with equipment strewn everywhere. He has a radio on in the kitchen, drowning out my tv where I am watching reruns of the Olympics (because I can’t do anything else but sit and wait for the job to be done). 25 mins ago he took a call, obviously from a partner or girlfriend and is still on that call. I call that unprofessional and ill mannered, and will mean he is here for that much longer. All this with my front and back doors wide open, as if it not cold enough already.
How do you cope with this sort of thing?

I'm with you on this one.I hate having work people in the house.It makes me feel really uncomfortable and I don't know where to put myself.I feel as though they've invaded my space.It just feels awkward and I can't wait til they've gone!

Close the doors - unless he is actually changing gas pipes they do not need to be open

Ask him to turn the radio down

If he is chatting on the phone, go a stand next to him; tap your wrist if he is really chatting - are you on a fixed price? If not remind him you are paying for his time. Or go and boil your kettle and suggest if he is on a break, he might want a coffee.

If his things are really in your way, may a point of tidying them back to his tool box

But most of us have people in and out of our houses, friends and family, including the nes we do notlike, if your teenage grandaughter brings an unknown friend or boyfriend, you welcome them in. Wht is the difference between them and a tradesman?

You really aren’t listening are you? I have said more than once that visitors don’t turn off the power, or go in bedrooms, or be where you want to be. They don’t roll up your carpets or start drilling just as you start to work online. You are talking to them, not keeping out of the way so they can get on with their work.

Of course people talk to tradesmen and see them as ordinary people. What makes you think you are the only one? Not enjoying having your space invaded does not equate to seeing tradesmen as ‘other’, for heaven’s sake. It’s just liking privacy.

Quite Doodledog - just liking privacy. Not forgetting security concerns. Just because anything that goes missing whilst they are there would obviously be their doing doesnt mean they'll have sense enough to realise that and not steal.

I've come home (back in bedsit days) to find a book missing - which could only have been done by either the landlords workman or the neighbour that got left on supervisor duties.

I've walked upstairs back in my last house in time to spot an electrician straightening up very fast - as he'd been bent over a locked chest I'd put my real jewellery etc in whilst he was working in the house and hastily telling me for some strange reason totally irrelevant to the job that he was a "Christian". I don't think so...he had sussed I'd got valuables in there and was after them. I didnt report him for that - but I found out not long after he'd been sacked (I don't know why) from that electrical firm - so can only assume I was right that he was what I call "a thief rather than a person".

I've paid a removal firm (booked small local one - but found THE nationally known one turning up instead for some reason) to help me move over here and paid them to do my packing for me. My property included 2 full bottles of vodka when they started packing - but those bottles didnt turn up at my end (I managed to get paid for them when I pointed out to head of the firm they'd stolen them off me).

So yep....and I won't be the only one with tales like that - and hence why some of us are wary and on edge when we've got workmen in - because stuff like that has happened to us.

TheHappyGardener

Blimey!!! There’s an awful lot of grumpy gransnetters on here!!!! Not letting tradesmen listen to their radios??!! I can only imagine the conversations they have about you all when they go home to their families! 😂

It’s not the families the grouches need to worry about, it’s the chat between the workers ( different companies) have between each other.
This happened to a neighbour of mine. The word went round the plumbers in our area as to what a grouch she is.
She has a problem getting a plumber when she needs one.

petra

TheHappyGardener

Blimey!!! There’s an awful lot of grumpy gransnetters on here!!!! Not letting tradesmen listen to their radios??!! I can only imagine the conversations they have about you all when they go home to their families! 😂

It’s not the families the grouches need to worry about, it’s the chat between the workers ( different companies) have between each other.
This happened to a neighbour of mine. The word went round the plumbers in our area as to what a grouch she is.
She has a problem getting a plumber when she needs one.

Word gets 'round if the house is 'dry' too!

Can someone point to where posters have been grouches please?

People have sympathised with the OP who finds having people in her house stressful. We have been accused of ‘othering’ trades, of not seeing them as human, of behaving in ways likely to get us boycotted, and more. It’s ridiculous . Does nobody read the actual posts any more?

Quite Doodledog - there are good and there are bad tradespeople out there. One wonders whether we are allowed to "set the rules" in our own homes or just accept unnecessarily open doors, loud radios, theft even, total unreliability.

We are doing our bit if we are keeping out of the way, making drinks at reasonable intervals, expecting that our possessions remain safe and the tradesperson turns up when they say they will. Our part of the bargain is being as clear as we have the knowledge to be specifying what we want, pay promptly (after inspecting the standard of the work to ensure it's been done properly), provide those reasonable number of drinks, be there when we say we will be, pay a bit extra if we want to change one of our specifications during the job.

We had builders and decorators here for five months last year (inside and out)

I had to mentally prepare beforehand and realise that my home would be a different place whilst they were here and look forward to the finished product.

They were all considerate (the main guys were Eastern European). We decided to go away for 12 days when the entire downstairs floor was taken up. Had no worries about leaving them with the key and alarm fob, they had our mobile numbers we had theirs.

win

Flippinheck

Well, Keepingquiet thanks for the telling off. FYI, British Gas insist on someone being present while the work is done so I can’t leave. Having a new boiler is not filling me with joy, nor is the extortionate bill. Anyway, have a good day.

You certainly are grouchy and a bit touchy too Flippingheck
!!!

Yep, I can only agree. But that was yesterday. Fitter is back today to finish the job and apart from being cold, I am not so strung out.

We had a man in our house last week to do some renovations in our kitchen. The job was supposed to take under two days. We live in a bungalow so the room isn’t too large.

Within the first half an hour, he asked if he could use the toilet. We only have one and whilst I wasn’t too happy about this, I felt I couldn’t refuse. He was in there nearly 10 mins and when he came out, the stink he left behind him was awful. He also stank of cigarettes and at least once an hour, went to sit in his car for 5/10 mins having one.

We left him to it overnight as the kitchen was unusable and when we returned the next day, the job was less than half finished. He then had to rush to get it done in order to finish by 6:00pm, consequently the finish on some of the fillers is very poor. Unfortunately, there were a couple of doors that weren’t the right size so he couldn’t fit these and said he’d come back at a later date. Consequently, we decided to keep some money back from his ‘cash’ fitters fee. We then contacted the company the next day to say we didn’t want him back and they needed to send someone else to finish the job. If he had spent all the time he wasted outside smoking, the job would have been finished earlier and probably to a better standard. This was time we were paying for!

I should add that this is as a national company, not some local cowboys so we were very disappointed.

GrannyGravy13

We had builders and decorators here for five months last year (inside and out)

I had to mentally prepare beforehand and realise that my home would be a different place whilst they were here and look forward to the finished product.

They were all considerate (the main guys were Eastern European). We decided to go away for 12 days when the entire downstairs floor was taken up. Had no worries about leaving them with the key and alarm fob, they had our mobile numbers we had theirs.

Five months! We had it for a few weeks recently, and that was bad enough.

I was polite to them at all times, put out coffee and biscuits and told them to help themselves, didn't complain when my routine was disrupted and generally behaved like a civilised person. I saw them as human, didn't 'other' them, and fully understood that I had invited them in to do a job of work which would make me happy when it was done. I went away for a fortnight when the bathroom was being refitted, as it was summertime and it seemed like a good idea.

I still found it stressful though, and sympathise with the OP, which is the point of this thread.

"I should add that this is as a national company, not some local cowboys so we were very disappointed."

The trouble is Marriedalongtime 'national companies do frequently subcontract out to 'cowboys'. Can be the luck of the draw as to who will turn up. Fingers crossed for you, hope all goes well.

I try to be very polite and pleasant to workmen .
I offer tea and coffee with biscuits or cake .
As the local cafe was closed I've made sandwiches before-mainly because I want them to finish the work and not go home !

Their behaviour is really patchy .
First if all , after accepting the job they've not turned up .
I've had to tell them not to swear and turn the radio down before as my father used to get upset.My mother also used to get stressed if they were noisy .

The last guy that worked for me never stopped complaining about his childhood. It's all I heard .
It was hard to get away from him .
He wanted constant praise and encouragement.
Counselling was needed .

His work was okay at first and then ,became reluctant to come then, increasingly ill tempered .He swore a great deal .He was very slow and became slower and slower .

And finally , he walked out .

Since then,he'd like to come back and work for me ,but I'm not going through another period of his moods and tempers .

I certainly know how the OP felt .

I fully understand, I don't like workmen in the house especially ones that don't take their shoes off!
The exception is my painter and decorator - he is great. Makes no mess, just cracks on and gets the job done. If it's a longish job he will take a break and sit in his van with his flask and sandwich. I always offer him a hot drink or whatever but he says he always just brings his own.
He'll have a little chat to be sociable when he arrives but no complaints.
On top of that his charges are very reasonable.
Only snag is he is very busy so you have to keep on to him to fit you in.
About 11 years ago. in a different house, I had a nightmare worker in. He was recommended by a neighbour as an all round handyman/joiner/decorator and was dreadful. He moved a wooden coffee table in front of the gas fire and put his paint brushes to dry on it, which charred the table, he moved a hanging bulb and shade to paint a ceiling and the shade burnt on the bulb. He painted one wall and turned the radiator back on. The paint all blistered and he painted another coat on top.
I managed to get rid of him eventually but the final disaster was in the bathroom after I'd managed to curtail him and dispense with his services.
He'd taken the shower door off to do something in the bathroom and put it back on the wrong way. (I hadn't realised this) I got out of the shower and pushed the door and it shot out of the fixings and smashed the toilet seat. Fortunately I wasn't in front of it. I still have the mental scars!!

Wondering what experience people have had with female tradies?

In all these years I've basically had only one that was - despite my last location being a modern city.

I shall be trying again though after my female plumber I had in the other day. Turned up when she said she would (in this unreliable area) and had given me as precise a time as she could both times (not a vague "afternoon" - cue for me thinking "That could be half a day vanished just waiting"). There was a mini problem with the job itself - but fully explained to me. She wasn't going to charge me for the second time she had to turn up because of this (I paid her something to cover her time though). Requested a cloth for mopping up partway through with the leak and, when she saw me coming with a clean teatowel - chose the identical one I was already using (ie to save me having to wash another cloth). I'm so used (upset) to workmen who think nothing of creating extra housework for me and have got the idea from somewhere there's a "1950s housewife" sharing my home with modern day "person" me and that housewife will be available whenever they choose and seem shocked there's only a "person - sex irrelevant - and other things to do with my time than deal with work" living here. Even cracked a genuine joke at me on her way back out finished and told me to call her back anytime I needed.

That's one I shall use again if I need to. Admitted my house is - pretty obviously - literally round the corner from THE best-off road in this town and so it makes utter sense to cultivate a customer that lives near people with that much money and many of whom are currently having "work" done on many of their houses. She was intelligent enough to realise I'm probably on friendly terms with a few of them (yep...).

Now that's what I call a sensible approach by a tradie.

My husband is a tiler, he’d leave 100ml concrete floor a good 4 weeks/month to dry out before tiling.

Thanks Jax - from the horses mouth...errm....well you know what I mean (insert nicer term....).

I've had a female gardener for 5 or 6 years and she's been a vast improvement on the previous two male ones whose notion of "clipping" and "pruning" was to attack with a massive electric hedge trimmer and leave all my ornamental shrubs looking like they'd been scalped.. It's a small and quite low-maintenance garden and current gardener keeps it looking good.

One of my old school friends worked for around 50 years as a painter and decorator. She never worked for me because we lived too far apart but she always had more work than she could handle and people always asked her back for the next job. I've seen some of her work in public buildings in her town and I'd say it's done to a pretty high standard. She's mid seventies now and hung up her overalls a couple of years ago.

Flippinheck

win

Flippinheck

Well, Keepingquiet thanks for the telling off. FYI, British Gas insist on someone being present while the work is done so I can’t leave. Having a new boiler is not filling me with joy, nor is the extortionate bill. Anyway, have a good day.

You certainly are grouchy and a bit touchy too Flippingheck
!!!

Yep, I can only agree. But that was yesterday. Fitter is back today to finish the job and apart from being cold, I am not so strung out.

DoodleDog
You asked can someone point to where posters have been grouches
Unless my eyes are deceiving me Flippinheck has agreed with Win that she was grouchy and a bit touchy

Grandmabatty

I sympathise with you. I live alone and enjoy my own company so I don't like workmen in the house. I particularly dislike them using my toilet! I know they can't help it and I grit my teeth but it annoys me. The one exception is the man who does all my painting and decorating. Hes a friend of the family and so I don't mind him. However I still go out when get working, if I can.

I find it very difficult to relax with workmen in the house, however nice they are and I am not keen on them using my toilet, even though it is totally unreasonable of me.

My decorator is a woman. She is easy to have around, and tidies up after herself. So have most of the male tradies I've used though. The only negative is that she quotes by the day, but fits her working hours around the school run, so arrives later and leaves earlier than usual. I'm used to that now, though, so I don't mind. I can't really say there is a sex-based difference that I can think of, other than we chat about different things at lunchtime. We often eat together if I am in the house when she's here.

I think the difference is that a decorator is doing one room at a time, so it's easy not to be in one another's way. They don't turn power on and off, or leave doors open. Heating, wiring, building, and some types of plumbing can involve access to the whole house, and that's when it gets stressful. All of that is the case regardless of the sex of the people concerned.