Has anyone needed the services of a tradesman during lockdown?
Unfortunately the lock on our back door is jamming and today it got stuck so we need to get it sorted. We had a similar problem last year and we’ve got a hold of the guy that dealt with it last time and he is coming tomorrow. We explained we are both shielding and asked if he had a mask which he doesn’t so I’m going to make one and leave this and a pair of disposable gloves on the summer seat before he comes in.
Has anyone else had a tradesman in and if so have you got any best practice suggestions that you’ve experienced that we can put in place?
Thank you. 🙂
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Froggie70
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On the day we went into lockdown my hob gave up, my shower stopped working and the handle to flush the toilet broke!!
Fortunately I have a good friend who talked me through fixing the hob and toilet handle but the shower is still not working.
Fortunately I have a second shower in another bathroom but it is small and doesn't have the space that I need or the adaptations to make it as safe. I chose not to have anyone come in because of the risk.
It sounds like you are taking sensible precautions and as longs as you deem him sensible and clean everything down that he touches and stay well away from him I am sure you will be fine.
If it needs fixing, it needs fixing unfortunately. It sounds like you have a good plan.
Talk about coming in threes! You didn’t have much luck. The remote on our gas fire is playing up too but we’ve just kept the fire off and used a slanket as I didn’t want anyone in. If nothing else it’ll save on the gas bill but with the door we don’t have much choice.
My daughter is shielding - and had a minor disaster when fitting a new shower head. Her emergency plumber had given her his phone no (found originally through an OOH service) as he lives round the corner. He arrived, went straight to the bathroom which is next to the front door and sorted it (thread was gone) - they spoke from a 2m distance. She then cleaned the area he'd been in - wearing gloves and face covering. She is a paramedic when working - no charge so money didn't change hands.
Just remember that gloves make little difference - the bugs are just on the outside of them and no-one thinks to sanitise them! Keep your distance and you will be find. If he shows any symptoms - send him away!!!!
Ask him to bring his own mask. There is no way I would use a mask someone else, even someone shielding, touched. It is as unsafe for the worker being exposed to your things as it is for you. Ask whom ever you hire how they have been preceding during this pandemic. Hire the one who follows the best protocol.
Bearing in mind I haven’t been out the house at all since 18th March I don’t think I’m a problem but it’s up to him, if he won’t bring his own he won’t get in.
it is not recomended to use pre touched PPE and if he would touch it it shows he is not practicing safe protocol. Hire someone who is following the recommendations if you want someone less likely to infect you. By guidance every trades persons should have and be using their own PPE.
We had a locksmith this week - it was the front door so he didn’t need to come right into the house. We let him get on with the job, he had gloves but no mask. My husband sprayed the door, surrounding area and the new keys to go with the new lock when he left. Leaving your chap gloves and a mask is a really good idea and you could spray any surfaces he touches when he leaves. Hope this helps x
It does, thank you. Just like to think of the house as our wee safe bubble regardless of what’s going on outside and it just brings it all close to home, literally. Thank you again, stay safe. X
Yes, last week I had a leaking pipe in the bathroom wall, the rate the water was coming out left me no time really to think about the whole shielding dilemma and what precautions I could take but I did feel really nervous about having someone in my home.
I left the door unlocked so I wouldn't have to open it and then step back and just called out for him to come in when he arrived, I explained my situation as soon as he got here and stood as far away as possible to explain what I needed to, he put on disposable gloves, kept his distance and was really considerate. I left the window wide open too in the bathroom where I knew he would be for most of the time. He had to return the next day with the part he needed and after both visits I left the bathroom and kitchen for a few hours before I ventured in to clean with a bleach spray.
Sorry I can't suggest more as my situation was so rushed I didn't have time to prepare much but you do sound like you are thinking well ahead and taking all the right precautions.
Thanks Jenny, you have been a help, I didn’t think to leave the window open. Will do that too. Like you with the pipe, trust these things to happen now. Thank you again, stay safe. X
So many are complaining that life should be put completely on hold and then something goes wrong that we alone are unable to deal with so you get into the territory of convoluted ways of calling on the services of another that who are potential infection spreaders.
Either we all have to admit, at least under our breath, that for societies to function we have to be interdependent, or we need to all be multi skilled and into total self reliance.
I am not sounding off at anyone in particular, just making the point of where all the fear that has been generated has brought us.
We don't all live on dessert islands or in some kind of space bubble.
We all must hold onto a degree of rationality to continue living. In my opinion that starts with questioning some of directives we are being given.
One might say you are ok to get a tradesman provided you are not in close contact with him for more than 15 minutes and provided you don't know him.
But if there is a chance there could be a second person run for the hills.
No ignore that cos we must stay within predefined areas.
Have you needed to call out someone too? How did you get on, sounds like you might have had a run in with neighbours or police possibly? Never even thought along those lines.
No I haven't needed to but thinking about your issue and work around, maybe 2 ladders might relieve the need to call anyone. One inside the back window and one outside. Up and over as they say.
Or maybe just like people who live in tower blocks it might be better to stay inside completely.
Oh dear..That's my logic over thinking again.
Surely some will question the entirety of what has happened recently. Has everyone completely lost that ability.
If people started questioning things such as why alternative plans other than lockdown are not at least in play
I don’t think it’s a problem to have your door lock mended. If you don’t stand close to him you won’t be at risk as long as you wash the door and area after he has gone. As it’s the door, there will be fresh air coming in as he will need the door open in order to mend or change the lock.
Our dishwasher broke down and we had to get someone in to fix it. When I phoned the company to arrange it, they checked that my husband and I had no symptoms and confirmed that the engineer would practice social distancing when he came out. He arrived wearing a face mask and gloves. My husband (also wearing a mask) spoke to him from the bedroom window and gave him directions. We had left the front door unlocked so he was able to come straight in and through to the kitchen. We both remained in different rooms while he fixed it so made no contact with him at all. He did the job and left. I wiped over the dishwasher with a disinfectant spray and that was that! No problem at all. It is very worrying that some tradesmen, like yours, are still not taking this pandemic seriously and are visiting peoples' homes totally unprepared. It is ludicrous that you should have to make a mask for him. I still feel that wearing masks in public should be compulsory. Hope you get the job done safely.
Thank you junemc, must admit I was a bit annoyed and concerned that he isn’t prepared himself with a mask but he worked on the door last time round so knows the problem, otherwise I might have phoned around. Your guy sounded really organised.
I have very mixed feelings about this. The other day I read an article in the Daily Mail by someone who disagreed with the lockdown. He pointed out that in 1968/69 we had an epidemic of Hong Kong flu which killed 60000 people in the UK - almost twice the number of deaths we have had (so far) due to the corona virus, yet the country went on as normal - no lockdown. I was alive then and I couldn't even remember it and neither could he. He suggested that we had got the whole situation out of proportion and we should not be bankrupting the country as a result of this lockdown. This gave me food for thought but at the same time I can see that we have all become utterly terrified by the reports on TV and in newspapers. When we see children and healthy young adults dying in hospitals, we are naturally frightened and I do wonder if we will ever get over this fear. Here in Scotland, even garden centres have not yet been opened as they have elsewhere which I find ludicrous. All in all, there is no easy answer. I can see both sides of the argument.
I agree with you about Ferguson. He has repeatedly got it wrong over the years. The Government does seem to be bamboozled by the so-called experts. However they were also swayed by the situation all over the world. Virtually every other country imposed a lockdown so I suppose they felt they had to do the same. Also as many countries, including China, appeared to get the situation under control as a result (partly) of lockdown, I suppose they felt they had to no option but to follow suit. I feel that until we drastically improve the number of tests being done, we will never get anywhere. The situation here in Scotland, especially in care homes, is absolutely abysmal.
i deleted a response that was not directly answering you posed questions. I do think a separate post about all the differing rules and opinions might be an interesting read.
Please don't delete your post Froggie70. You shouldn't have to do that because it's been hijacked with political and off topic comments by others! The issue you rise is relevant and interesting to others here who may also be helped by the responses to your question.
You can report the off topic replies (click the report tab at the bottom of the post) and Paul_Howard or Chanpreet_Walia can delete off topic replies when they return to the office on Monday. This will enable you to retain the rest of the string.
Hope you find a solution - it's all very tricky is it x
Hi Froggie70 . I'm very sorry that your relevant and important post was hijacked in such a manner. Many of these comments have now been deleted, a user restricted and reported and another will be warned.
Hello Paul, many thanks I appreciate your help. Don’t mind people having an opinion but was really uncomfortable that it was linked to my post. Stay safe.
Great question. I read an article about the highest and lowest risk situations. It is particularly important for those of us who are not shielding in the US. I was struck by how much increased there is being indoors. Is there anyway you could all be wearing masks (yes, that helps) and you two who are shielding go out in a yard while the worker is there?
The best thing is to keep your distance from him. I agree he has a responsibility to wear a mask.
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