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

My gas boiler must be around thirty years old or thereabouts.
And it’s still going strong.

At the last servicing, the gas engineer said it’s ok and no need to replace it.

It’s gas engineers try to convince you that an old boiler is unsafe. Obviously.

I also detest inconsiderate workmen.
Especially ones who are reluctant to take of their shoes.
Although it’s not always appropriate depending on the type of work they have to do.

Having the toilet out of action is horrible.
And can be embarrassing.

Also definitely suggest the earbuds
He sounds very inconsiderate to me.

Until I saw M0nica and keepcalm's posts, I thought I must be alone in not minding tradespeople in the house; being happy to let them use the lav; having no hangups about using it myself and having a tongue in my head so I can tell them the radio's too loud, to close the door or whatever.
A few years ago, I had the house back wall knocked down and the kitchen extended. It was months of dust, chaos and madness but I got to know some smashing local tradies and learned a little about their specialities. All I could think of while the craziness was going on was how good it would be when it was done. And it is.
Now, I'm very much looking forward to having the tired 1960s bathroom gutted and converted to a wetroom - by a local company I got to know during the kitchen job. More mess, noise and chaos but I'm thinking about how much I'll enjoy my power-shower.
Then there's the bedrooms to do and the hideous living room fireplace to be removed .... I love a project. Bring it on, sez I!

ClicketyClick

I too hate having workers in. Having a bathroom refit soon and dreading feel that my house isn't my one and the invasion of privacy but needs must. My one and only toilet is bring ripped out and replaced so need to look at a something temporary. Have been considering a chemical camping toilet but can't really ask neighbour if I can empty it in their bathrooms. Now think will have to go with one of the free standing outdoor units you see at festivals but goodness knows how much they are to rent. Anyone hired one if these? Depending on how the job goes, I might even consider giving them the key and going away for a few days. I have used the plumber before and he seemed trustworthy.

That aspect of my having my bathroom gutted and a new one fitted - ie rip out old loo and put in new one didn't take that long to sort out per se as I recall.

The two things I know in hindsight from having had mine done were:

a. Don't assume they're competent enough to decide the correct height for the shower rail - even if they know you are the only one living there and they have seen you with their own eyes (ie that tall workman that did that saw little me - all of about 5'2" these days) and put it in at the correct height. Nope - he put it in at a higher height than a shortie wants - and no "stop and ask me to confirm a minute"...he just went ahead - grrr....

b. The bathroom firm tried to sell me floor tiles (? ceramic?) and thank goodness I'd stuck to my guns of having vinyl flooring there. As it is - they still messed-up at that point. Or I'd, quite possibly, have had damp brought into my dry little house. That being it had to be another (ie floor covering) firm doing those vinyl tiles and bathroom firm said to me "That bathroom floor of yours - which we've just re-done with new concrete will take a week to dry - so don't put that vinyl down for a week". They absolutely definitely said "a week". Eight days later therefore I had the flooring company to put that vinyl down.

You can probably guess the rest. Bathroom firm lied when they said "a week". Cue for a couple of years later and I'm thinking "Why is my bathroom vinyl going mouldy?" Yep...got it in one - though I'd had it put down exactly when they said = blimmin' expletive deleteds had been wrong. They should have said "Two weeks time or more" I would think and I would have waited till then. So their fault my pretty new vinyl had to be ripped up and replaced thanks to them (and part played by floor covering firm shoulda known too and said "We'll come back later - because.....". I was not a happy bunny having to pay for vinyl twice thanks to them.

But I guess you've got a drain cover or two in your garden? I do have two - in my back garden - so, when necessary, it was bucket and open up the drain cover and pour down. After all - whether it's going down the loo or getting poured directly down the drain = it's going the same route after all.

That was followed by I think I must have got my missing outdoor tap and hosepipe installed pretty quickly - and so that came in handy for "flushing" purposes.

Scribbles - I think a lot of us want to employ you - as we hate projects.

One of these fine days my housework will be pristine/everything up-to-date because I know how many visits (workmen or healthwise) I'm used to till I moved here and it's one. So when it works here to be 4 (ie three extra!) I knock that excess time off the housework - because I'm not going to knock it off "MY time for leisure". So housework neglected it is - to compensate me for extra "work on house - or health" time to what I'm used to.

Worknen and radios are definitely out of bounds for me It is your home and you say what goes

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

If they dont take any notice. Call their company and complain to their line manager . And make sure they hear you do it

Astitchintime

Tizliz

I completely understand. After a survey which took 4 hours where he clambered all over the house, we have decided against having an air pump installed. It is too much upheaval - other things like the cost and the little saving were taken into account - 3 or 4 workers all over the house, several wardrobes to be emptied. Dogs to be kept calm. We decided to stay as we are.

Hopefully it will all have been worth it when your work is finished and cleared up

How I remember the assessment for having solar panels and air pump a couple of years ago. I thought the agent was hunkering down for the night! Plus he wanted us to commit there and then, which I refused to do. Off he went grudgingly and wasn’t best pleased when we decided to not proceed…….in fact, he was very rude to us! Obviously cost him a handsome commission!

We offered to pay as he had done such a thorough job and we had let him think we were going ahead.

I bet my husband that he wouldn’t invoice but he did, £300 ☹️

Just a last update with thanks to you all. The fitter has finished for the day and will be back tomorrow to finish the job. He was a lovely man, careful and tidy.
Just to be clear about the radio. My issue is not that I couldn’t ask him to turn it down but that he shouldn’t have put me in that position in the first place.
But well done all of you on this post for distracting me. I should be in a better frame of mind tomorrow.
More importantly my cat has finally come home. He’s clearly in a mega huff but could not resist the siren call of ‘Dreamies’.

I hate and dread it too.

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
!!!

I don't 'other' tradespeople either! I just don't like strangers in the house, whoever they are. For that matter I'm not keen on anyone having the run of the house, which is sometimes necessary if people are working and need to access all areas.

I like to close doors on rooms I don't want people to enter, and know they'll stay closed. I want to know if someone is likely to follow me into a bathroom, or need to be in a room I'm using. I like to know if they are going to turn the power off - particularly if I am on a Zoom call. I don't want to have a choice between complaining and having incessant music forced upon me. I want to be able to wash clothes when the weather is right, and not have to empty a machine of my undies with strangers in the room etc etc.

None of that means that I don't see the people concerned as human beings, or anything of the sort. I would feel the same about all but very close friends and family. Most visitors only use the rooms they are shown into, and don't root about in cupboards to find sockets, interfere with the power supply or leave doors open so they can carry things in and out. They are just doing their job, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy the experience.

Flippinheck I was not being patronising, but it constantly puzzles me why people are so afraid of having workmen in their house? Would they feel the same about para medics, or similar?

I also wonder whether it is peoples worries about tradesmen actually fosters a lot of the problems they have.

If you have a job which takes you into people's houses where the person in the house so obviously doesn't trust you or is uivering with fear, it must be very disconcerting.

I’ve been wondering the same thing, MONICA for the last 3 pages.
I’ve always lived by the quote, A stranger is only a friend I’ve never met.

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.

Cariad, thanks for your cautionary tale re the flooring. Nightmare!
I've been doing a lot of research on this subject as well as talking to friends and observing their floors. I've opted for the Artro type textured non-slip vinyl which I was a little concerned might look a bit 'institutional' but I got some samples and some of the lighter colours are okay and a couple of them would work well with my chosen wall tiles. I like it because it can be coved up the wall and eliminate that difficult-to-seal join where floor meets wall. The house is a bungalow built on concrete so, other than a final screeding when the drain and tray are in position, there shouldn't be a problem. And, thank goodness, the house has more than one lav!
I've been thinking about shower and controls height, too! The shower controls in the poky 2nd bathroom are so high I can only just reach them on tiptoe. One day, that horrible pink space (why pink, fgs?) will be another project!
Right now, I don't need a fold-down seat and grab rails - but I may do one day so they'll be there from the start. Future-proofing.
I'm really quite excited about all this!

Tizliz

Was tempted by the £9000 grant until we got the overall cost!

It is also likely that existing radiators won't be big enough and will have to be replaced, having replaced our downstairs radiators last year a heat pump system is out if the question for us.

I ask for an agreement before workmen come that they will not play a radio in or around my house. They have all agreed happily and luckily.

crikey - just checked with Chat GPT - and it's saying more like "leave the concrete screed floor to wait 6-8 weeks before considering it ready to roll" !!!!! Worth checking for the details it says on that.

There's two things I wish like mad for when I was renovating this house:
- Chat GPT had been around at the time to ask queries
- I hadn't had to wait until literally two days after original (major PITA) deliberately obstructive next door neighbour who "knew everyone" here before finally - at visit no. 50 !!!!!!! by Openreach the exact same guy that had only been in the previous week for visit no. 49 finally seemed to hear what I was saying and do what I required - after the months and months the previous 49 visits had taken (instead of the 0 that should have been the case) and my phone and computer were working normally for the first time since moving here (months and months...probably a couple of years or more later). It made it VERY VERY difficult indeed to research my house renovation and generally keep in touch with the outside world until after she'd moved out and so couldnt stir it any longer.

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! 😂

Jane43

Tizliz

Was tempted by the £9000 grant until we got the overall cost!

It is also likely that existing radiators won't be big enough and will have to be replaced, having replaced our downstairs radiators last year a heat pump system is out if the question for us.

Six replacement radiators include. The total cost was £19k for a 4 bed bungalow 20 years old and didn’t include taking away the old boiler (relatively easy) or the oil tank (difficult).

Unless the government put up the grant they are not going to get many takers.

There's a difference between listening to a radio and playing it so loudly that the householder can't hear the TV in her own house.

Flippinheck

Just a last update with thanks to you all. The fitter has finished for the day and will be back tomorrow to finish the job. He was a lovely man, careful and tidy.
Just to be clear about the radio. My issue is not that I couldn’t ask him to turn it down but that he shouldn’t have put me in that position in the first place.
But well done all of you on this post for distracting me. I should be in a better frame of mind tomorrow.
More importantly my cat has finally come home. He’s clearly in a mega huff but could not resist the siren call of ‘Dreamies’.

I dislike intrusions also, well done you and your cat.

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.

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.

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
!!!

I didn't think I was telling anyone off- OP asked how I'd cope with it and I answered!

I know a few people who won't leave the house when there are tradesmen in- they even stand watching what they are doing which must be very intimidating.

I prefer to leave them to get on with it- a good excuse to go out for coffee and cake or a nice lunch.

Anyway, it sounds as if OP has calmed down and tomorrow she will have a new boiler.

I've only had workmen in a few times, but I've always enjoyed chatting to them and always offer tea, although they've usually brought their own. Perhaps it helps that we used to have our own building company, so there's always plenty to talk about. It would never occur to me to tell them not to have a radio on. If it was very loud I would just askthem to turn it down a bit.