I think you can absolutely can tell contractors not to take pictures. For me, I would be flattered if someone wanted to show off my hardwork and wouldn't mind pictures. But it is obviously very personal.

So a few years ago I was at a local café and I picked up a copy of Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, a really nice oversized local glossy décor mag.

Flipping through, I see a full page color photo. Of my house. It was an ad for my GC. Never asked. Worse yet? They were nowhere near done. The photo was from the listing! Not a lick of work done!

Part of the final agreement with that GC was no photos of any part of our project could be used by them anywhere, web,etc.

SO yes, you can say NO. And you should so that people don't think they are hiring someone w great ideas, but those ideas were yours.

Louis, itâÂÂs not flattery to me as I have put so much time into every little thing. As it is my husband (who has done almost nothing because he is not here due to work) will put a cabinet up and get credit for the whole thing lol.

Mtn, yes it would be horrible if someone thought they were going to get help with figuring out what to order or design ideas from my tile guys. They do nice work but speak little English and only come up with suggestions that will make their job easier no matter how ugly. I would recommend them but not to someone completely or close to cluelessness.
I think your contractor had a lot of nerve. What did he say when you said no pictures?

Years ago we rented a new house and the general contractor brought people by to look at the house he had built..(he wanted to build a house for these people)..no word of warning that he was coming. One day I took him aside and told him that he needed to repair a curtain rod, add a towel rack and redo part of the floor. He never brought anyone else to look at our house. I wonder if he mentioned any of this to our landlord? I thought it was sort of funny.

I would definitely not want someone posting pictures of my house for advertising purposes in a magazines! I would be furious. But I don't think I would mind if the cabinet guy took pics of the cabs or the tile guy pics of the tile to be used in a portfolio of work. But in a magazine! never

I had a guy out for an estimate once and he asked if he could take a few photos for the estimate, to jog his memory. I chose a different contractor. Then a couple of years later I get a brochure in the mail from this contractor with photos of my house passed off as his work. I'm glad I didn't hire that one...

"but will not want full photo shots taken of my design and hard work when it is done."

Jterrilynn, but wasn't some of that design done by members here at GW or from photos on Houzz? If I remember correctly you used wood-look porcelain tiles and had several threads were posters recommended products and/or showed you photos of their tile floors. Very few people have a truly original or one of a kind idea!

Now, if you say that you want no photos because of privacy reasons, then that I can understand. Many GCs, designers, etc. will post a photo on their website labeled with a street name, town name and even the owner's name, which could be an issue for that owner.

My tile guy has taken photos and I hear they are on facebook and he was getting lots of questions ... so he took more photos of individual tiles to show how they came together. He isn't trying to sell the design or tiles, but is trying to show how he did a good job of installing a complicated tile pattern. Unless you molded and fired your own unique tiles, it is hard to tell a tile installer not to photograph the install job he did.

Grandma, you just gave me horrible flashbacks to a time I rented while building many years ago. I had two kids and the landlord assured me he was not going to put the house on the market with me in it. Liar liar pants on fire! It was a horrible thing to deal with on top of the stress of building. With all my nice things in there it sold fast, I had the buyers wanting to come in whenever they pleased (I said no) and daddy money bucks had a cow. I ended having to move again before the house was done.

Louise, I wonâÂÂt mind if tillers keep to tile pictures. However, they showed me full pictures of other peopleâÂÂs homes and said they had done the remodel. I designed our cabinets out of RTAâÂÂs with custom sizes. We will assemble and install them ourselves so donâÂÂt want any pictures that would insinuate one of the tile persons did it. I'm the GC so it's my baby.

Hoovb, thats what IâÂÂm talking about! ItâÂÂs not right; they did not do the work.

Chispa, since I have spent months on my project of the master bath I donâÂÂt want all my hard work ripped off as someone elseâÂÂs hard work. I especially donâÂÂt want someone in the trade to rip off my hard work to profit by it. They didnâÂÂt do it all plain and simple! ItâÂÂs mine, and it doesnâÂÂt have anything to do with if it might have been done somewhere with some of my hardware or sinks or whatever because those items are mass produced. If I built a big architectural building I wouldnâÂÂt want someone advertising it as something they built when they did not. I guess IâÂÂm a bit touchy about it because on top of it all I am also doing physical labor on my project.
Since you mentioned my floor IâÂÂm very grateful that some shared the brand of tiles they liked after I had decided I wanted a wood look porcelain rectified tile. I could then drive around for a few weeks looking at all the brands in person. I ended up buying a sample online of a not mentioned brand because it had a coloration that blended with what was already going on in the house. Then I drove almost two hours south to one store that had it in stock. Then we had to get a truck and pick it all up. About 1,500 pounds of tile!

This really hits a sore spot with me. You could get someone to sign whatever you want but that doesn't mean they wont use pictures of your designs that they executed.
Not sure what the intellectual property rights are in that scenario

Yes, as I said above I would not mind if it were just tile pictures. I just donâÂÂt want overall pictures where the insinuation is that they did the remodel. I went to a store today to order my finished wall tile pieces. That store does do full bathroom and kitchen remodels on top of selling tile. They are a full service business. The tile guyâÂÂs I am using was recommended by my fabulous plumber. I thought it best to go that route in my case because there needed to be communication between the two in the beginning phase of shower floor rebuild and such. However, they are Not a full service business. I had to figure out what I needed for the floor tile and all and everything for install and buy it and pick it up. Same with the shower, tub area and base tile plus supplies. I found the tub area and shower difficult but I think I have everything we need and glad sooo glad that order is over.

"My tile guy has taken photos and I hear they are on facebook and he was getting lots of questions ... so he took more photos of individual tiles to show how they came together. He isn't trying to sell the design or tiles, but is trying to show how he did a good job of installing a complicated tile pattern. Unless you molded and fired your own unique tiles, it is hard to tell a tile installer not to photograph the install job he did."

I think this is the thing. People that are craftsman or in a certain trade want to show off their work and build a portfolio. I'm a decorative painter, and in my case the projects I do are my own designs, sometimes enveloped in a bigger picture of an interior designer's work....and I would be bothered if told not to take a picture of my work to show potential clients my skills.

Also agree that there are few original ideas left in this world. I'd venture every one of uses pinterest, houzz, browse design mags, blogs or simply look at the Internet for design inspiration.

Coll, but would you feel the same way if the client designed and drew the picture and purchased the paint and brushes and your part was to paint it? ThatâÂÂs how I feel about it right now.
IâÂÂm a wannabe artist. IâÂÂm past the amateur stage but am far far off of master painter. Still, I would be happy to just take a picture of the art part I did without taking pictures of the house.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 9:34

Its hard to answer that, because the scenario is just unrealistic in my field- people that hire me do so for me to develop the design, the color samples, etc...they are hiring me for my skill, as well as my creativity. However, once in a blue moon I will have a client that will actually say, " I want a copy of the Sistine Chapel on my dining room ceiling". J/k but you know what I mean...they may provide a concept or some imagery from a magazine...but it always requires design and interpretation on my part.

But, bottom line- yea, the tradespeople definitely should ask your permission.

Wasn't there someone from GW whose kitchen pictures were posted on an online magazine or something? Sorry, my memory is bad.

There is a house in a town near me that is gorgeous and the landscaping is gorgeous. I see that house on a lot of landscaping websites, places that are no where near here so I know they didn't do that yard. Makes me wonder if they did anything on their website.

I would not want a contractor taking pictures all over my house but have no problem with someone taking photos of their work, and they can post it or put it in their private portfolio. If we ever finish our kitchen, I plan on taking pictures of the cabinets to send to the guy who built our doors so he can have them for his portfolio.

I guess I see the other side of this. I refused to use two different subcontractors because they had no portfolios of their work! After 20 or 30 years...,,no pictures? It never occurred to me that the homeowners might not have allowed them to take pictures.

With respect to the tile issue, the workmanship is what the pictures are selling, not someone's design concept. And as for the mural--- even if someone gave an artist the cartoon and bought the paints--- the person who put the paint on the wall is at least a craftsman if not an artist in the full meaning of the act, and they are marketing their work, not your house.

I also wanted to add...if, say, I do a decorative finish in say, a living room....I would generally prefer to photograph my work after the room is done....I.e. decorated...because that gives my work context, which I think is important. If I glazed the living room I am certainly NOT going through the the home and photographing the guestroom or any other view of the house!! I probably have pics of 1/8 of the work I have done in the last 20+ years...if that...because usually I leave a job and the designer/ homeowner hasn't yet pulled the room back together. And from a portfolio perspective, I wouldn't then have photos that depict the full effect that included my work.

Kswl, I donâÂÂt think you have opposite views at all. The issue is not tile photo segment pictures for a portfolio (which is fine IMO). The issue is misrepresentation that over all work was done or a full remodel was done which far surpasses the scope of just the tile work. Or, giving an implication that you are a bath, kitchen and tile full service contractor when you are not! I think then you are moving into thievery.

How do you know it is their intention to pass themselves off as a "full service" tile company? I've never heard of a tile installer who couldn't estimate the amount of field and decorative tiles, and the amount of thinset and grout needed for a project. If you chose to do that figuring yourself, o.k., and if you chose not to have the tile delivered but to pick it up yourself....ok again---- but what does that have to do with the installation and finished photos? We aren't really talking about "intellectual property," but about the sweat equity you put into the project. It's commendable---- even awe inspiring for non DIYers!----but the tile guy did do the actual tiling and I don't understand why you would assume or worry that he is going to take credit for estimating supplies and delivery when those aren't really the most important components of the job anyway.

Well now you have! The âÂÂbossâ speaks English and one of the floor guys spoke a bit but none of the wall tile guys speak English at all. You run into this a lot down here. I was given the license number for a discount but other than that there is little communication. I even found a tile store near for us to meet and just got a confused expression. I will have to draw a diagram of how I want the tile installed and point. The agreement was that I supply the product but I assumed I would get help on the actual trim piece part of the order. That did not happen. Anyway, I think I figured it out and the blasted order is in. Funnily enough after I informed him the trim order was in he said: just let me know if you need any help. Grrr! I can tell you one thing, I am not a silent sufferer and there was no denying that I needed help at one point. For a brief time I used the language of a sailor.
When I first met the boss I really liked him as he is very personable. I was shown houses that they âÂÂdidâÂÂ. It was presented vaguely as their remodel. I didnâÂÂt really put too much thought into that part at the time as I was only using them for the tile. As of this moment pictures were taken of the floor and room only as nothing else is completed (except plumbing rough-in). I was only slightly irked because I think one should ask permission first. So, I started this thread to get views on whole remodel pictures such as the ones I was shown by the tile boss. As I have stated many times above âÂÂjust tile â pictures are okay but down the road I would not want full room pictures on their site or in portfolios as their work. And, on the flip side of thatâ¦even though IâÂÂm fairly confident that the wall tile guys will do a nice job I would not want others to go in thinking that they would be hiring more of a full service company. I do not wish to add to the suicide rate.

When doing freelance for a mag, I took my own photos. This was a paid position. My contract stated once they used them, they owned the rights. I signed a contract stating such. Standard procedure for publications, but was also given credit as the photographer and artist. It would seem to me that you could add this to the contract. Even add that they pay you for publishing and credit given. I wouldn't give away my hard earned efforts. Snagging photos has become such a big problem on the net too. Time for watermarks if you can do so.

Well tjerrilyn, I'm afraid I don't have any frame of reference for the situation you are describing. You said the agreement was that you would supply the tile, so clearly you weren't paying for anything other than labor, I do get that. But if their business is tiling, and the picture of the finished room is to show the tile job in context, what makes you think they will take "credit" for the entire room remodel? OTOH, if you don't want your privacy violated with pictures published in print or electronic media, say so and tell them they can't take pictures, period.

"Even add that they pay you for publishing and credit given. I wouldn't give away my hard earned efforts." I'm sorry, technicolor, but this statement borders on the absurd.

Kswl, you kill me with your need to push buttons but then thatâÂÂs why I always enjoy reading your posts. All I can say is that this does not have to be an âÂÂall or nothingâ or âÂÂblack and whiteâÂÂ. I just need to figure out how to communicate that tile only pictures are okay but I do not want full room remodel pictures for all the reasons listed above. I do not want full room pictures in portfolios or online. It is possible to take tile photo segments without a full room shot. ItâÂÂs my house and thatâÂÂs how I want it. I think your bullying and use of the word absurd in regards to TechnicolorâÂÂs statement is off point and shows your ignorance on a creative profession. However, you have other talents that I do admire.

Jterrilyn, I get it. I designed my house as well, with a lot of custom features and decor ideas that I did have inspiration for, yet made changes considering the size of the space I was working on. I also worked with the architect, whom I used to work with back in my real estate days, and then purchased the copyright to the plans so they are mine and mine alone. The architect will not publish them or reuse them for someone else. I'm sure someone could drive by, and with a telephoto lens they could get a picture, and use it for their own inspiration, but there's not much I can do about that.

As for the interior, I didn't allow it to be photographed either. Might have been a futile effort, but it's my house. I'm emotionally attached to it because of all the work I put into it, and I feel it's my right. The contractors may have photographed some of the work they did, but there were no whole room shots.

You have every right to limit picture taking in your own house, jterrilynn, there's no question of that and never was. As to having a written contract with a tiler who doesn't speak English that requires him to pay you for publishing pictures of your house.....come on... really? But if that's actually what you had in mind I apologize for misunderstanding the depth of attachment you have to your project.

Kswl, apology accepted lol!

Em11, wow now that is a huge undertaking and IâÂÂm so glad YOU get it! This is the first time I have had to really think of such things (excluding some cabinet place in another state using my DIY kitchen cabinets pictures). In the old days we would have done the tiling and most everything except major plumbing and major electric. I canâÂÂt handle that kind of labor anymore and neither can husband. Now I just do all the GC stuff, buying, designing, painting, refinishing of drywall, striping or painting of wood doors ectâ¦husband and I built the RTAâÂÂs and do the gut. ThatâÂÂs enough for me I tell ya. For us every amount saved is money for far off land travel and of course more home equity. So, after the headache is over itâÂÂs all worth it.

I just realized after putting it in writing that really IâÂÂm doing all the same work I always did. IâÂÂm just hiring more people to do the parts husband did. ThatâÂÂs itâ¦IâÂÂm not going to be the drywall finisher anymoreâ¦I HATE it!

I've seen pictures of my kitchen on websites claiming they had done it. I simply email asking them to remove. Most do. Some of the websites are no longer active, so they are there to stay.

What infuriated me more than anything was a very large website that sold terracotta pots, iron wall art, etc. They had put in a wall with Photoshop (or the like) to hang art and added accessories to the island. The website was very nice when I emailed and removed them all. They said the company they had hired found the pictures to use. Lame excuse, but...

Another lady had my porch swing bed on three of her websites as for sale, designed by her. I went round and round a bit with her until they were all taken down.

We are looking at lots now to build again and houses that need major remodeling. I might not share online next time, unless they have my name across them.

It's not like people are fighting to take pictures of my house. :p After my bathroom was done, my BD asked if she could bring her son over to take pictures. She is building a portfolio. She didn't do everything in the bathroom, only plumbing fixtures and vanity; I designed and purchased everything else.

But, she asked me first and I like her a lot. I'm attached to my bathroom because it's my house, but I don't care if she takes credit for the entire room and it benefits her business. I want her to be successful. She sent me a nice CD with all the good photos.

I do understand those who don't want someone claiming credit for which they aren't entitled. I think it's up to the homeowner and permission (with scope of work) is always required.

I didn't read all the responses. I can understand why a contractor would want photos of their work, but it depends on how they're going to use it. I would be ok with the tile photos taken, but am not sure how I'd feel about the whole finished project either. I think the bottom line is it's your house and if you don't want the whole room show than that should be respected. A situation that came to mind was a photographer. It doesn't happen often, but you can request that your photos not be used on their site, etc. This should be discussed at the time of the contract. Some will be ok with that and if not they have the right to choose not to do the work. I feel it should be the same with construction.

But, the part I'm wondering about is how are you going to word that conversation with the tiler? "I don't mind you taking pics of the tile but please make sure no other part of the room appears in the shots"? Bathrooms are pretty hard to photograph to begin with so that could be difficult . I guess you could just directly say "I don't mind a few shots for your portfolilo but please don't make it look like you are taking credit for the design of the room? " Gah, no. Good luck with this!

I can't believe there are people that use other peoples' work as their own online...that is seriously awful.

As I stated above the boss man speaks English. I think IâÂÂll just say: if you donâÂÂt mind IâÂÂd prefer you take only close-ups of your work or shots that do not include the whole room. I wouldnâÂÂt want people to be confused as to what you are showing them. ThatâÂÂs it. IâÂÂm always here so I will be able to observe photo shots. Sometimes people just donâÂÂt know until you tell them.
Before they started their work I said: I would prefer you do not use the big handheld blender mixer in the house for mixing grout, thin-set or cement ( past bad lesson learned) , the dust coats the walls and goes through the a/c vents thus spreading the debris throughout the house⦠I have feelings too. The room has two sets of sliders going outside so not a big hardship for them I think and although I noticed a few side glances (which leads me to believe they do in fact understand some English) there were no hard feelings. One day it rained so I just dealt the mixing with blender in the house because IâÂÂm not completely unreasonable. I actually think IâÂÂm pretty good as whoever has worked all day on whatever project I provide a cheese, dip and cracker snack or something with fresh brewed sweet tea over ice between 3:30 and 4:00. I think it helps get them over the hump time. I should have brought up the picture thing in the beginning but didnâÂÂt as it wasnâÂÂt on my mind then. Another lesson learned.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 18:01

I have seen photos of full rooms and even houses from specific trades. It never occurred to me that they were trying to convince me they were 100% responsible for the entire project. I assumed they were trying to show the kinds of projects they've been a part of.

I wouldn't expect a painter to show me a photo of a wall. I wouldn't want a plumber to show me a photo of a toilet. But if the painter shows me a photo of a room, I assume he painted the walls. I don't assume he built the cabinets.

Close up photos of tile is important. A photo with 4 tiles, showing how well the corners are lines up, is a good detail to see. But the entire room is important, too. A photo of 4 tiles doesn't tell me if this guy was able to maintain that quality over a large space. Was it just a shower in a rental unit? Or was this an entire huge, luxurious ensuite with a 6'x6' shower with perfectly aligned tiles and numerous other high end finishes indicating a client with good taste and exacting demands?

But assuming you put it in writing, no photos. Then how do you police that? If they happen to snap one when you're not looking, and put it on the website, you A) have to discover it, and B) you ask them to take it down. So, what what exactly does a written agreement do? Isn't that what people here have done without having an agreement in place?

I would just say, "for privacy reasons, please do not include photos of my house in your advertising without my approval." Don't accuse them of possibly, maybe, someday, passing off work that is not their own.

Most of the contractors just take photos with cell phones and use those to show customers. Most of the good/busy one don't have a need for an updated website and get business from referrals. So you probably wouldn't even know that they took the photo and that they are showing it to customers.

My GC just got himself a tablet for showing his projects ... he did this after I whipped out my iPad several times to show him my inspiration photos from Houzz, etc.

When a tradesperson shows me a photo of a project/room, I do not assume that they are saying they did everything in that photo, unless that person is a GC and does all the project management and hiring of subcontractors.

I've been mulling this over and had these additional thoughts to share. Our GC, with whom we had numerous problems during construction, wanted pictures of the finished and furnished project and that was fine with me. I asked that he tell people who did the interior design if anyone asks or comments on it. Anyone who knows him would know he had nothing to do with that part of the work. Bare rooms show what work was actually done, but a furnished room shows the construction in context as a backdrop for living space and I think those kinds of shots, along with close ups as someone noted above, are both desirable for a portfolio.

I think I mentioned during construction also that I found our bricklayers taking pictures of our floor. When I asked him if it was to show potential customers he said no, it was to prove they did the work in case the flooring contractor stiffed them on the job! I was horrified (although he said it wasn't our flooring guy, but someone a few years ago) and gave him my phone number in case there was ever a question. He took pictures of the boxes of brick and shots of every room while the guys were working and the finished product. So sometimes the workers have a motivation for snapping photos that might not be readily apparent!

This post was edited by kswl on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 6:09

kswl, GREAT insight. I read most of this thread and the one thing that jumped out at me is how many people are passing off other people's work as their own. This no doubt is another down side of the internet. It really has made stealing other people's work easy. The Snipping Tool on a computer makes any picture posted easily stolen. The other thing about all this picture taking is people are not ALWAYS stealing YOUR what ever. How quickly an irritation can be eradicated with a little communication!!

If I could just find someone to do a picture worthy job that I didn't have to have done over I wouldn't care what pictures they took or who got credit, lol. There are a lot of people out there who have no idea of what they are doing. Even when they are from what are supposedly reputable places. I seem to be a guinea pig when it comes to tile. The owner comes back and says well we were trying out a new guy and you're right that looks terrible. I'm so over tile!!!

Here is how great my carpenter is. I designed a huge wall of a bookcase and knew it would be very expensive so I told my carpenter I'd do the work if he could give me some guidance. He and his partner liked the design so much they Said they would make it for me for about half their usual labor charge if they could take pictures and or bring over clients to see it. These guys are great and we both benefit. I know they won't take weirdos through my house and I know it will be beautiful.