To(i)let or not to (i) let, that is the question.

My son is an electrician and is one of the cleanest people I know, his friends and workmates are also clean. As for not letting workmen use a bathroom in a house they are working in, I have heard many stories about the workmen not using bathrooms because they are so dirty. This is also why, according to my son, they do not accept drinks and food at many houses. Not suggesting that this the case with any of the posters on here but just giving the other point of view.

I can't say I like workmen using our loo, but I wouldn't dream of asking them not to. Supposing they have issues that mean they're unable to hold it long enough to walk to the cafe? And they can hardly just go there and use the loo and they may not want to stop and eat, they probably want to get the job done and get gone.
I think the best thing would be to let them get on with it and when they've gone give everywhere a good clean and disinfect.

Not flushing? He sounds like a revolting pig!

And as for handing over Lunch Money.....no, no, no. He gets paid for Heavens sake.

Just dole out tea & biccies, if you must, but I'd be loathe to do that much after the business about the loo.

We must be lucky - our workmen either take their dirty boots off or, if they have to walk over carpets, spread cloths or special protective flooring down.

I would never dream of asking anyone who came to the house either as a friend or as a workman not to use our toilet.

I have however noticed that a lot of people feel differently about this, but I feel it is carrying cleanliness to far.

IMO you are completely justified in asking them to flush the toilet after each use. A lot of us have stopped doing so at home in order to save water, but would automatically do so in someone else's home. You are also justified in asking them to wash their hands and telling them which towel you have put out for them to use to dry their fingers.

Likewise you are justified in asking them not to put their tools, coats etc. on your kitchen work surfaces. I would clear the top of something in the room where the boiler is and ask them to use that for their tools.

I wouldnt give them 'lunch money' like theyre little kids either.

How do you know he didnt use basin or hand towel? Or had a long pee?Were you listening at the door?

GabriellaG- give delivery men lunch& water? Youre having a joke with us,right?( theyre usually gone before you can even check your parcel!)& the workmen,would they not think its strange your giving them lunch,or lunch money?& goodness me- what if any of 'ems coeliac? Or non-dairy? Or vegan? I think youre overthinking this,and i believe they will expect to bring/or buy their own lunch.No i dont like workmen using my loo,but mainly due to tramping all over in dirty boots- but my housing association apparently dont provide anywhere for their repairmen & women to use a loo nor have a canteen etc,so if they ask when theyre doing work i do usually let them use it. I certainly wouldnt make 'em lunch!

Tea and coffee - yes. Loo - yes. Certainly not give them lunch money. They are workmen who have charged to do a job, and should provide their own lunch. Why not put a little note in the bathroom'Please flush, and wash your hands'.

Wow. Work men are not germ ridden enemies. My partner is a clean and tidy worker and would never leave a loo like that and he always cleans up after each days work.
Don’t tar them all with the same brush

Don’t think you can deny anyone the use of your toilet but horrible if they don’t flush it! (And they should of course, wash their hands). I would bear that in mind afterwards. Definitely no lunch money ?what is that all about? You’re not responsible for their food at lunch time! I do offer a tea or coffee twice a day though. I don’t think you need to and if they were extremely objectionable, god forbid, I may not, but on the whole they’re usually ok....and it’s just being civil.

I will give/offer tea and biscuits to anyone! but then I am old!

it is how I was brought up
and I am fortunate have a downstairs loo, and only one man did our bathroom,, he was quick, clean and got on with the job, he could talk a bit too much though about his personal issues.. LOL I didn`t mind

kitchen, wow, two "foreign" workers, amazing, they didn`t stop ALL DAY, might have used the loo, I wasn`t counting

didn`t want any refreshments, didn`t stop... wonderful, and insisted on cleaning up afterwards..

we are all different, ain`t we!

I don't think any workmen we've had in have put their tools on the kitchen work surfaces and in fact seem to carry cloths with them to cover surfaces. Goodness knows where the cloths have been before, though as they are never snowy white and freshly ironed!

Absolutely happy to let any person working at my house to use a toilet, we have four of them. Can't imagine giving them lunch money though most have been out of school long enough to sort themselves out with that side of things I find. We do provide coffee/tea and biscuits to keep them sweet if we know we might need to use their services again.

I can recall one unfortunate "toilet incident" the day we were moving house, one of the removal men disappeared into the toilet for quite a while and then came out muttering "sorry I had a Vindaloo last night" We'd scrubbed the bathroom thoroughly and ..............well suffice to say I wasn't happy

Calendargirl, at the last house there was only one bathroom. Luckily, I was friends with the next-door-but-one neighbours so I had keys and could pop out to use their loo while the new bath etc. was being installed. The workmen had a pergola outside for carpentry and peed in the outside drain (I can hear the drain from my kitchen sink)!

Maw, I am no poet, but your last post has sent even my imagination into overdrive.
What a perfect theme that would for a Betjeman-style verse or two!

There are quite a few Gransnetters who could, I am sure, rise to the challenge, and I bet are sharpening their pencils already.
Maybe you should put this forward as a serious suggestion on another thread. It would be great to read their compositions

I think John Betjeman would have had a field day with “lavatory mores” ??
The euphemisms - littlest room, little boys’/girls’ room, powdering one’s nose, “freshen up”, wash one’s hands, spend a penny, “toilet”, those awful crinoline lady loo roll covers etc etc etc

I cannot say it would ever bother me. We currently have workmen in, moving our boiler from Kitchen to bathroom, plus lots other plumbing work and an electrician arrives today.

The plumber is using the loo in the bathroom the boiler is being installed in, the electrician will probably use the cloakroom, but if he feels the need when pulling the electricity cable through the loft and the bathroom the other end of the house is more convenient I assume he will use that.

Apart from the company director who didn't flush the loo, what is so alien and off about the defecatory traditions of workmen that makes them so different from family and friends and other people who would use any of the loos without the home occupier batting an eyelid?

I am fascinated by the taboos and squeamishnesses that so many people seem to have have around this perfectly normal human requirement and the equipment used.

I have, on several occasions, been pretty much forced into letting workment use my loo and only once has something happened as it did to GabriellaG54.

To refuse would be unacceptable, the nearest public loo is 6km away.

However, any time anyone uses my toilet, friend or foe, I go in at the first opportunity (when they've left the house) and give it a spray with Dettol and a good clean.

I let workman use my one loo. I think it would be very awkward saying no. Most people would flush and wash their hands, I can't believe the CD didn't flush!
I would just give it a good clean afterwards.
Personally I think you're very generous giving lunch money. They should be politely declining your offer. I always offer tea/coffee and biscuits/cake.

Workmen are human beings like the rest of us and I have no more qualms about them using my loo than any guest in my house. I would clean the smallest room before their visit, as I would before guests arrive. Neither do I feel it necessary to disinfect afterwards. They’re just people too. I offer tea and biscuits of course. It’s just a courteous gesture to anybody coming into the house surely.

We had one of our bathrooms redone recently. I provided tea and a large tin of biscuits. I made a note of the ones they ate and topped them up. They brought their own lunch. I did not mind them using the loo, nor do I mind the cleaner or gardener using the loo. I have got 4 to choose from ?

It wouldn’t occur to me to think twice about anybody working in my house using the loo. Workmen are not an alien species! We have two bathrooms so they’d be free to take their pick. We had people working in both of our last homes for months on end. I provided endless cups of tea and coffee and a tin of biscuits but never lunch as they made it clear they’d brought their own.

Yes, I always let workmen use the loo if they need to, just give it a good clean afterwards. I had bathroom fitters in for three weeks when we had our bathroom and en suite done, provided plenty of tea and coffee and a tin of biscuits (topped up regularly). Wouldn't dream of offering lunch. However, it was just before Christmas and as I was making mince pies and sausage rolls, they of course were my guinea pigs! Thumbs up from them every time! I will shortly be having my cloakroom done, so they will be using the upstairs bathroom if they need to.

Tea, coffee and biscuits are offered as a matter of course and I have a loo off the utility room that doesn’t have a wash basin inside, so I always lead workmen to the loo and then ask them to use the sink in the utility room to wash their hands and point out the towel holder. They’d have to be bold not to use them after being so directed.