You need to live in better neighborhoods.

Depends on the work, contractor etc. If it's someone new and a job I want done a certain way, I will stay. If it's someone I use regularly and comfortable with, I let them do their job without me looking over their shoulder.

~Matt

Depends. First of all I only hire licensed and insured contractors. Secondly I try to hire someone who has done work for someone I know.

If the work in in the house, I'll absolutely make sure someone is home. Even going through my steps 1 & 2, you just never know. Also, my dog would go ape shit.

We're actually having a pergola right now. Since all the work is in the back yard I just leave the gate unlocked for the crew. The boss, whom I trust, stops by daily so I'm comfortable not being home.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

It's the nicer hoods that get robbed.

Nicer stuff.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I'm a contractor, and even I stay home or at least ask my retired dad to come over when trades are working in my house (unless they are people I know very well).

I would be even more worried about larger companies where employees have little to no loyalty or personal connection to the company.

I'm actually dealing with an incident over this right now. I'm getting my old perimeter drains snaked and flushed out. A company gave me a worst case estimate of $1000 to dig 4 holes around the corners of the house, use their machines to clear the drains, and replace everything as was.

We ended up digging the holes to save money. Guy shows up, and is visibly annoyed that my dad was there to observe all day. Clears the first two thirds of the house just fine, runs in to a couple of blockages on one side. Immediately says "your drains are blocked and need to be replaced". When he went for lunch, dad dug a fifth hole near the supposed blockage so he could try to clear it from a better vantage point. Guy shows up, tells dad to stop "interfering and getting in the way" explains how he found a blockage and doesn't want to risk damaging his equipment by forcing to clear it, packs up and leaves without replacing the drains or filling the holes. I then got a bill for $800.

If my dad wasn't there, this is what would have happened: guy would have showed up, made a pitiful attempt to clear a drain, met slight resistance, charged me $1000 for his time and told me my drains need replacing to the tune of $15,000. Without being there, how would I know he was full of shit?

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I know , but the suburban Mayberryish town I lived in was the best I could do.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Originally Mrs Leddy was supposed to be around but the job got pushed back. She's now back at work(teacher). It's inside work, replacing all the windows. Talked with the forman for about 45 mins. Seems like a good guy but I still get nervous. I went to work but told him I'd be in and out all day if he needed me for anything.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Always stick around if they are working in the house. Not always if its an outside job.

Always stick around if they are working in the house. Not always if its an outside job.

So inside job = stay; outside job = maybe...

What if it's an Italian Job?

 
Luckily I haven't had to have much work done on the house in the 6 years we have owned it. But when I do, it depends on the company and what they are doing.

We had gutters done, I didn't watch, wasn't too much to eff up, although he did hang one of the chains right in the walking path which was an interesting decision.

HVAC work, I use the same company my parents have used extensively, the same repair man as well so I know them well and trust them. They did $15k worth of work at my parents house and the owner was on top of everything. I trust them to do their thing while I am gone.

Inside and outside painting I have a cycling buddy in the biz so he got the garage code and came and went as he pleased.

I should have watched the guys who put in the concrete curbing, they did a crappy job, had to get the owner back out there 3 times to fix their issues.

The only work I've had someone do was pumping my septic tank. I stayed inside and assumed they knew what they were doing.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Wait until they are preoccupied and then drive off with all their trucks and equipment.

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Starting from scratch...

Stick around to make sure they don't blow the bloody doors off.

Yes. If either me or my wife wasn't at home while new floors were being installed back in June, we probably wouldn't have heard the inside pane of glass of the sliding door being shattered by one of the installers. My wife went defcon 1 on them when they tried to sweep the glass under the rug that was about to be thrown. We got a new french door installed from that fiasco.

The number of people I actually trust I can count on one hand, and don't need my thumb. Contractors not included. I never have work done without me, my wife, or daughter (she's 23) present. Never. I've had workers not like me looking over their shoulder, so to speak. "What, you think I'm a thief?" "Don't know. I'm just here to make sure you're not. No offense, but I don't know you."

.
when crew was building room addition,
they set trusses on backwards
which would have made the stairs end up in the bathroom.
being there
i was able to point out something was being done wrong.
before too many nails and Simpson ties were attached

took car to shop to have recently warrantied master cylinder looked at.
now car has new small dents in stainless trim .
was unable to see car being evaluated in shop.

..
i have also seen where a family member of a person having work done.
just stands around with a beer all day and talks and talks and talks
and tries to get some of his own work done for free , yapping and negotiating what he needs done
or asks to borrow tools to make quick adjustments of things
after he sees the tool kit and resources..

some things you can do
if you have anyone working inside
is put down hall runners or visqueen
to avoid any stains
and move stuff out of the way
so worker can get in easily with tool belts or tools or equipment
to avoid bumping anything , so nothing can get broke or knocked over.

I'm sorry but this is the worst poem I've ever read.

I have a large unfinished attic space ( in my basement :) ) that I want to finish off to add more space to my house (to increase selling value). My neighbor is a contractor so I'm probably going to hire him to do it for me. However, I won't do it unless someone can be home to make sure nobody enters the house.

A couple I used to work for had some remodeling work done in their house. One of the guys brought his girlfriend with him, she wandered around the house and ended up taking a gold bracelet.

Exactly.
If someone is working at my house, I am usually home unless a quick trip to Home Depot need be made. If at one of the rentals, no, I do not stay unless I am also there to do work.

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DISH is how we do it.

++ nicer neighborhood. When a burglary is a regular occurrence it's time to move.

Anyway, hell yes I stick around. Contractors need to be supervised, or they will cut corners, and/or damage other unrelated stuff in the vicinity of their work.