Advice needed on coping with building work

GT60

you could have a look at http://www.fmb.org.uk/ they have loads of info on buliding etc.
They also have contracts to download

silvercar

Friends in your situation coped until the builders knocked through and then it all became unbearable. They ended up finding a short term rental. It meant the builders didn't have to tidy up and turn the water and electrics back to serviceable use each day and meant the job finished quicker.

They said if they had to do it again, they would move out from the start - a 4 month rental is easier to find than a 4 week one.

The saving in time for the building work could outweigh the costs of the rental. Trying to heat a house with no roof is expensive!

LadyinBlack_2

We've just completed phases 1&2 of our building work and are now launching on phase 3 (it was a wreck). I agree with most of the above and would stress the portaloo (saved my sanity) and also DON'T make them tea or coffee or biscuits/cakes - not even as a treat if they're nice - or they will expect it all the time. They should have flasks or their own kettle and stuff.

Just keep in mind how great it will be when finished. We love our new bathrooms and french windows. Just need a kitchen now :rolleyes: Am reading kitchen threads avidly.

Good luck

baldelectrician

LadyinBlack wrote: »

DON'T make them tea or coffee or biscuits/cakes - not even as a treat if they're nice - or they will expect it all the time. They should have flasks or their own kettle and stuff.

I must disagree. Would you let them plug their kettle in?

My price is standard, but extras are charged as standard prices also with a discount.
The profit has been made on the initial job, do any extras are usually more profitable (you are already there etc). I usually discount extras, and price of extras varies by customer and attitude.

I always provide biccies and tea / coffee to ALL workers. They sky guy came today and even got one (he had to wait 10 minutes on the box downloading software). He even left an extra bit of satellite cable when he wired the box in to allow us to move it from one point to another.

If you are nice to people then you get more out of them.

Canucklehead

Hi...yes, by all means don't offer them tea/coffee/biscuits/cake... by any available means make the working environment as unpleasant as possible and they'll want to finish up at superhuman speed to the letter of the contract ( 'tis a shame though about those little extra 'freebies' many tradespersons will do for customers as a 'thanks' for the refreshments) What is world coming to ?
To the OP: Moving out is always preferable..living in a building site and , conversely,trying to work around someone's occupancy adds time and money.

Canucklehead

Hoploz

We are at the very end of 3 months of this, so thought I'd post to reassure you

We've had a 2 storey rear extn too, my son is 3 next week and I am a stay-at-home-mum as well, so quite similar to you. I am also pregnant and now due any day!

My builders have been fantastic. It really has hardly bothered me at all to be honest! They have a portaloo and their own kettle in the garage. They told me not to bother doing them teas etc. They prefer to do things in their own time, stop when they are ready etc.

Most of the work has been outside. After a few weeks they niftily divided my kitchen in half with a wooden wall so I still had cooker sink and wash mach while they knocked out and put in the new steels etc. It was a bit chilly (work started in October and is just finishing) but was not much problem otherwise - obviously I had lost my units so ood and plates etc are stored elsewhere.

I have only been totally without a kitchen for the last week and a half. They have kept the sink going and I've just had the microwave and toaster! Microwave meals didn't work out as well as I thought they would, so we've had take aways and my mum has cooked for us a bit, but it's only been for about a week - the new kitchen is functional now just the finishing touches being done.

I have found it ok to be in mostly, but my son didn't like the noise at certain points so it was best to visit people, go out for an hour etc. Ask the builders to warn you when the noisy bits will be - they will be able to tell you a day or so in advance. He enjoyed watching all the lorries delivering etc, and even got to ride in the digger at the beginning!

Dust is awful by the way, but you just have to get used to it and grin and bear it. It keeps falling even when you clear it up, soyou just have to pack up what you can and get on with it really. Keeping doors shut helps a little!

Good luck.

Fire_Fox

LadyinBlack wrote: »

We've just completed phases 1&2 of our building work and are now launching on phase 3 (it was a wreck). I agree with most of the above and would stress the portaloo (saved my sanity) and also DON'T make them tea or coffee or biscuits/cakes - not even as a treat if they're nice - or they will expect it all the time. They should have flasks or their own kettle and stuff.

You should be as considerate of your builders as you expect them to be towards your home! That doesn't mean supplying endless cups of tea and homemade makes and biscuits, but if they don't have anywhere clean to make tea for themselves it is polite to do so perhaps once a day. There is a big difference between being a nice boss and a walkover. :rolleyes:

Marg

I disagree with lady in black - even though we had a bad time with our builders I'd still offer tea/coffee & biscuits to anyone working at our house - they'll soon say if they prefer to do their own 'brews'

LadyinBlack_2

I should have clarified, I'm thinking of big jobs that take several months. We had the builders in for seven and a half months (April to mid-November) and I would make tea and coffee every day/ several times a day for them. They did bring their own kettle which broke and I gave them my spare one so I'm not totally heartless!!

I always offer a hot drink and cake to tradesmen who are only there for a day or so but not to those who are going to be here for months. The previous time we had tradesmen in I did make tea and coffee to start with and then they were there so long I felt I had to keep doing it. It became a real chore and I felt really tied to the house.

On the other hand a friend does make tea and sits down with the builders for a catch-up every day at 10.00 and that's their tea break.

Each to their own.

Debt_Free_Chick

When we had our extension built, I was self employed and working from home :eek: :eek:

There will be noise; there will be mess. Try not to "tune" in to the noise and use the mess as an excuse not to clean

Re the knocking through - OMG, if you thought there was mess before, you ain't seen nothing. I was cleaning dust out of my kitchen cupboards for months afterwards. Suggest you pack away everything and keep the bare minimum in the kitchen. With some organisation, you can keep the contents of the cupboards accessible, but they might need to be in odd places. I had tins in the bookcase

Have to admit that I did make tea/coffee constantly for our builders. Partly as one was "an acquaintance" and lived in the same village; partly as I like to keep my tradesmen sweet. I'd like them to "go that extra mile" for me and find that tea/coffee and the odd homemade cake goes down a treat