When I go to to someone’s house for the first time I like to try and casually discover if they have a shoes on or shoes off policy. Usually a shoes off place will have an elaborate shoe removal and storage area just inside the door. If it’s ambiguous I will begin to take my shoes off and then wait for either “Put your shoes over here.” or “Oh, you don’t have to take your shoes off.”
This is a courtesy that has never been deployed by any person I have paid to come into my house to repair something. I doesn’t matter what snow, rain or mud they just walked through. It’s now being tracked back and forth through my living room.
