Good evening everyone!
Our drywall installer started work this week. Today was the first time we met him. From a layperson’s perspective, he has done his work well and quickly so far. However, one thing bothered me a lot: he smokes while working. And not just one or two cigarettes, but constantly. In the 10 minutes I was there, he smoked two cigarettes. Just as he finished one, he was lighting the next. This probably went on all day and also on previous days.
When I entered the house, luckily I didn’t notice any strong cigarette smell. He had one or two windows open. But now that our house is sealed, we as non-smokers do not want smoking inside. Especially not this frequently.
Currently, he is only working on the attic, but gradually the walls will be done, and the smoke will seep into them. So, from a health perspective, this is unacceptable to us.
I understand that as homeowners we can of course prohibit this. On the other hand, I worry that if we ban smoking for a chain smoker, the work quality could suffer and/or the project might take longer. Or, in the worst case, he might do a poor job out of frustration.
We have an inspector, so any problems would likely be noticed, but we also want to move in eventually and not have to redo everything.
He will still be working in the house for a few more days. Should we talk to him about it or better not?
Our drywall installer started work this week. Today was the first time we met him. From a layperson’s perspective, he has done his work well and quickly so far. However, one thing bothered me a lot: he smokes while working. And not just one or two cigarettes, but constantly. In the 10 minutes I was there, he smoked two cigarettes. Just as he finished one, he was lighting the next. This probably went on all day and also on previous days.
When I entered the house, luckily I didn’t notice any strong cigarette smell. He had one or two windows open. But now that our house is sealed, we as non-smokers do not want smoking inside. Especially not this frequently.
Currently, he is only working on the attic, but gradually the walls will be done, and the smoke will seep into them. So, from a health perspective, this is unacceptable to us.
I understand that as homeowners we can of course prohibit this. On the other hand, I worry that if we ban smoking for a chain smoker, the work quality could suffer and/or the project might take longer. Or, in the worst case, he might do a poor job out of frustration.
We have an inspector, so any problems would likely be noticed, but we also want to move in eventually and not have to redo everything.
He will still be working in the house for a few more days. Should we talk to him about it or better not?
Mahri23 schrieb:
Even if you don’t believe it, the cooperation was excellent and I didn’t have to, nor wanted to, speak with any of our tradespeople. Everything went smoothly.
And the question from the original poster is legitimate—they are simply seeking advice on how to proceed. So please be a bit more “friendly”.... 😉 read again what I wrote.
Actio et Reactio
B
barfly6666 Jan 2022 10:44Yeah, the mess was behind my garage! 😡 And you know what? I even found a used heroin syringe in the attic …. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it when I took over the house (it still needed to be cleared out, and there was quite a lot lying around). Well, that at least explains the quality of the workmanship.
If there’s a chance you’ll still smell smoke when you move in, try to stop it (although they’ll probably just carry on and get even more annoyed), or better yet, just swallow it and say nothing. One of the guys here smoked cigarillos and threw the butts into my flower bed right in front of me….
When I was a student, I did a summer job on a construction site, and I always thought, if the owners knew, the basements were absolutely covered in urine (despite having portable toilets), disgusting. I think the trades deliberately made things difficult for each other. And the construction company is still around, even 25 years later….
Maybe it’s better not to say anything. A neighbor once told me his place always smelled like nicotine and he wasn’t happy with the insulation either. He ended up tearing down a wall himself and found a huge pile of cigarette butts and ash inside the poorly insulated wall….. so that could happen to you as well…..
If there’s a chance you’ll still smell smoke when you move in, try to stop it (although they’ll probably just carry on and get even more annoyed), or better yet, just swallow it and say nothing. One of the guys here smoked cigarillos and threw the butts into my flower bed right in front of me….
When I was a student, I did a summer job on a construction site, and I always thought, if the owners knew, the basements were absolutely covered in urine (despite having portable toilets), disgusting. I think the trades deliberately made things difficult for each other. And the construction company is still around, even 25 years later….
Maybe it’s better not to say anything. A neighbor once told me his place always smelled like nicotine and he wasn’t happy with the insulation either. He ended up tearing down a wall himself and found a huge pile of cigarette butts and ash inside the poorly insulated wall….. so that could happen to you as well…..
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motorradsilke6 Jan 2022 13:08TmMike_2 schrieb:
Just speak directly with the drywall installer, and that’s it.Exactly. Our drywall installer smoked as well, but not that much. I kindly asked him to smoke outside after the windows were installed (he had already been there for other work before). That was no problem at all.
Our tiler was also a smoker. He naturally only smoked outside, so I didn’t have to say anything. That’s how it should be.
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