Lending tools to family & friends

[SandyFloor]

I'm guessing a lot of you have this problem (going into moan mode).

Monday morning just over two weeks ago I wasted two hours going round picking up my own tools I'd lent to family & friends ( 6ft level, tile table saw & flooring nailer). I'd phoned round a week earlier to say I needed them back by Monday and it just didn't happen. The really annoying bit was when I called one of my mates on sunday night I got his wife who told me it was in the garage whenever I wanted to pick it up just to find it was filthy and not even in it's case. I've lent out tools only to find gaurds etc. removed and fixings missing on a few occasions.

I promised myself that was the last but my brother borrowed my chainsaw and I haven't seen that since. I've sorted the van problem as it's racked out to a degree you can't get anything large in it now.

Now I like help people out but every time I loan something out I get stressed over when and if I'm going to get it back and what state it'll be in to the point I just don't want to do it anymore.

Am I the only one with this problem?

 

[Deleted member 9966]

not tiling tools, but my pasting table hasn't come back for 2 years. and I lent my dad my Cheshire street atlas and said don't rush to bring it back as I didn't need it straight away. he took that to mean that he could keep it :mad2:

 

[doug boardley]

I don't lend my trade tools out at all now, for the same reasons you've mentioned Sandy.

 

[SandyFloor]

carpet shampoo machines and wallpaper strippers must be a good one too.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

carpet shampoo machines and wallpaper strippers must be a good one too.

ooooh! when you get those back, can I borrow them next? :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Colour Republic]

I keep a list now, as the amount of tools i've lost because I can't remember who i've lent them to has cost a small fortune, and if I don't get something back in the same state I gave it to them, then it is always the last!

took me 10 years of heartache before I learnt that lesson:mad2:

 

[doug boardley]

I lent a mate my wet saw (dw200lp) with a nearly new cpc blade, it ame back blunt 'cos he didn't want to use it outside with water in the tank:mad2::mad2:

 

[Time's Ran Out]

When I was an apprentice and worked for my brothers family firm, we had a rule that if you'd borrowed a tool for more than 3 days it was yours!
That way you made sure you looked after them.
I 'borrowed' a hand held tile scribe (before these fancy cutters) from his father in law and he ended up using a 6inch nail that day! I ended up groutig for a month.

 

[diamondtiling]

I dont lend tools to anyone.......ever.

 

[ScottG13]

I still have tools scattered all over at friends and families houses...... but I have tools of theirs so I cant complain. On the balance of it I think Im winning.

Tiled my mates floor recently and used a trowel of his that he left a mine a while back. Went unnoticed :8: so that came back with me.

I once borrowed some chairs for xmas dinner. A few months later we got a new place and my Dad came round and put down some laminate floor in living room. He came in to the kitchen where I was working and said "sorry scott, I've cut through one of your chairs", to which I replied "Dad, they're your chairs"! :lol:

 

[DHTiling]

"Nope.. you can't..." best phrase going..

 

[suave]

tools are like **** dvds mate you never see them again:lol::lol::lol:

 

[TheWrightTiler]

"Nope.. you can't..." best phrase going..

totally agree, i never lend my tools, they are the lifeblood of my trade, without them i cant work, more to the point with them i cant work as to busy cleaning and ogling my dw2400 lol, i bought them and they are mine, u want to borrow a drill go to screwfix you tight wad and buy one lol

andy

 

[doug boardley]

lol, just remembered I lent Dave Ramsden my TX1200N, a while back, it came back pristine along with 6 bottles of wine (so that's ok)

 

[Dan]

Send 'em the hire shop! Tell 'em you need what you've got as you make a living from using them. Or tell 'em they're welcome to come around and use it with you present but you can't let it go from its home or the van.

I'm on the other end of this though. As I gave all my tools away so that family stopped pestering me to do their tiling for free, I now have to borrow tools to do it and struggle with the wrong stuff! Grrrr. Not buying anything though!