Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jun 07, 2012 9:05 am We are days away from completing our renovation which has taken about 4 months. Did anyone leave their builders some kind of thank you? Is there some kind of unwritten etiquette about this? And if you did what did you leave? Cheers Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 2Jun 07, 2012 9:25 am We didn't give our 'builder' anything but we used a volumn builder. We did however look after our tradies by taking up tasty treats the missus would cook, or a flask of coffee etc... Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 3Jun 07, 2012 10:02 am When we did our renos my DH would cook up a storm for all the tradies and they all left with a bottle of wine! They did a great job. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 4Jun 07, 2012 10:11 am We have been thinking about doing a Friday bbq for the trades on site. But I think the best 'present' for a builder would be to be paid in full on time! Up to you really, depends how well you have got to known the guys on site! Maybe a bbq and some beers on finishing day might go ok, but speak with the ss first, alcohol is being frowned on now, something about oh&s and alcohol in the workplace then driving home! I worked for a small company and they restricted us to light beer and a large company that bought us, their first act was to remove all alcohol! 2 Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 5Jun 10, 2012 1:04 pm Its been some years since I built and the experience was enough to put me off for life, but IF I had given the volume builder a gift it would have been a hand grenade with the pin removed, or perhaps something to make them extremely ill. Arfur Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 7Jun 15, 2012 4:56 pm Uncle Arfur Its been some years since I built and the experience was enough to put me off for life, but IF I had given the volume builder a gift it would have been a hand grenade with the pin removed, or perhaps something to make them extremely ill. Too messy with the grenade. I think a plate of delightful sushi.... with the bad bits of fugu in it. But in our case the best gift they got was their payment. I personally think that is good enough! Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 8Sep 09, 2012 3:35 am Adam.M Uncle Arfur Its been some years since I built and the experience was enough to put me off for life, but IF I had given the volume builder a gift it would have been a hand grenade with the pin removed, or perhaps something to make them extremely ill. Too messy with the grenade. I think a plate of delightful sushi.... with the bad bits of fugu in it. But in our case the best gift they got was their payment. I personally think that is good enough! Thank very much for your comment. It help me to think about for my ideals. Tks again and pls keep posting. Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 10Sep 09, 2012 9:43 am There is nothing wrong with appreciating work well done and following it up with a small gift if you choose to do so. Even though we all get paid for what we do it is still nice to be appreciated. It leaves everything on a high and most people will look for a builder or a tradie again, so it's good to build relationships. Both owners and tradies equally need each other. Just make sure the job is completely finished because you don't want them to ease off before hitting finishing line. I think humble has shown how it can be done and the SS went the extra mile for him. I am sure if he ever needed anything they would jump if he called them. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 11Sep 09, 2012 2:53 pm I became friends with one of the tradies and gave him a a bunch of painting/fencebuilding work after the build. As for the builder themselves I give out free recommendations that they did quality work, even if the timeframe to finalise everything around handover took longer than it should have. Re: Did you leave your builders a gift? 12Sep 09, 2012 7:10 pm Veefy I became friends with one of the tradies and gave him a a bunch of painting/fencebuilding work after the build. As for the builder themselves I give out free recommendations that they did quality work, even if the timeframe to finalise everything around handover took longer than it should have. I follow the idea of recommending their work. 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