OT - Advice sought: Contractor in the house?

[OtayBW]

This is a bit of a tough one. An insurance claim on a flooded basement now requires 1-2 contractors to come into my home for a ~week or so. I would propose to isolate the work area from the living area by plastic sheeting, with no worker permitted up in the living area. Aside from taking other precautions, AM I NUTS, or can I get away with this being some kind of 'acceptable' risk? I may have some wiggle room to get this done - or maybe not (?) I'm in MD.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or opinions.

[XXtwindad]

I'm betting there are a lot of contractors in their houses now

[C40_guy]

If the contractors are dealing with wet wallboard or other dampness mitigation, timing is important. If the basement is now dry, and you're rebuilding, you have some options...but it could be six months before you get a crew back.

If you live in a (general) area of low current risk, I would be tempted to move forward, keeping them isolated from the rest of the house...for their protection and yours...

[gbcoupe]

I don't think this is unreasonable or even out of the ordinary, current circumstances aside. Would probably have to have a porta potty available.

We have at least a few GC's here. Sure they'll chime in.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

If the contractors are dealing with wet wallboard or other dampness mitigation, timing is important. If the basement is now dry, and you're rebuilding, you have some options...but it could be six months before you get a crew back.

If you live in a (general) area of low current risk, I would be tempted to move forward, keeping them isolated from the rest of the house...for their protection and yours...

I hear you. I'm right on that bubble. Thanks!

[OtayBW]

Wow - You guys are good!

FYI - this is the last note I sent to the contractor as part of our discussions:

If we do this, I will do what I can to protect your heath, and I expect you to do the same in return and to use best practices to limit the spread of the virus. I would ask that you:

1) Sign a simple statement assuring me that 'no one from [the company] has traveled on a airplane (domestically or internationally) within the last 14 days, has not been in an airport within the last 14 days, and shows no signs of illness whatsoever'. I will provide similar information for me as the house occupant.

2) Separate the basement work area from the upstairs living area by erecting a plastic sheet at the top of the stairs. Workers must enter and exit solely through the garage.

3) Carefully contain, remove, and dispose of all material and employ vacuum clean up procedures.

Because of these conditions, it may be necessary to place a port-o-jon facility at the jobsite.

[HenryA]

Originally Posted by OtayBW

Wow - You guys are good!

FYI - this is the last note I sent to the contractor as part of our discussions:

If I was the contractor I might be thinking about the next job in line instead of yours.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by HenryA

If I was the contractor I might be thinking about the next job in line instead of yours.

Maybe you're right, but on the other hand, most contractors (and many others) don't have a lot of jobs in line right now, and these are discussion points, and reasonable ones at that, IMO.

[kppolich]

Guy I work with had the HVAC guys come check out his furnace today.
One guy, and he showed up in full hazmat gear and was great. "Just doing my duty to protect the unknown and abide by the current laws." Don't be surprised if they show up with PPE.

[dddd]

This agreement, at worst, should increase the cost somewhat.
Contractors are often happy to comply with any additional job responsibilities that increase the take, so let the bidding begin!

I would leave out the part about where the workers have been, since it seems redundant to the separation measures and sort of smells of micro-management of the type that might only make a contractor wary enough to further raise their price.
I would let the contractor know immediately if anyone on the job showed any sign of cantagion, but presumably every worker will already have their own interest in a flu-free work area!

A smaller work crew might be the best way for contractors to reduce their exposure to risk, but that's better their responsibility instead of yours. There may be different crews involved as when drywall texture and paint are applied.
Since you presumably won't be using the freshly-painted space immediately anyway, all of any corona germs will have already died by then.

A separation barrier is something commonly used to reduce dust moving into a home from a work space, and depending on the geometry of your stair case or whatever, might take two guys an hour or two to complete(?). Here I have large sheets of cardboard (bike boxes) that might suffice.
I wouldn't worry about this barrier being too hermetic, since you likely already have the needed distance for protection against any airborne germs short of tuberculosis.
A more likely hazard of contracting contagion will be any time that you have to speak to the contractor, so being on opposite sides of clear sheeting would seem ideal for stress-free and yet clear communication.

If there is a bathroom dedicated to the same specific area of the house I would let them use that, after covering the hallway carpet and bathroom floor with some remnant or mat. It will save at least $100 and shouldn't be much of a task to clean, once, when they're done(?). It will also spare you and the neighbors the sight and smell of the porta-john, not to mention the necessary processes of delivery, placing and retrieval.

[OtayBW]

Good advice guys. Thanks.

[rccardr]

Had two bathrooms redone the end of last year. In both cases the contractor erected a plastic wall in about ten minutes around the work site before anything else was started. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with a zipper entrance. Commercial product, not that expensive.

[R3awak3n]

We were going to have some work done in the house in mid April but thinking about postponing it for the exact same reasons. We cannot contain this because its right smack in the middle of the house. It is a pretty crappy situation but we are thinking about postponing it for at least a month to see where things are by then. We have a 3rd paid and we are going to let the Contractor cash that check so to make sure people are getting paid right now (we have worked with these guys and really like them). Its not a great situation but this is to protect us and them at this moment. We are also working from home, wife is on video calls all day long so this would not be great for that either.

[PeregrineA1]

We used to do medical TI’s in active facilities with plastic/visqueen and duct tape barrier. Negative air for the dusty stuff. You can rent the negative air machine.


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[CDM]

You should agree by contract how things will be handled If the job has to stop. Too many unknowns now. I have discussed all of the above with my current clients and in all cases we agreed to postpone.