Do you struggle when contractors need to do work on your house?

[Catlovers141]

I really struggle with contractors coming to my house, and I'm looking to both vent and see if there is any place that my wants can be met or if I'm out of luck.
I have PTSD due to sexual violence and it's really hard to have strange men in my home (which most contractors are). So when something breaks, I immediately go into a panic if it's not something I can fix myself.

Additionally, my job is such that I only get paid for the work I do (meeting with clients), so I also have a hard time when contractors give these big windows of time when they might show up because I have to cancel my work and thus not get paid. And then sometimes no work ends up happening, or it leads to more uncertainty about what will be completed and when.

For example, today my hot water heater sprung a leak. I called and they gave me a window of time from 10am to 1pm when they might show up. So I cancelled my clients from 10am to 1pm, because who knows when they will show up and how long the work will take.

They showed up at about 10:30 and stayed for 10 minutes, just to look at the leak and take down the information about the make/model/etc. So I unnecessarily cancelled work when I didn't need to.

Now they don't know when they will come to fix it, so I will have to rearrange my schedule yet again and miss work yet again, much of which will probably again be unnecessary.
The uncertainty adds to my anxiety in addition to the lost income. I understand that it's hard to give an exact time, but I really wish that people would be more considerate of the fact that their customers also have jobs and responsibilities and it's helpful to know what to expect and when it will happen.

In the past I've tried to work with some of this by having someone else with me in the house so I'm not alone with them, but this wasn't possible today and I'd like to be able to handle these things on my own. And honestly I'm glad I didn't have someone come over today because it took all of ten minutes and they basically did nothing.

They seem to just expect that we will set aside large amounts of time for them and that we don't have anything else going on. It's so frustrating. In other professions, there seems to be a bigger expectation to have a smaller time window.

Does anyone have contractors who don't do this? Or am I just out of luck?

 

[Weemie]

Oh my G-d literally yes so much. One time a dude randomly came into my apartment, and came into my bedroom? Without warning? There is me minding my own bees wax and my door opens and it's some random ass dude. He was like checking the sprinkler system. My response had him backing up rul quick. Bro nearly lost his life that day, lol. I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say, oh yeah. You are not alone at all. I live in an apartment so we are at the mercy of the property owners, unfortunately. They legit just have a key to our place and can apparently come in whenever. We're in a kind of program, so the tenant laws are different.

 

[Catlovers141]

Oh my G-d literally yes so much. One time a dude randomly came into my apartment, and came into my bedroom? Without warning? There is me minding my own bees wax and my door opens and it's some random ass dude. He was like checking the sprinkler system. My response had him backing up rul quick. Bro nearly lost his life that day, lol. I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say, oh yeah. You are not alone at all. I live in an apartment so we are at the mercy of the property owners, unfortunately. They legit just have a key to our place and can apparently come in whenever. We're in a kind of program, so the tenant laws are different.

That's horrible! Though I don't think they are supposed to do that. I am in the US (not sure where you are), but here legally they have to give 24 hours notice unless it is an emergency. You deserve to have more notice than what you are receiving!

 

[Shaylee]

About 2 months ago we got a new HVAC system with a humidifier and a new tankless water heater…. Between people giving quotes then spending 2 days of 12 hours and another day of 4hours then they were out randomly for another 3 days as things needed to be picked or adjusted… I was ready to find a bear and hibernate with it as that was so much more preferable than my constant alertness and anxiety… almost 2 weeks of people in my house.

 

[Ecdysis]

Oh my G-d literally yes so much

Haha, that's what I was going to write.

It's a huge trigger. Huge, huge, huge, huge.

And the time frame issue is nuts too.

Hey... we should start a business where you can book someone for a reasonable fee to wait for the contractors for/ with you (with you if you need support, for you if you need to keep working) and as a speciality these people can be trauma-informed so ppl with PTSD, anxiety, depression etc know they're booking someone who gets it.

 

[Freddyt]

I really struggle with contractors coming to my house,

Yup.......just had the water heater die and had plumbers in the house. Freaks me out.

It just does......guess its MY space, and when there are others in it it isn't my space.

 

[Friday]

Not really, no.

UNLESS it’s

- A surprise
- Or work I could do myself, and someone is paying someone else to do it. It drives me craaaaaaaazy that people would rather pay 10k to strangers, than 2500 in materials, and maybe kick a grand my way. It hits a whole helluva lotta trauma buttons for me, in different ways. Seeeeeriously. I could do the same work, better, for less than half what you’re paying them… but you wouldn’t pay me? Because why?!? Grrrrr.

I tend to get on really well with construction/contractor peeps, otherwise. I also nearly always provide ribs & beer, or pizza & beer, for them… so I tend to get the top shelf team. It’s something I learned growing up military, that if you feed your movers? (2-3 day pack out) You get the BEST people, working really hard for you. Costs a couple hundred bucks extra, max, but ensures badass morale & careful attention to detail, saving thousands. Because? People like to be appreciated, and treated with kindness/ respect/ consideration.

I even bring half racks to my neighbors contractors when the work buts up against my property, just because it means that “my” side of the fence? Gets priority. Again, because people are people, and like being thought of / return the favor. $50 saving me hundreds/thousands in fixing what’s f*cked up on my side of the line.

 

[No More]

I tend to get on really well with construction/contractor peeps, otherwise. I also nearly always provide ribs & beer, or pizza & beer, for them… so I tend to get the top shelf team. It’s something I learned growing up military, that if you feed your movers? (2-3 day pack out) You get the BEST people, working really hard for you. Costs a couple hundred bucks extra, max, but ensures badass morale & careful attention to detail, saving thousands. Because? People like to be appreciated, and treated with kindness/ respect/ consideration.

This is just an amazing tip in general in life, completely agree, keep your workers supplied with tasty (pref homemade) snacks & drinks just basic niceness and people will go above for you.