Bear with a new tipping thread here - nothing to do with tipping your barista or receptionist
We are in the final stages of a remodel project. It was a couple of months of prep and a few months of on-site work. Our GC is great, and we have enjoyed his crew a lot. When we do a job like this it is important to have folks we can trust and be around, since they are basically in our space for 8 hours a day.
About once a week we get donuts, or pizzas, or some other treat for the crew. The foreman in particular is great - he offers us opinions and fixes things or makes changes for us on the spot etc.
Is it proper or expected to tip him and the crew? Well, I know it is not expected, the GC has told us in passing that he gives a bonus to the crew for each completed job, as a way to keep his guys. But we’d like to say thanks to the guys who were here with us for 2 months.
Any ideas? To complicate it, only the foreman speaks English, but we have managed to communicate with all the guys in different ways and I hope we have been good clients for them.
There’s only one time I “tipped” a contractor.
I had a cracked sewer mainline, and had several plumbing companies come out and give estimates of anywhere from $5.5K-$9K to fix it. They gave those estimates without running a fiber-optic cable through the line to see how widespread the damage was. They only saw the small section of pipe with the crack in it, and then told me the whole mainline needed to be replaced.
I eventually found a plumber who replaced the cracked portion of the pipe and asked for $800. I was so happy with the job and the price that I gave him $1K. I never thought of that as a tip, but I guess it was in a roundabout kind of way. That was several years ago and haven’t had any problems with the mainline since then.
He’s also the first plumber I call if I have plumbing issues that I can’t handle myself, and he always leaves it up to me to determine how much I should pay him. (Which means I probably overpay.)
Otherwise, I’ve never tipped a contractor. I only did it in this case because he saved me enough money that I wanted to show my gratitude, and was more than happy with the work.
We have done 2 remodel projects in our home over the past 2 years using the same GC and we have not tipped. Like you, we occasionally brought in food for the workers. We are very happy with the work and have referred the contractor to three friends who have or are in the process of using him. I know this GC pays and treats his workers very well. Did not feel the need to tip.
We just finished our 4th major project with our contractor and his crew. The contractor gets a hefty fee for his services so I don’t feel the need to tip extra. We also fed the crew occasionally and have been referring them to people right and left. At least four neighbors have hired them in the last year because of the work they did at our house and our recommendation.
Tipping is out of control! A friend asked me how much I tipped my tattoo artist. I said “nothing…they charge me $200 per hour!” That’s more than many doctors and lawyers make. We certainly don’t expect tips.
We provided food and/or gatorade every day, and at the end we gave each of the guys a gift card for gas (I gave the foreman an envelope with all of the cards). They certainly didn’t expect it but were very grateful.
Anither option is a very glowing thank you note sent to their office.
