Topping-out ceremony: Gifts for the craftsmen?

Content deleted due to missing reference; construction expert

Content deleted due to missing reference; construction expert

When I was still on construction sites, my impression of topping-out ceremonies was that they were more seen as a ritual or merely a mandatory formality. It is free time for the craftsman, which is not compensated if he attends. People sat and drank, and everyone patted each other on the shoulder... a duty, basically... definitely nothing personal. However, when the builder occasionally came by with homemade cake and a pot of coffee, you knew your work was appreciated, and yes, that had something personal about it. I still have the scent of fresh apple cake that the builder’s wife baked in my nose today.

So we didn’t have a topping-out ceremony, I would have liked to have one, but our builder said that hardly any of his people would come because they simply have too many construction sites, and if they went to every topping-out ceremony, they would hardly ever be at home. Instead, we gave our craftsmen a small tip and a little specialty from our town. I would find both too much. Either a topping-out ceremony OR a tip/gift.

We had our topping-out ceremony on the weekend and it was a complete success, although it got bigger and more elaborate during the preparation, but that was okay.

We invited the involved craftsmen, who all came except for one person. In addition, we invited a few friends and family as well as the surrounding neighbors. With those we already had good contact with beforehand, we spoke personally in advance. For most, we dropped an invitation in the mailbox. Of course, there was no response to that; it’s hard to expect strangers (still) to call us to accept or decline. So we didn’t ask for any feedback and didn’t put a phone number on the invitation.

Almost all the neighbors came; we really had a busy place. The living room was well filled with a total of over 50 people spread out over the afternoon and evening. 2 kinds of beer, sausage and meat from the grill, various salads, coffee and cake, beer tent benches and standing tables, 2 refrigerators and 3 electric cool boxes running at full blast... in between, a nice topping-out toast.

We’re glad to have done it that way and to have introduced ourselves officially instead of waiting until we move in, which might be in March 2017.

It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Much nicer than giving out tips and not getting to know the neighbors.

Well done - that's how it was with us and with us the neighbors even helped with the construction. Strangers beforehand became better acquaintances/friends...