# Would You Ever Or Let Your Employees Use Your Customer's Bathroom



## tonyc56 (Nov 9, 2008)

I've never used a customer's bathroom. Though I have to confess there were some close calls. Luckily woods were nearby.


http://www.angieslist.com/articles/do-you-let-contractors-use-your-bathroom.htm


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Only when they are friends, usually i just go to a gas station, or woods near by. My body is set up to take a number 2 at lunch.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Never understood what the big deal was. Isn't that what the room was designed for?


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

I always use client's washrooms wtf am I suppose to do Piss in their flower garden?


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

We use them all the time. We are not pigs about it and leave it better than we found it...well, mostly.

But Leo nailed it, that's what it's for. We usually scout out a none personal bathroom (powder room or basement bathroom). The house that we are at has 5 full bathrooms and it's just an older couple who live there, so we have lots of options.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

If it's a short job I always ask to be polite. But if we are there more than a few days, I just assume that they know we will have to take care of business at some point during the day. I cannot afford to leave the site or have everyone leave just to do their business.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I like to try them all out to see which one I prefer to do my business in.


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## Bearded Wonder (Jan 21, 2011)

Do it all the time. Well, only if absolutely necessary, we try not to if we can help it. But I'm not driving 10 minutes there and back to use a gas station bathroom. Basic rule of thumb is, leave it like nothing happened. They better not be able to tell you used it. I just tell people that we will need some facilities, and they direct us to use whatever bathroom they deem best. Ideally, it will have a good fart fan and a can of spray on the back of the toilet. 

That's only for our crew though. I send subs packing to the gas station....


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## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Get a portable restroom you bunch of babies.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

More than 2 days its a porta potty. Less than, the client has an option in my scope of work (allowance) to let us use a guest restroom. They designate the restroom.


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## Bearded Wonder (Jan 21, 2011)

RobertCDF said:


> Get a portable restroom you bunch of babies.


Not for a 2 week job. Geez.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

ClaytonR said:


> Not for a 2 week job. Geez.


Its a hundred bucks for a porta potty for the minimum here, I just add it to the cost.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Most people I work for would rather have you drop a duce in their spare bath then have a port a loo in their yard.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

It's up to the customer - theirs, or they pay for the portable. I had one employee, if he was on the job, I didn't offer the option.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> Most people I work for would rather have you drop a duce in their spare bath then have a port a loo in their yard.


They have the option......


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Jaws said:


> Its a hundred bucks for a porta potty for the minimum here, I just add it to the cost.


It's 130 here minimum here, that gets you the first month. 



WarnerConstInc. said:


> Most people I work for would rather have you drop a duce in their spare bath then have a port a loo in their yard.


That's the way I look at it, they complain enough about the trailers.


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## Bearded Wonder (Jan 21, 2011)

Inner10 said:


> I always use client's washrooms wtf am I suppose to do Piss in their flower garden?


Don't tell my customers, but that is not an infrequent occurrence on my jobs. The flower garden bit, that is.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Now if I am outside working, I just bring a bucket with me. 

Most times I just run home and poop. Nice thing about usually working less then 20 blocks from home.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

jlsconstruction said:


> It's 130 here minimum here, that gets you the first month.
> 
> 
> 
> That's the way I look at it, they complain enough about the trailers.


Its just professional to offer the option in my opinion. Most of the homes I work on are second homes on the lake, the clients are not there, and say use the down stairs bathroom. Some of the rock star pads on the man made island have special restrooms for working stiffs like me :laughing:


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Jaws said:


> Its just professional to offer the option in my opinion. Most of the homes I work on are second homes on the lake, the clients are not there, and say use the down stairs bathroom. Some of the rock star pads on the man made island have special restrooms for working stiffs like me :laughing:


I agree, another thing is 80% of our work is outside, so its not like we are in the house to just slip into the bathroom. 

I did Catch a laborer taking a dump in the trailer, he put a trashbag in a 5 gallon bucket.


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## Bearded Wonder (Jan 21, 2011)

Jaws said:


> Its just professional to offer the option in my opinion. Most of the homes I work on are second homes on the lake, the clients are not there, and say use the down stairs bathroom. Some of the rock star pads on the man made island have special restrooms for working stiffs like me :laughing:


Is it professional if I offer the the option of their bathroom or flower garden...?


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

jlsconstruction said:


> I agree, another thing is 80% of our work is outside, so its not like we are in the house to just slip into the bathroom.
> 
> I did Catch a laborer taking a dump in the trailer, he put a trashbag in a 5 gallon bucket.


I designate a bucket at the beginning of the job when its exterior. My hands are just uppity and make me pay them to run to the 7 11 :laughing:


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Jaws said:


> I designate a bucket at the beginning of the job when its exterior. My hands are just uppity and make me pay them to run to the 7 11 :laughing:


I told him to just let me know next time and I would let him go. :laughing:


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Well, I guess there is a difference between indoor and outdoor work. All of my work is indoor, so I don't have to worry about getting inside, I'm there already. 

If you are outdoors and the client's not home then that might be a different story. I could see a gas station run or a porta potty.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

jlsconstruction said:


> I agree, another thing is 80% of our work is outside, so its not like we are in the house to just slip into the bathroom.
> 
> I did Catch a laborer taking a dump in the trailer, he put a trashbag in a 5 gallon bucket.


:thumbup: Save the bucket!!!!!:clap:


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

ClaytonR said:


> Is it professional if I offer the the option of their bathroom or flower garden...?


Flower garden is a given....


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

I have never and will never use the H/O'S bath. It just seems rude to me.
I will walk past a porta john for the woods ..When's the last time someone caught crabs from an oak tree?


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*Never use the customer's restroom*

ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! There is just about nothing more repulsive than than being forced to smell someone's human waste.

We have written policies that say our employees are NEVER ALLOWED to use a customer's restroom and there are a few reasons; 

1) Just like offering a beer most customers will allow employees to use their restroom, but at the same time a toilet is often a person's private sanctuary and with all the diseases that can come off a stranger's butt the customers PREFER NOT to have you use their toilet.

2) My experiences tell me that a high percent of people are pigs when it comes to toilet manners. They splash their urine from the water in the bowl to the wall. They don't flush their poop on the run and they can stink the place for up to an hour.

3) Customers get eerie when someone is in their bathroom for any period of time because they have medicines in their cabinets (drugs).

4) Customers don't want employees romping in and out of the house, tracking up their floors with dirt nor do they want dirt coming off their clothing and all over their toilet and floor. 

5) If there are many employees on a job site and each employee uses the customer's toilet twice a day that could be 4, 8, 12, or more uses per day.

We carry cups in our truck for emergencies and when we are in the boonies and when we have a real emergency we always have a 5-gallon bucket and 6 mil trash bags. Some of our employees even have a toilet seat they put on the 5-gallon bucket. It is better than stinking up the customer's house.


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*Funny!*



blacktop said:


> I have never and will never use the H/O'S bath. It just seems rude to me.
> I will walk past a porta john for the woods ..When's the last time someone caught crabs from an oak tree?


That is funny because I leaned up against a tree once and it turned out to be poison oak.


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

Porta pots on longer jobs. Small jobs, we check with homeowner to see if a bathroom is available, if not, drive to toilet, woods, etc. New construction we almost always get a porty. Some of the builders will install an old toilet in the basement to use after the house is dried in. It gets removed at the end and replaced with the actual owners toilet.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Warren said:


> Some of the builders will install an old toilet in the basement to use after the house is dried in. It gets removed at the end and replaced with the actual owners toilet.


We've done that


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## steex (Feb 19, 2013)

I'm not a plumber, but I've installed about 50 or so new toilets during remodels. And you had better believe I've taken the ceremonial first dump in every single one of them. Sometimes I know that I'm going to be putting in two in a day and I have to save a little for the afternoon job. Otherwise how am I going to know if the thing works? It would be doing a disservice to the customer not to test it.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

We always ask on a remodel which restroom they prefer us to use. On new we get a porta pot.


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## jhark123 (Aug 26, 2008)

I definitely prefer to use a port a potty no matter what the job. That way I don't have to be concerned with my or my crews cleanliness. In fact, I bought one. It makes it easier to just put it in my truck and take it to the job that only lasts a week.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

jhark123 said:


> I definitely prefer to use a port a potty no matter what the job. That way I don't have to be concerned with my or my crews cleanliness. In fact, I bought one. It makes it easier to just put it in my truck and take it to the job that only lasts a week.


What do you do with the poop


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

jhark123 said:


> I definitely prefer to use a port a potty no matter what the job. That way I don't have to be concerned with my or my crews cleanliness. In fact, I bought one. It makes it easier to just put it in my truck and take it to the job that only lasts a week.


And yet you never posted a pic in the TBA thread!!


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

If you want anotherone there is one on Syracuse creigs list for $100


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## jhark123 (Aug 26, 2008)

Warren said:


> And yet you never posted a pic in the TBA thread!!


Haha, I will. I really need to make a visit to that thread. I haven't shown off my new Stihl 362 wrap handle saw.


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## jhark123 (Aug 26, 2008)

jlsconstruction said:


> What do you do with the poop


Either the local septic pumper or the honey bucket co. Costs me between $30-50. It usually needs it every two months or so (or when the Mexican drywall crew has been on a job).


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

I usually end up taking pees in a bottle.


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## donerightwyo (Oct 10, 2011)

We run our own porta potties on little trailers. One guy can move them around the site. They are the dumping kind. Saves us a ton of money and hassle:thumbsup:


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

I thought the mexicans just used the crawl space ?


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

jhark123 said:


> Either the local septic pumper or the honey bucket co. Costs me between $30-50. It usually needs it every two months or so (or when the Mexican drywall crew has been on a job).


2 months???

Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!


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## renov8r (Feb 16, 2013)

Depends on the client. Most jobs I am allowed to use the bathroom. All my old clients I constantly do work for, I am allowed so I never need to ask. New clients I take them one at a time, if I see they are kind and offer water then I'll ask if I can use the restroom if they don't then I say to myself I will hold it until lunch then go. If I can't wait or its a short days job I will ask.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

pcplumber said:


> ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! There is just about nothing more repulsive than than being forced to smell someone's human waste.
> 
> Nothing more repulsive? Rotting flesh? Dirty Hygiene products. Shall I continue? I would not advocate taking the nasty deuce you can muster, but if you have to pee, you have to pee. If you gotta go, ya gotta go.
> 
> ...


Yeah cuz those two options are a whole lot more sanitary. Take a dump in a bucket, and ten go back into a customers home without washing your hands? Now that's gross.


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## charimon (Nov 24, 2008)

donerightwyo said:


> We run our own porta potties on little trailers. One guy can move them around the site. They are the dumping kind. Saves us a ton of money and hassle:thumbsup:


Post a pic.

I do 100% of my work inside more than 1/2 of it in bathrooms. One of the first things I ask is what restroom i can use. Only very rarely will I drop a duce. I wipe the bowl with TP everytime just in case, makes me glad I use nitrile gloves.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

When I'm getting the contract signed this is when I ask them if there will be restrooms facilities for my guys, and I tell them if not I can get a Porta-John. Most don't want the toilet in there driveway. I also explain to them that my boys are house broke, this always gets a laugh.


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## chewy (May 23, 2010)

I got to have a humiliating meeting with a client over one of my guys bombing a toilet. Apparently the smell was so bad they had to cancel a staff meeting... got back from a sick day and had no idea what was going on when I got called into her office. Im glad I was able to contain my laughter.


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*Thank you very much!*



TNTSERVICES said:


> Yeah cuz those two options are a whole lot more sanitary. Take a dump in a bucket, and ten go back into a customers home without washing your hands? Now that's gross.


Who washes their hands? I use restaurant restrooms no less than twice a day and I watch very closely to see whether or not people flush toilets and wash their hands. Very few people flush the toilet they use and those same people don't wash their hands. A movie theater I go to has 10 toilets and I made the manager go in the restroom with me because not 1 toilet was flushed and those toilets had automatic flushing devices. The women are equal to the men.

A high percent of people (not only my employees) are pigs in regards to the way they use restroom facilities and customers in general don't like people squirting all over the outside of their toilets. They don't want someone else's stinky butt sweating all over their toilet seats, but they will say it is okay to be polite.

The number one goal every company want to achieve is making sure the customer has a good experience.

"Wow! What a good experience I had with your company. You took a poop in my toilet and I will remember that stink for the rest of my life. Thank you very much."

That was not a joke. About 20 years ago a customer called me 6 months after my employees completed a job and she called me at about 11 pm (late evening). She told me that she waited 6 months to get three thing off her chest and finally got the nerve to call me. She made it very clear that item #1 was her imagination, but she still wanted to tell me.

1) She said when she came home from work one of my employees had already taken a dump in her toilet. When she walked into the house she could smell it. She said she cleaned the toilet, walls, and everything in the bathroom with multiple cleaners and she can still smell the same odor she smelled 6 months earlier.

2) Her daughter cooked some cookies for the Girl Scouts and she offered one to each of my employees. She said my employee ate every cookie and left her with none.

3) She told my employees not to damage a valuable plant. She even put a fence around the plant to protect it during our 1-day job. There was no work being done withing 20 feet of this plant, yet my employees trampled it to death.

A good customer experience is not seeing your urine on the top of my toilet, is not having to see you nor wait for you to use my restroom, and a good customer experience is not having to smell your poop.

I think it is very distasteful when applicants and sales people walk into my office for their first time and the first words out of their mouth are, "can I use your restroom." Even though everyone uses toilets it is a very distasteful way for an introduction.

I own a commercial property and I allow customers to use my restrooms, but as soon as the customer leaves I clean and sanitize the toilet with soap and bleach. Many customers do the same when you use their toilet, whether or not you are a clean person, and now you are causing your customers to do work for you whether or not you leave a mess because many people (myself included) have a fetish about other people using the family throne.

The question should be, "If you have a choice would you use a customer's restroom and WHAT IS THE BETTER CHOICE ON BEHALF OF YOUR CUSTOMER?"

The better choice for your customer is, NEVER USE ANYTHING THAT BELONGS TO YOUR CUSTOMER. No tools, not electric cords, no toilet, no food, no drinking water. When you go to a job you should already have these things and for a toilet you can run to a restaurant, bring a bucket, or rent a toilet on wheels.

I take using a customer's toilet very serious!


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

There are some public restrooms I wouldn't touch anything in there including the faucet. I'll take my chances with my willy.


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

Californiadecks said:


> When I'm getting the contract signed this is when I ask them if there will be restrooms facilities for my guys, and I tell them if not I can get a Porta-John. Most don't want the toilet in there driveway. I also explain to them that my boys are house broke, this always gets a laugh.


Asking someone to use their toilet does not get you an honest answer. You can only expect that most customers will let you use their toilet when you ask, but this does not mean that they like it. I will tell you that your employees can use my toilet if you ask, but I prefer that you don't ask. I prefer that you don't bring up the subject of toilets and make your own preparation for the occasion. 

I can't imagine workings tromping through my house (if I had a house) because I own a lot of valuable items I don't want the general public to have access to. My wife is immaculate and every particle of dust bothers her. She yells at me if I get a yellow drop on the top of the toilet and sometimes a drop of two on the floor. My carpets are new, white, and spotless. All I need to start a divorce is to allow construction workers to tromp through my house with dirty shoes.

Public restrooms are filthy and they stink. Allowing workers to use a customer's restroom makes the room public.

There is no way you can teach your employees to have good toilet habits. They are either clean, or they are not and most people don't have the highest cleanliness standards. Not high enough to use my personal toilet and that is the reason I will travel 20 miles to my office to use my toilet rather than using customer's toilet, or a public toilet.

"Yes maam. We will be here tomorrow at 9 am, but one more important detail I need to settle is just in case my men's breakfast doesn't settle well I'd like to make sure it is okay to dump in your restroom and are you sure that smelling up the bathroom for a while won't bother you?"


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

pcplumber said:


> Asking someone to use toilet doesn't get you an honest answer.You can only expect that most customers will let you use their toilet, but this does not mean that they like it. I will tell you that your employees can use my toilet if you ask, but I prefer that you don't ask. I prefer that you don't bring up the subject of toilets and make your own preparation for the occasion.
> 
> I can't imagine workings tromping through my house (if I had a house) because I own a lot of valuable items I don't want the general public to have access to. My wife is immaculate and every particle of dust bothers her. She yells at me if I get a yellow drop on the top of the toilet and sometimes a drop of two on the floor. My carpets are new, white, and spotless. All I need to start a divorce is to allow construction workers to tromp through my house with dirty shoes.
> 
> Public restrooms are filthy and they stink. Allowing workers to use a customer's restroom makes the room public.


Maybe you should hire a more professional crew. Sounds like all of your problems are based on your disrespectful, dirty, dishonest, boneheaded employees


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pcplumber said:


> Asking someone to use toilet doesn't get you an honest answer.You can only expect that most customers will let you use their toilet, but this does not mean that they like it. I will tell you that your employees can use my toilet if you ask, but I prefer that you don't ask. I prefer that you don't bring up the subject of toilets and make your own preparation for the occasion. I can't imagine workings tromping through my house (if I had a house) because I own a lot of valuable items I don't want the general public to have access to. My wife is immaculate and every particle of dust bothers her. She yells at me if I get a yellow drop on the top of the toilet and sometimes a drop of two on the floor. My carpets are new, white, and spotless. All I need to start a divorce is to allow construction workers to tromp through my house with dirty shoes. Public restrooms are filthy and they stink. Allowing workers to use a customer's restroom makes the room public.


That's BS most of the time they offer before I ask. As a matter of fact they usually have a pool restroom, not to mention most of my Clients have housekeepers and some have them living there.Your not qualified to speak for anyone but yourself. Not to mention if you have employees that did the Sh!t in the list in your prior post that's your fault for having employees like that. I've never had an employee that has done anything like that.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pcplumber said:


> Asking someone to use their toilet does not get you an honest answer. You can only expect that most customers will let you use their toilet when you ask, but this does not mean that they like it. I will tell you that your employees can use my toilet if you ask, but I prefer that you don't ask. I prefer that you don't bring up the subject of toilets and make your own preparation for the occasion. I can't imagine workings tromping through my house (if I had a house) because I own a lot of valuable items I don't want the general public to have access to. My wife is immaculate and every particle of dust bothers her. She yells at me if I get a yellow drop on the top of the toilet and sometimes a drop of two on the floor. My carpets are new, white, and spotless. All I need to start a divorce is to allow construction workers to tromp through my house with dirty shoes. Public restrooms are filthy and they stink. Allowing workers to use a customer's restroom makes the room public. There is no way you can teach your employees to have good toilet habits. They are either clean, or they are not and most people don't have the highest cleanliness standards. Not high enough to use my personal toilet and that is the reason I will travel 20 miles to my office to use my toilet rather than using customer's toilet, or a public toilet.


If that's all it would take for you to get a divorce you have other problems also.


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## K&K Carpentry (Aug 29, 2013)

If we are on a job 1 week or more I get a porta potty. Up here I can get one for 2 weeks for $50. Other then that we go to gas station.


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

I can see PCPlumber's point. With the last guy I worked for we were doing some work for an older couple. It was a big multi-month long job. Complete renovation. We had finished up doing some odds and ends and an amish cabinet maker was supposed to come in after us to install cabinets. The clients were snow birds and they actually left for Florida before we were done working. Job ends....Clients get back from Florida to find a surprise...in the toilet....A nice big healthy dump that someone working on the house had left brewing for two months. 

It turned into a big fiasco about whether it was us or the cabinet installers. My boss was the one that had to go over there and clean it out.

If he would have been able to say that "I have a company policy and my guys do not take dumps in clients bathrooms" it would have saved a lot of trouble.

That being said. I'll do my best to take a leak outside out of sight. If I can't I will take a leak in their restroom. If I have to run 15 min into town every time I needed to take a leak that is all I'd get done. I'd never take a dump unless there was no other option.


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

jlsconstruction said:


> I agree, another thing is 80% of our work is outside, so its not like we are in the house to just slip into the bathroom.
> 
> I did Catch a laborer taking a dump in the trailer, he put a trashbag in a 5 gallon bucket.


:laughing: Awkward... :laughing:


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## Stephen H (Feb 18, 2011)

We never use the customers bathroom-even on the rare occasions that they offer.

99.999% of our work is outside-usually a day or 2 /job- sometimes multiple locations /day.

Literally the 1st thing the guys and I discuss upon arriving at a new job is what the toilet arrangements are gonna be. Gas station,public park,McDonalds,Starbucks etc.

Also- I never leave a suppliers warehouse without peeing in their restroom.

Stephen


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

So.... what's the difference in peeing there as to a clients home? It's still someone else's bathroom.


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Stephen H said:


> We never use the customers bathroom-even on the rare occasions that they offer.
> 
> 99.999% of our work is outside-usually a day or 2 /job- sometimes multiple locations /day.
> 
> ...


You guys are fvcked up...bathrooms are there for a reason.


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