Two weeks ago I had an A/C leak and part of the ceiling in my spare room collapsed. The tech who came to fix the A/C had worked on it earlier this summer and I knew he was vaccinated. But I’m having a hard time finding someone to fix the ceiling. After striking out with unreturned phone calls last week, I finally got someone to look at it Monday. We both wore masks and he was only in the house about 5 minutes so I didn’t ask his status. But he said the job would take 3 or 4 hours over 2 days and I hadn’t really thought about that. I’m not comfortable having someone unvaccinated in my house that long. I haven’t heard back yet on an estimate but when I do I’m going to ask if he is vaccinated. If he is not I’m not sure what I will do.
I’d prefer not to have a stream of people coming in to give me estimates and like I said, I couldn’t even get return calls last week. I have to get the ceiling fixed before it gets cold and I would like to do it sooner rather than later but now I’m hesitating. Anyone have any experience with unvaccinated workers in their homes during this Delta phase? How did you handle it?
And for reference, I’m in a county with a 40% vaccination rate and full ICUs.
My non-expert opinion is that, depending on the exact details of your situation, it may be mitigation enough just to have all the doors and windows open while they’re there. And of course everyone wearing a good mask properly. I would also make sure I was far away from the workers.
I would do all that regardless of the worker’s purported vax status.
Yep, everybody strictly masked, covering mouth AND nose, all doors and windows open. You sit outside on the deck or porch to let them in and then stay outside. After they leave, secure the doors and then go somewhere else for as long as you can, 6-7 hours.
I’m at the point that I don’t necessarily believe someone is vaccinated just because they say they are~especially with that low a rate of vaccination where you are, unless I know them and have reason to believe them.
So, open doors and windows, stay outside. Lock the doors when they leave and go elsewhere til bedtime.
If it’s a single fam home with fairly modern A/C, there’s probably a regular exchange of air, but as others have pointed out, open the windows and doors if possible, especially in the room where he’ll be doing the work. If he’s masked and you’re masked, you’ll probably be okay, though underlying health conditions have to be considered.
Anti-vaxxers usually don’t lie about it, they are proud of it and will loudly explain why they are right at the drop of a hat.
I agree with being sure there is a lot of ventilation and everyone should wear masks.
We have small repair jobs in our home that we can’t do. There are several handyman sorts in the area, but with vaccination rates barely higher than yours, I’m willing to wait for a while longer while ignoring the issue.
I was supposed to get the estimate from him by today but haven’t heard from him. I’ve put together another list to start calling tomorrow. This time I will ask about vaccination status before even having someone come out. Maybe I’ll get lucky or maybe I’ll end up calling every damn company or handyman recommended on NextDoor. And I’ll need proof of vaccination by seeing their card. Now that I’ve really thought about it, I just don’t want to take any chances. I was in a hurry because that gaping wound in the ceiling was creeping me out. But I keep that room shut off and I know it’s not hurting anything. And I should have a good 6 weeks until it starts to get cold. Surely I can find someone in that time.
I also got quotes for a new roof last week. At least for that I don’t have to worry about vaccination status. The frontrunners spent an hour and a half talking with me the day they inspected the roof. They have missed two deadlines for an estimate (first Tuesday and then today) which is really frustrating. I want to get that done by the end of September. If I don’t hear from them today, I’ll look at the other quotes again. The wheels of home improvement turn very slowly. And covid doesn’t help. Gah! I just want this all done.
Thanks for all the responses. It helps to have others think things through with you.
Early on, before there was a vaccine, I made myself clear that if anyone wanted to work for/with me they had to be vaccinated. It was awkward, but man, I don’t want to spend my time everyday with idiots.
This would be my attitude. I wondered if the OP has special cause for concern.
If you’re vaccinated, you’re probably relatively safe. But not entirely, because it’s possible to be vaccinated and still get infected. But by the same token, it’s possible for the workmen to be vaccinated and still be infected.
Aside from being 67 years old (it still seems so strange to me to say that - when did I get old?), I don’t really have any co-morbidities. I was vaccinated in March so there is the chance that my immune response is waning. I did have a weird heart thing happen in June that led to a nightmarish ER visit. Even though the cardiologist says I’m ok, that experience and the fact that ER visits these days involve 24-48 hours waiting after triage, I’m super cautious. Maybe overly cautious but after 1 1/2 years of being careful, I’d hate to fuck things up now.
And, of course, even with a vaccinated worker we will both wear masks. That’s a risk that’s a bit more tolerable. And I just don’t have a choice since there is a damn hole in my ceiling. Actually I was talking to a friend last night and told him I had this vision of not fixing it and then I’m the crazy woman whose house is falling apart around her. Probably need more cats, though.
I’ve been watching this thread, sort of interested in it as I used to work in disaster cleanup.
Regarding requiring vaccination status and masks, yes absolutely you can require whoever comes to your home to be vaccinated (with proof) and yes you can absolutely require masks, and yes you absolutely should because the people coming to your has will most certainly lie if they aren’t vaxxed. I unfortunately see this in my own company. And if the person who comes to work in your home gives you any guff about wearing a mask, fire him on the spot, kick him out and call the company and tell them they are fired off the job and why and get someone else in there.
I’ve been thinking about the last few times we had workmen in the house doing stuff. In every case, we were off doing stuff; kayaking, pontooning, hiking, brewery visiting, whatever.
And that was all prepandemic. Because who wants to be home when people are messing with your house?
I think you’re well within your rights to ask, and to decline to let anyone unvaccinated into your home. I even think that’s a good thing to do, in terms of enforcing positive social norms. But, if you decide to let an antivaxxer into your home for a couple hours to do some work with the windows open and you elsewhere, I think your personal risk is negligible. So don’t feel like this is the hill you have to die on.
The workmen I’ve hired since we bought our house in March have all offered up the info that they were vaccinated, but I live in Los Angeles, where attitudes are fairly progressive on this subject.
The fact that you said he was wearing a mask when he looked at the job is a good sign. Anyone sensible enough to wear a mask without being forced to is likely sensible enough to be vaccinated, and won’t resent being asked.
Well, finding someone who is vaccinated is proving very difficult. Their status is the first thing I ask, which I think catches them off guard so I don’t think anyone has lied. I’ve contacted a several handymen and none of them were. I’ve called five companies. The woman who answered the phone for one was surprised at my question. I guess no one had asked before. She checked with her boss and called back to tell me that he had no control over his sub-contractors vaccinations so couldn’t guarantee anything. Two others said no one was vaccinated.
One boss said some of his crew were and he would have one call me. That guy called late Friday, I sent him the pictures and he was supposed to get back to me yesterday but I haven’t heard anything. The other company’s crew are all vaccinated and the boss gave me an estimate based on the pictures. He called earlier and said three of his guys tested positive today and the two others were waiting on results. He didn’t know when he might be able to do the job. I told him to keep in touch.
This is so crazy. I don’t know anyone who is not vaccinated and though I know it’s a really big problem here, it’s my first time confronting it. Now that I’ve made peace with the fact that there is a wound in the ceiling and it’s not an emergency, I’m going to wait until I find the right person.
On the other front, I’ve picked my roofer and am calling tomorrow to get that process started. If I can’t get the ceiling fixed before that happens, I can tack up plastic sheeting to cover it while they are pounding on the roof. So much fun ahead!
