Back in the days when I was doing remodeling work as an employee for a contractor we were often very nicely treated by the homeowners with refreshments, snacks, etc. We didn't expect it, but when offered we were always happy. Sometimes we were offered a tip - typically when the homeowner felt we had gone above and beyond their expectations to make something exceptional. We NEVER expected to be tipped. There's nothing wrong with tipping, but I do not think that there's any expectation for tipping. When I was working as a self-employed contractor I felt that accepting a tip was wrong for myself, but if the homeowner wanted to tip anyone working for me, I was fine with it. Totally your call in my opinion.

No. I agree that it is nice to offer a cold soda or water bottle, but other than that it is up to their boss to pay them fairly.

I bought them 3 pizzas, sodas and waters. I"m pretty sure they each should have been given a car as a gift. (take a look the photos I just posted. They carried in that slab by hand, it was estimated at over 900#) :o

I think they deserve a tip if they did a great job and clean up after they finish.

I think it depends on what part of the country you live in. In the Midwest, where I grew up, tipping was not part of the culture, except in restaurants, of course. Much the same when we lived in Virginia.

BUT, now that we are in New England, everyone seems to expect a tip. I've never seen so many tip jars EVERYWHERE! We've gotten with the program.

Accordingly, we tipped the granite installers. It was a small crew of three: the owner and his two employees, one of whom does most of the actual fabrication. It's a relatively new company and all three work hard. They spent several hours helping us layout the countertops on the slabs, helped determine the appropriate curve radii, and were very patient in understanding what I wanted for the runnels (something they had not done much of before).

Even though the install was not perfect, it was pretty darn good. For all these reasons, we decided that a tip was warranted. (They also got homemade cinnamon rolls each time they came to the house -- which was frequent since we used the extra granite for a buffet top and for our bathroom remodel.) Did we need to tip? I don't know, but it seemed like the right thing to do given the circumstances and the regional culture.

I tipped the installers from Bucks County Soapstone. They were professional, worked hard, and drove a long way.

Billy

We were in a similar situation where 3 guys carried in a fairly large single slab into our small house on a very hot day. I did offer refreshments, but we did tip them as well. I asked the manager and they said they normally do not take tips, but I said I wanted to tip them for their outstanding work. They were thrilled.