Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take a
lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie or
something near the end.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.
(Marshall McLuhan)

Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:51:57a, Goomba38 meant to say...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...
>>
>>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
>>> house do you feed them? What?
>>
>> Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take a
>> lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie or
>> something near the end.
>>
> Ah.. but would my deck work be better if I made them the pie near the
> start of work? LOL

As Nancy said in another post, I also pickup doughnuts. I thought you were
talking about cooking. I've never had anyone accept an offer on lunch,
though the first few times I had workmen in, I did offer. I doubt the
majority of workers expect food, although beverages are often welcome.
Even that, sometimes not. LOL! I've even sometimes said, "if I like the
job you did, I'll bake you a pie(s)." Maybe that's incentive enough. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.
(Marshall McLuhan)

When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
house do you feed them? What?

"Goomba38" > wrote

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

I have offered to pick up subs, they usually say no thanks.

nancy

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

I had a 6 month project on my house a couple years ago, so there were
"construction folk" here from 7:30am to 4pm everyday except weekends. I was
home nearly everyday and since I cook a lot I thought it would be nice to
offer them things, but 99% of the time they said "No Thank you." I quit
offering. During Thanksgiving week I was baking my rolls and they made sure
to tell me that the smell was so wonderful it was killing them. So, I threw
another batch in the oven and sent them all home with warm rolls. No one
turned them down.

Lynne

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...
>
>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
>> house do you feed them? What?
>
> Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take a
> lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie or
> something near the end.
>
Ah.. but would my deck work be better if I made them the pie near the
start of work? LOL

"Goomba38" > wrote

> Ah.. but would my deck work be better if I made them the pie near the
> start of work? LOL

Oh, for breakfast I get them coffee and donuts, they always
take that. Lunch, they seem to want to take a break.

nancy

Goomba38 said...

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?


I put a card table outside with a 5 gallon water dispenser on it and plastic
cups. That's it. Oh, and a trash bag tied to a corner.

They get paid enough and with flex time that most appear to work, I'm not
going to feed them. But that's just me.

Andy

Goomba38 wrote:
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

Isn't that like feeding cats? You feed them and they never go away?????

If they are truly working, I'd guess you'd want to feed them something
that fills them up; either lots of protein or lots of carbs. Or both.

Goomba38 wrote:
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

Heh. I remember back in the '70s in Austin when the organic food store
that eventually became Whole Foods was being remodeled. As part of
their pay, the longhaired carpenters were taken to dinner every
evening. Where did they go? To the HOFBRAU, an old time steak joint on
West 6th street, the type with the German wilted lettuce salad. The van
that brought them there would park a few blocks away, so the
holier-than-thou food store wouldn't be associated with (yikes!)
carnivores in the mind of the public...

I wasn't one of the carpenters, but our string bass player was. That's
how I know.

T.

Yes.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Whatever we are having.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Goomba38 wrote:
>
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

It depends. If you have a bunch of guys over helping, by all
means feed them. Barley sandwiches are especially welcome. For a
lot of guys, small renovation jobs are an opportunity for male
bonding, which generally involves beer. They would probably be
happy with good sandwiches, burgers, pizza.

It is an entirely different matter if you are paying a
contractor. They do not expect to be fed. They bring their own.
You might score some brownie points with them by offering coffee
and maybe some cookies or donuts. If you have agreed to pay them
by the hour you want them to be working as much as possible, so
it is better to offer them coffee than to be paying for the time
it takes them to go out for it. If you are paying a set price and
everything is running on schedule there is no need to rush them.

wrote:
> Goomba38 wrote:
>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
>> house do you feed them? What?
>
> Heh. I remember back in the '70s in Austin when the organic food store
> that eventually became Whole Foods was being remodeled. As part of
> their pay, the longhaired carpenters were taken to dinner every
> evening. Where did they go? To the HOFBRAU, an old time steak joint on
> West 6th street, the type with the German wilted lettuce salad. The van
> that brought them there would park a few blocks away, so the
> holier-than-thou food store wouldn't be associated with (yikes!)
> carnivores in the mind of the public...
>
> I wasn't one of the carpenters, but our string bass player was. That's
> how I know.
>
> T.
>
I love it!! That's pretty funny.
The guy here today is clean cut yet still a bit "hippy like" and drives
a REALLY nice truck. He's well spoken and appears very capable based on
the strides he's making on the base of the deck. But today is day one of
construction. I have the electrician coming on Wednesday, but otherwise
I'm not sure how many workers there will be here each day. I'd like to
be hospitable yet, as someone else suggested, they might want to get
away and the company is being paid a bazillion dollars so I hope they're
well paid too? If he were driving an old beat up car or truck I'd feel
more concerned with making sure he was fed.

Now long distance packers and movers are a scary lot!! I've had them in
the house many times over the years and I have to say... they all look
like paroled ax murderers!! LOL

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...
>>
>>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
>>> house do you feed them? What?
>>
>> Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take a
>> lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie or
>> something near the end.
>>
> Ah.. but would my deck work be better if I made them the pie near the
> start of work? LOL

I think this is an excellent idea!

In article >, goomba38
@comcast.net says...
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?
>

Goodness no, unless it was specified in the contract.


--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Dave Smith wrote:
> Goomba38 wrote:
> >
> > When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> > house do you feed them? What?
>
> It depends. If you have a bunch of guys over helping, by all
> means feed them. Barley sandwiches are especially welcome. For a
> lot of guys, small renovation jobs are an opportunity for male
> bonding, which generally involves beer. They would probably be
> happy with good sandwiches, burgers, pizza.

I'm sorry Dave but I don't know anyone who likes barley sandwiches!
Maybe they're all over working at your house.

Make 'em some Architect's Fish and Chips....

I usually just give workmen whatever is fresh out of the garden when
they are done.

Susan B.

Goomba38 wrote:
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?
They usually pack a lunch or go somewhere to eat (or smoke their doobie
like someone else mentioned). When I had workers at my house, I always
had coffee on, ice water, and also some homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...
>
>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
>> house do you feed them? What?
>
> Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take a
> lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie or
> something near the end.
>


When we had our new roof done a few summers ago, I kept a cooler on the
front porch with soda and bottled water, and a pot of coffee.
Mid-morning I went out for two dozen doughnuts each day, and in the
afternoon, I set out a bowl of oranges. They took very good care to
clean up all the nails and debris around the project and it took only 2
1/2 days to strip and replace the wood shake roof. (Yeah, I know, a
terrible choice, but we have covenants.)

Although most of the guys spoke little or no English, nearly every one
of them thanked me personally when they were finished the job. The
foreman said no one had ever done that for them before. I can't imagine
having people work in that kind of heat w/o trying to make them a little
more comfortable. If it were my husband or my son, I'd be very grateful.

gloria p

Dave Smith > answered Goomba38's questio
in message ...

> > When you have construction folks (or other laborers)
> > working around the house do you feed them? What?
> >
> It depends.

Yep.

[snip nonprofessional workers notation]
The workers she's got coming over are professionals, not Jim and
Bob, John and Dan from the 'hood.

> It is an entirely different matter if you are paying a
> contractor. They do not expect to be fed. They bring
> their own. You might score some brownie points with
> them by offering coffee and maybe some cookies or
> donuts. [..]

And those few things go a LONG way to keeping them motivated. When I
ran my remodel, I would bring in a thermos of coffee, a jug of
non-hose water, and donuts daily. The crew stayed on task and under
time, I didn't misplace any of my tools (lock up anything you don't
want to replace), and there were no shortcuts taken. If I called up
and needed someone to come back or touch something up, they were
back at Castle Ranger within minutes, not days.

At the finish, I invited all the contractors over for a BBQ. Smoked
chicken, grilled tritip, and corn was consumed in great quantities.
They also willingly helped me rotate my overstock of English ales.

Here's hoping you experience a totally boring project, free of any
unexpected excitement.

The Ranger

sueb wrote:

> I usually just give workmen whatever is fresh out of the garden when
> they are done.
>
> Susan B.
>
It is December. Nothing is in the garden at the moment. :/

Goomba38 wrote:

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

I used to work home construction, hell, most of the folks that owned the
property didn't even talk to us peons.

Recovering from Hurricane Rita with a Latino work crew I made soft tacos
a couple of times and, since it was winter, chili, stew, and a hearty
soup. The guys ate it all and I got probably the best repair job of any
of the 80 people on my street who had repair work done. A little
kindness to the workers can go a long way. Whatever you think they will
eat will do the job.

George

Puester wrote:

> When we had our new roof done a few summers ago, I kept a cooler on the
> front porch with soda and bottled water, and a pot of coffee.
> Mid-morning I went out for two dozen doughnuts each day, and in the
> afternoon, I set out a bowl of oranges. They took very good care to
> clean up all the nails and debris around the project and it took only 2
> 1/2 days to strip and replace the wood shake roof. (Yeah, I know, a
> terrible choice, but we have covenants.)
>
> Although most of the guys spoke little or no English, nearly every one
> of them thanked me personally when they were finished the job. The
> foreman said no one had ever done that for them before. I can't imagine
> having people work in that kind of heat w/o trying to make them a little
> more comfortable. If it were my husband or my son, I'd be very grateful.

I do the cooler idea in the summer also. It is easier in fact to put
that cooler out there and let them go at it at will and of course they
must have hydration. But it is now December and this is all outside
work. I don't drink coffee, so I don't even own a coffee pot anymore or
I'd keep a thermos of that handy. I do have cider I could heat up and
spice though. And the idea of fresh cookies in the afternoon is a good
one... I'm going to have to plan that one out.

Goomba38 wrote:
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

I have hired guys from day labor pickup points. They usually do not
have brown bags or lunchboxes when I hire them early in the morning. I
offer them whatever I'm having for lunch, and they take it if they
don't have their own transportation. If they do, they take it about
half the time. I gave one a big bowl of fried rice once and he said,
What's this? Fried rice, I said. No, he said, I've had fried rice
from the Chinese takeout but this is not like that stuff, this is Real
Food. -aem

In article >,
Goomba38 > wrote:

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

Any time I've offered to feed them (or even offer them iced drinks),
they have always said no thank you...

They generally bring their own stuff.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Steve Wertz wrote:
> On 4 Dec 2006 08:12:06 -0800, wrote:
>
> > Heh. I remember back in the '70s in Austin when the organic food store
> > that eventually became Whole Foods was being remodeled. As part of
> > their pay, the longhaired carpenters were taken to dinner every
> > evening. Where did they go? To the HOFBRAU, an old time steak joint on
> > West 6th street, the type with the German wilted lettuce salad. The van
> > that brought them there would park a few blocks away, so the
> > holier-than-thou food store wouldn't be associated with (yikes!)
> > carnivores in the mind of the public...
>
> Ironically, that same Harry's Hofbrau is not only still open, but
> only 300ft away from the new Whole Foods corporate headquarters
> and flagship store. You can bet some of the people in the Ivory
> Towers visit there at lunch and dinner.
>
> You'll never see organic, range free, hand fed, potty trained beef
> on Harry's menu. It's still the same dive it was 30 years ago.

Hey, The Stallion was a dive. The Hofbrau was a place where a poverty
stricken grad student could get a passable steak dinner.

And Caruso's was about a block east of there.

T.

In article >,
Goomba38 > wrote:

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

Yes, I feed them.

We've been adding onto our home, and, granted, the workers are all
friends, but even if they were paid help I would offer either lunch or a
repast of some sort.

I either whip something up in casserole form, throw something on the
grill, or order subs...depends on the weather and the workers...but the
trick is to make sure that they actually *want* to be fed, or
interrupted with cookies and lemonade. Sometimes they just want to
get-r-done, and not be bothered.

Amy

In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

>Barley sandwiches are especially welcome.

That's Pork Chop in a Can.

Amy

Steve Wertz wrote:

> You'll never see organic, range free, hand fed, potty trained beef
> on Harry's menu. It's still the same dive it was 30 years ago.
>
> -sw
yah but.. is the food GOOD?

A Ross wrote:
....depends on the weather and the workers...but the
> trick is to make sure that they actually *want* to be fed, or
> interrupted with cookies and lemonade. Sometimes they just want to
> get-r-done, and not be bothered.

Any suggestions on a tactful way of finding *that* out?? I don't want
them to feel I'm forcing anything on them.

Goomba38 wrote:

>
> But it is now December and this is all outside
> work. I don't drink coffee, so I don't even own a coffee pot anymore or
> I'd keep a thermos of that handy.

Coffee pots are cheap. You should be able to find one under $20 at
Kmart, or someplace, if you really want one. If you were in Kansas you
could borrow one of mine, I have 4. We don't use them either, being tea
drinkers.

I haven't had a lot of workmen on this house, but I usually offer coffee
,water or juice if they are doing more than a simple job (like the time
I had the shower replaced). They tend not to expect it and show up with
their own, though.



Dawn

Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 10:20:25a, Puester meant to say...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> Oh pshaw, on Mon 04 Dec 2006 08:33:30a, Goomba38 meant to say...
>>
>>> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around
>>> the house do you feed them? What?
>>
>> Not as a rule, but I always offer beverages. They always seem to take
>> a lunch off-site. If it's a multi-day project, I'll usually bake a pie
>> or something near the end.
>>
>
>
> When we had our new roof done a few summers ago, I kept a cooler on the
> front porch with soda and bottled water, and a pot of coffee.
> Mid-morning I went out for two dozen doughnuts each day, and in the
> afternoon, I set out a bowl of oranges. They took very good care to
> clean up all the nails and debris around the project and it took only 2
> 1/2 days to strip and replace the wood shake roof.

A great gesture, and I'm sure much appreciated.

> (Yeah, I know, a terrible choice, but we have covenants.)

With the devil? :-)

>
> Although most of the guys spoke little or no English, nearly every one
> of them thanked me personally when they were finished the job. The
> foreman said no one had ever done that for them before. I can't imagine
> having people work in that kind of heat w/o trying to make them a little
> more comfortable. If it were my husband or my son, I'd be very
> grateful.

Agreed. In my experience, though, most offers of anything were politely
refused.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.
(Marshall McLuhan)

sueb wrote:
>
> > It depends. If you have a bunch of guys over helping, by all
> > means feed them. Barley sandwiches are especially welcome. For a
> > lot of guys, small renovation jobs are an opportunity for male
> > bonding, which generally involves beer. They would probably be
> > happy with good sandwiches, burgers, pizza.
>
> I'm sorry Dave but I don't know anyone who likes barley sandwiches!
> Maybe they're all over working at your house.


Barley sandwich = Beer :-)

If you get a bunch of guys over to help you with a job you will
need beer, and lots of it. When ordering supplies calculate the
number of board feet of lumber to be used and that should be
roughly equal to the number of beers you will need for your
friends. Alternately, take the number of pounds of nails to be
used and multiply by 20.

"Dave Smith" > wrote

> Barley sandwich = Beer :-)

Heh, I thought it must be something like that.
>
> If you get a bunch of guys over to help you with a job you will
> need beer, and lots of it. When ordering supplies calculate the
> number of board feet of lumber to be used and that should be
> roughly equal to the number of beers you will need for your
> friends. Alternately, take the number of pounds of nails to be
> used and multiply by 20.

Do you suppose that's why they call your place the crooked
little house on the lane?

nancy

Goomba38 wrote:
> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

No, at least not while they are employed by me. When i had a small
brick oven and rotisserie installed i was so pleased with the craftsmen
and workmanship that i invited them to a small party i had to initiate
the oven, pizzas, hot links & a capon were all cooked simultaneously and
were served with a big tossed salad & home made blue cheese &
buttermilk dressing, various breads including a garlic sourdough and a
cheddar cheese bread, and a case of a nice but inexpensive local chenine
blanc & assorted beers, needless to say i still have some of the chenine
blanc.

I once provide coffee for early morning along with bagels. But i
learned a long time ago never to give construction people an excuse to
procrastinate.

A friend of mine who owns several rental properties and employs local
day labours on a routine basis goes over board IMO providing the workers
with all sorts of food & beer treats and then complains about how long
everything takes to get done.

When i was having the present house restored i was asked by the foreman,
after providing bagels and coffee on the first morning, not to be too
friendly to the workers, he thought it set a bad precedent, that there
was a need to keep the distinction between a work and social environment
very clear, which was kind of hard to do when some of those workmen took
off their shirts
--
JL

One time on Usenet, Goomba38 > said:

> When you have construction folks (or other laborers) working around the
> house do you feed them? What?

No, I don't -- they're getting paid to work and should bring their
lunch. I speak as someone who comes from a blue collar background,
so I'm not just being a snob. I *do* offer them a hot or cold drink,
if the weather is on the chilly or warmish side, but I've rarely
had a taker -- most are like my BIL (a housing framer) and have
their own...

--
Jani in WA

One time on Usenet, said:

<snip cooler of soda, etc.>

> Although most of the guys spoke little or no English, nearly every one
> of them thanked me personally when they were finished the job. The
> foreman said no one had ever done that for them before. I can't imagine
> having people work in that kind of heat w/o trying to make them a little
> more comfortable. If it were my husband or my son, I'd be very grateful.

Heh, you reminded me of something we did last summer. We'd bought a
big watermelon for some gathering, but we didn't get around to eating
it. The next day, when I couldn't see the three of us using it up,
either DH or I came up with the idea of giving it to the guys who were
putting a roof on the new neighbor's house. It was just out of the
fridge and nicely cold -- they were very appreciative... :-)

--
Jani in WA

Dave Smith wrote:

> sueb wrote:
>
>>>It depends. If you have a bunch of guys over helping, by all
>>>means feed them. Barley sandwiches are especially welcome. For a
>>>lot of guys, small renovation jobs are an opportunity for male
>>>bonding, which generally involves beer. They would probably be
>>>happy with good sandwiches, burgers, pizza.
>>
>>I'm sorry Dave but I don't know anyone who likes barley sandwiches!
>>Maybe they're all over working at your house.
>
>
>
> Barley sandwich = Beer :-)
>
> If you get a bunch of guys over to help you with a job you will
> need beer, and lots of it. When ordering supplies calculate the
> number of board feet of lumber to be used and that should be
> roughly equal to the number of beers you will need for your
> friends. Alternately, take the number of pounds of nails to be
> used and multiply by 20.

Warning!! Don't give them any beer until the job is done. Made that
mistake once and ended up with a wavy roof job.

George

"George Shirley" > wrote

> Dave Smith wrote:

>> If you get a bunch of guys over to help you with a job you will
>> need beer, and lots of it. When ordering supplies calculate the
>> number of board feet of lumber to be used and that should be
>> roughly equal to the number of beers you will need for your
>> friends. Alternately, take the number of pounds of nails to be
>> used and multiply by 20.
>
> Warning!! Don't give them any beer until the job is done. Made that
> mistake once and ended up with a wavy roof job.

Oh! It was your place they called the crooked little house on the lane.
Sorry.

nancy

Dave Smith wrote:
> sueb wrote:
> >
> > > It depends. If you have a bunch of guys over helping, by all
> > > means feed them. Barley sandwiches are especially welcome. For a
> > > lot of guys, small renovation jobs are an opportunity for male
> > > bonding, which generally involves beer. They would probably be
> > > happy with good sandwiches, burgers, pizza.
> >
> > I'm sorry Dave but I don't know anyone who likes barley sandwiches!
> > Maybe they're all over working at your house.
>
>
> Barley sandwich = Beer :-)

I have never heard of this. I was picturing that stuff you put in soup
laid out on a kaiser roll.

>
> If you get a bunch of guys over to help you with a job you will
> need beer, and lots of it. When ordering supplies calculate the
> number of board feet of lumber to be used and that should be
> roughly equal to the number of beers you will need for your
> friends. Alternately, take the number of pounds of nails to be
> used and multiply by 20.

If I get a bunch of guys over to help with a job, I'd probably faint.
However, once revived, I'd make sure that they didn't get beer until
*after* they finished the job. I used to have a bathroom with the
wallpaper pattern going up on the left side and down on the right side
because I let them have the beer *before* the job was done.

Guess my Posh Nosh reference was too obscure....
Susan B.