Episode 21 Money for Nothing

Got to be able to do something with that, haven't I?

How do you make money for nothing?

I'm going to take one, and be back for the other.

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes of household waste

we throw out every year.

They're beautiful.

That's why entrepreneur, Sarah Moore, wants to get her hands

on things before they hit the skip.

I'm a passionate user, maker and buyer of old stuff,

and I've turned my passion into a money-making business.

I make new stuff out of old stuff, and I sell it for a profit.

And, with some of the country's elite designers and makers...

You like to set a challenge for me, don't you?

-Nice!

-..she can transform her finds into desirable...

-Isn't that clever?

-..valuable...

What an original piece of design!

..and, hopefully, saleable items.

Oh, no way!

If Sarah is successful,

then she can hand the profits back to the very people who had no idea

there was cash to be made from their trash.

Oh, my God! That is amazing!

Welcome to the Altrincham recycling centre in greater Manchester,

where carload after carload of rubbish is tossed every day.

Waste whisperer, Sarah Moore, is hoping to rescue some of it,

before it meets the crusher.

Where other people see rubbish, I see only the finest ingredients

that, with a soupcon of scrap, and a dash of inspiration,

I could be cooking up some real money for nothing.

Sarah's in with the in crowd, and has been granted freedom of the tip

to see what she can salvage.

Community spirit around here is lovely.

She's got to hook three compelling curios that she'll reel in

-and convert into cash.

-Interesting to see what comes in.

You never know what it's going to be.

Sarah's first catch of the day is Simon, who's arrived with some

exquisite, er...rusty gubbins.

Are they going in there, then?

-They are indeed.

-They're quite cool, aren't they?

Well, I'm throwing them away, so I'm not thinking they're all that cool!

No, obviously not. OK, for me, they look quite cool.

Are these out of the garden, then?

They're an old and decrepit fence that's needed replacing

at the back of the garden for far too long.

I love that colour on them, cos you just can't fake that when

you're trying to make something look old.

They call it patina these days.

"PaTEENa" or "PATTina" is really just a fancy word for rust.

I've got loads of stuff you might consider patina.

I can see you're talking on my wavelength already!

Should I not be throwing this stuff away?

It literally is falling apart, isn't it?

Chuck it my way, and that'll be fantastic.

Railings like these are relatively scarce,

as many were donated for the war effort during the 1940s.

It looks like Sarah's going to give these ones the chance of another

life as well. But what does Simon think is in store for them?

I like the idea of anything being recycled and re-loved.

I really do. But, you know,

what she'll do with them is a little bit beyond me, really.

The mind boggles.

I think Sarah's mind might have completely boggled this time!

I'm sure she knows what she's doing, though.

They're rusty, covered in old paint, they've been cut up,

they nearly got chucked into a skip.

But I think these railings have a charm about them that has to be

useful in transforming them into something else.

Hmm. Like what, exactly?

It's definitely going to be a challenge.

Sarah won't sit on the fence for long. She's got someone in mind with

the steely determination to forge something new out of that scrap.

Daniel Heath is an award-winning wallpaper and textile designer,

but he's not afraid of getting down and dirty with reclaimed materials

to make unique furniture and contemporary design pieces.

I love what I do because of

the challenges that come from every project.

There's never really two projects that are the same.

Every brief is different, and every client is different, and wants me to

produce something unique for them,

so that obviously has an array of challenges I have to face every day.

Each one that comes along is different, and that's the joy of it.

Daniel may love to work with reclaimed materials,

but he might be struggling to feel the joy when Sarah turns up

with these rusty old railings.

Sarah's successfully snaffled up her first item,

but she's got another two still to find.

-Nothing.

-Nothing.

-But you never know.

Undeterred, she's snooping around Luke,

who's getting limber with some timber.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

You've had a smashing time this morning, then!

Yep, as you can see, lots of fun.

Talk me through this, then, was it in your...?

Is that a hall cupboard you're chucking out?

We've moved into a new house, there's some old cupboards,

they need getting rid of.

I do like the look of the doors that you're chucking out,

because they look like they're still nice and solid.

-Yeah, they are.

-Some nice chunky pieces of timber

there I might be able to use for something, so if I could

take them away and maybe show you if

-I managed to make anything out of them.

-Sounds great.

That really is just a pile of old wood.

Sarah's got her work cut out if she's going to pound out a profit

from those planks.

What does Luke think she can knock together?

It's solid wood, so you could make anything out of them, really.

It depends how much skill she's got, or how much skill her team has got.

Don't worry, Luke, Sarah's eye for awesome offcuts is never wrong.

Or, hardly ever.

I can never resist a really chunky bit of timber,

and these components from a 1940s house have got all the

right credentials to be made into something amazing,

and I've got just the person in mind to take on the job.

That's the bits for item two in a thoroughly organised heap.

Which lucky craftsman will be lumbered with them?

Norman Wilkinson, a master of his craft.

With 25 years' experience in the furniture making business,

what he doesn't know about wood isn't worth knowing.

I love the timber, I love the finishing of it, I love the product.

It's everything that makes me tick.

Yeah, there is a passion for it because there's no point getting up

in the morning and not doing something you don't like.

Coming in and then picking up the wood and then turning it into

something lovely, you know, makes me happy.

And also using second-hand materials is a great joy. It's the old saying,

isn't it? Another man's rubbish is another man's...

Can't think of the saying now!

Another man's rubbish, in this instance,

is a couple of old doors and bits of random wood.

Bet you can't wait to get your hands on this little lot, Norman(!)

Sarah's not gone for the easy options.

She's bagged the beaten up railings

and the broken-down cupboard for her artisans.

Now she's on the lookout for an item of her own.

Let's hope there's something a little less dilapidated

in Jane's boot.

What lovely legs on those!

They are nice, aren't they?

They're so nice, in fact, Jane's sorry to see them go,

but she's moving house and where she's going,

there's no room for these two.

They've got a lovely look to them.

They were utility, sort of 1950s...

'50s, '60s. I think one of them belonged to my mother.

They've got that certain look that people, you know,

want in their homes these days,

so if it would be all right to take them away...?

You're very welcome. I'd be pleased to let you have them.

-Lovely.

-And I don't feel like I've wasted, A, my time or B, the stools.

Cos they are quite nice, aren't they?

They're sweet. Not quite a pair, but worth having a go at together.

-Yeah. You do that.

-Lovely.

Well, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for letting me have them. Have a good day.

-Thank you, bye-bye.

-I see what you did there, Sarah -

bagged yourself some perfectly usable stools,

rather than some bits of utter rubbish.

How does Jane think Sarah will handle this transformation?

Well, I'm hoping she might sand them down, give them a rustic look,

and maybe put some better fabric on the seats, and make them pretty.

Maybe make some money out of it, who knows?

Well, that's pretty much the name of the game, Jane.

This style of stool was really common back in the '50s and '60s,

and, in fact, it's still being made today.

These are slightly older examples, I think,

and there's lots of interesting makeovers you can do with them.

I'm hoping that there's a few pounds to be made here.

With three items successfully saved, Sarah's work here is done.

The ripped apart cupboard will be placed in Norman's masterly care.

The rusty old railings will be given a new lease of life by Daniel,

and Sarah will set to work on the pair of stools.

I can't save every bit of rubbish that comes in here,

but I've had a really good go today, and I've got some cracking items,

all of which I know are going to make some money for nothing.

In Walthamstow, north-east London,

is the workshop of award-winning textile designer, Daniel Heath,

so who better to bring a pile of old rusty railings to?

Sarah's been in touch to tell him to expect the unexpected.

It seems like she's got something that I'm going to be

a bit unsure about, so I'm a little bit more anxious than normal.

I guess we'll have to, as ever, see what comes when it gets here.

Now, these aren't the type of materials that I

immediately think of when I think of Daniel's work,

but I've got a few ideas, and I'm hoping this old cast-iron

railing can be incorporated into something amazing,

that can be sold to make some money.

-Hiya.

-Hello, how're you doing?

Really well, really well.

So, did you have any thoughts when I said it was mad?

Well, I had things pop into my mind, but...

OK, yeah, really, really quite bonkers!

-Yeah, it's like, "Let me out!"

-Oh, God. OK.

Are they even sound?

Are they...? I mean...

Oh, they're OK.

-A bit crumbly.

-Shall we take them in and have a...?

Crumbly!

I think you'll find that's a highly desirable patina, Daniel.

I think there's something about them that is really beautiful,

because of the colour.

I'm pretending they're not beaten up iron railings.

That's all very well for you, Sarah,

but it's Dan who has to work with those beaten up old railings.

From what I understand, because these are cast, they are brittle.

They're not the kind of material that is terribly nice to work with!

It just gets better and better, doesn't it, Daniel(?)

I've had a bit longer to think about them then you have,

but I'm sort of wondering whether they could be used as the support

-for a table.

-Yeah.

-A sort of console table or something.

-Sure, OK. OK.

-You can see that, can't you? You can feel it?

Yeah, yeah. It's going to depend on what we pair up with it,

material wise, cos we can't do anything with them on their own.

They're going to have to have something that bolts them together,

or holds them together, and a surface involved in it somehow.

Something like a contemporary material, like Jesmonite,

-might work well.

-Is Jesmonite, is it like compound?

Is that the pourable stuff?

It's pourable. It's like a synthetic stone.

-OK, so posh concrete.

-Yeah.

Yeah, OK. You like a challenge, don't you?

I do, I do.

This is certainly one of those.

Great. One you're prepared to take on, though?

Well, they're here now, so I may as well!

-That's the spirit!

-That's why we love our Daniel -

he never shies away from a challenge.

It'd be good to tie down a price where we think we might

-make some profit.

-If we say a broad ballpark, 500-600.

OK, 500-600 quid. Nearer to five is always good,

but if you can make a £2,000 console table, then just go all the way!

-Thank you, Sarah.

-Thanks ever so much!

-See you.

-Bye.

It's a dirty job, and now it's Daniel's job.

He is going to create something just unbelievable out of those railings,

I know he's got this vision.

I have to wait and see what it is, though, because at the moment,

it's a long way from looking commercial.

These are a big challenge, and they're now in a real state.

Hopefully, we'll make something nice with it, as ever.

Daniel's wisely bid high for this work, as it will involve a lot of

experimentation and other materials.

But with £500-600 of costs,

it's going to have to be pretty special to turn a profit.

Over in East Sussex,

up-cycler extraordinaire and self-taught furniture maker,

Norman Wilkinson, is the doyen of the dovetail join,

but will he thank Sarah for bringing him a pile of broken wood?

It could either be a nice antique, or it could be a pile of rubbish.

But everything rubbish...

sometimes there's money can be made out of rubbish as well,

so let's just wait and see.

We have definitely got the bare bones of something really good here.

Lovely pair of cupboard doors, some nice bits of hardware.

Norman is going to have to take this on,

and turn it into something beautiful and useful.

Oh, Sarah, you don't ask for much, do you(?)

Come out here, see what I've got for you.

-Nice to see you.

-And you, and you.

It look... I know, I know.

You have spoiled me today, I can really see, with this one(!)

Bring it in, and let's have a chat about it.

So, what's it going to be this time, Sarah?

A revolving bookcase?

His-and-hers welly boot taker-offerer?

I thought just a really lovely, simple wall cupboard.

Wall cupboard, OK.

Well, I wasn't expecting that!

Why don't we take the paint off and see where we go to,

and see what nice, pale colour we find. There might be some

nice, pale paint, and let's really, really go for it,

because you can see under there, there could be something.

How are we going to make this a wall cupboard? Are we making it

for a kitchen, or are we going to make it for a bathroom,

-or universal?

-I... Kitchen.

Kitchen. Erm...

Well, looking at the doors and how they are...

..I think maybe we could take the panels out,

put some chicken wire in it, for a kitchen,

so it gives it a nice, different feel.

-Yeah.

-Chicken wire, eh?

That WOULD be a different feel.

Not so much Boho chic as barnyard chick!

Chicken wire is still quite trendy, so I think it would be quite...

It's geometric. People love geometrics.

-You love geometric, don't you?

-Well, do you know something?

There is an appealing-ness to the fact that it's so regular and even,

and I think mixing it up with old, new - I think it's in safe hands.

But we'd need to try and incorporate all this as well,

so, looking at the hooks, maybe we could, erm...

..put them under there so they can put their cups on them,

-or stuff like that.

-I love it. Because what you're saying,

it's not too big,

it's not too small, if you can make it easy for me to sell

by putting something that DIYers could attach it to the wall with.

-We'll do that as well.

-Brackets or whatever.

So it's ready to rock and roll.

-Perfect.

-OK.

How much money are you going to be wishing for to transform it into

that useful cupboard for me?

If we can get this into showroom condition so you can sell it...

-..£200.

-I think you're being nice to me, aren't you?

I think you feel sorry for me because of where I've been

-to get this, don't you?

-Yeah, precisely!

Well, keep it nice and simple. For 200 quid,

I don't want you, you know, spending too much time on it.

-But it will be good.

-Lovely.

-Thank you.

-Give us a shout.

Thanks very much, and I'll see you soon.

You WILL see me soon!

-OK, see you later.

-Take care!

I love what Norman does -

he's got safe hands and he's old school, and he's going to turn those

battered old doors into something saleable.

You can't beat that.

I think it's going to be a nice challenge.

It's an OK piece, so Sarah's got it right for once.

Fantastic.

For the princely sum of £200,

Norman is going to turn a couple of wooden doors and assorted

bits and bobs into a wonderful one-off kitchen cupboard,

using chicken wire. I can't wait to see it!

With the iron railings and the cupboard bits safely deposited

with her marvellous makers, Sarah's back home in Sussex,

preparing to stump up a plan for her two wooden stools.

These are two-a-penny stools. They're utility,

you can still buy them now.

So I could just refurbish them,

but I'd like these to really pack a punch and be transformed into

something completely different. And I think the best way I can do it

is actually to make something else out of them, so I picked up

this fantastic piece of wood. This is a hand sawn piece of ash,

and this is a really chunky, quite rustic, bit of oak.

15 quid each.

I'm hoping to turn these two into a coffee table and a bench.

Walk in the park!

She makes it all sound so simple,

but this will be a test of her design and carpentry skills.

I'm going to cut this in half here to make a pair of legs,

one I'm going to attach at this end and the other one

up there like that to make a really good solid bench.

Sarah wants her bench and coffee table to have oval shaped tops, but

cutting two hefty chunks of solid wood to this shape is no easy task.

Right. That's the bench shape.

Now, luckily for me, because I'm no carpenter,

I've got my friend Paul here, who's helping to mend my rotten windows.

He is going to cut them out for me.

Ah, now I understand her confidence about taking on

this carpentry project.

If only every DIYer had a carpenter on hand to do the hard bits!

What do you reckon?

-Yeah.

-I hope Sarah's got that outline right!

While sawing wood may not be a stretch for a master craftsman,

you do need the right tools for the job.

You can pick up a circular saw or jigsaw like this from a DIY store,

or even hire them in.

Since we're here, why don't we ask Paul to cut the stools in half, too?

What do you reckon? Can you cut through there?

Yep, no problem.

Well, he might as well, seeing as money is no object!

Oh, sorry, no, it is.

Does Sarah know?

So those are now ready for a really proper sanding back,

and I have borrowed the biggest tool.

Hopefully this is going to rip through it.

This is where Sarah's hard graft begins.

So far, Sarah's spent £30 on the two bits of wood for the table tops,

but carpenter Paul's bill is on its way.

In Walthamstow,

award-winning textile designer, Daniel, is getting his hands dirty

with the rusty old railings.

This is not a material that I've worked with before.

I hope that we can maintain some of their decrepit beauty!

I don't think you'll have any trouble doing that.

Daniel's using the iron poles to make the legs of

a classic console table.

Very rough sketch.

But this gives me... Works out how many I need, how many poles I need.

Daniel will have to ever so delicately free the poles

he'll need for his frame.

All right, just give them a good bash, then!

Hey, good movement!

Because the worn out and brittle iron is so difficult to work...

Yes!

..Daniel doesn't think he'll be able to weld it.

So, once he's rescued all those rods, he'll have to improvise a way

to join them and the table top together.

To do this, Daniel is designing a joining bracket which he'll

integrate into the top. Now, I hope you're all listening carefully,

as this is where it gets tricky.

The tabletop and integrated bracket will be made of Jesmonite.

No, I've never heard of it either.

But I know this - it's expensive.

So, he's making a prototype of this bracket from wood,

to see if it works. Very sensible.

These are fitting into there quite well, but we don't need

the pointy end, so we're just going to go and chop the ends off.

It's back to the machine room Daniel shares with the other crafty types

in the building...

..to get to work with the metal chop saw. Yes!

And there's a surprise in store underneath all that rust.

It's come up quite nicely on the cut,

which might mean that we can do more with it than we thought.

Dan scraps his wood block prototype and decides to try welding

the railings after all.

First, he cuts all the iron poles to the right length...

..and cleans up the areas he needs to join.

This is a linishing machine. It's like a big sanding belt, and

it's basically exposing the metal underneath because we need to have a

clean contact point for the weld, so that we have a strong finish to it.

For a textile expert, Dan's got quite the skill set.

Is there anything he can't do?

I've done some welding before but, because we want to keep the paint,

it does have challenges beyond just working with a standard steel.

Got all my joins square,

so hopefully, it will weld up quite straight.

QUITE straight.

No-one will pay over £500 for a QUITE straight table, Daniel.

Daniel's welding iron will heat the metal to melting point.

That's a whooping 1,500 degrees centigrade.

The poles will melt together, and when they cool,

they'll form a solid bond.

At least, that's what should happen if Daniel's done it right.

It's quite hard to tell whether it's worked, until I undo the clamps.

Here's hoping the welds are strong enough to hold up

that exotic sounding and expensive Jesmonite table top.

Over in East Sussex, Norman has made a start on his kitchen-y cabinet.

He's already built a base from some new timber and parts of the

old cupboard Sarah dropped off.

But next, he turns his attention to the door panels,

which will be replaced with chicken wire.

Yep, you heard me right - chicken wire.

Chicken wire is a fashion, and people love it.

Do they?

You know, we use it on cupboards and things,

so, I mean, until the cupboard's put together and then we finish it,

then you'll really get the effect of what it looks like.

If you say so, Norman.

First, Norman puts on his chicken beak, then uses an electric melter

to remove the middle panels of the doors.

Perfect.

You know, perhaps a chicken wire door will look great,

and I'll be left with egg on my face.

Once you get welding with it, then it's fine.

It's just a bit finicky.

-Getting there.

-Credit where credit's due, Norman.

Your cupboard door is starting to look pretty good.

It's nice and tight now.

I expect if it was laying on the floor, the chicken could use it

as a trampoline. But he can't, because we're going to use it

as a cupboard, so happy days.

What is he on about?

Next, Norman cuts lengths of wood that will make up the back panel

of the cabinet base.

The T&G - we call it T&G, but it's tongue and groove, because it's got

a tongue on that bit, and it's got a grove down in there,

so when we put it together, it all slots...

All slots nicely together.

Norman applies PVA glue to the base,

staples the wood in place, and repeats.

-Doing a bit of icing.

-HE CHUCKLES

I should have been in cakes.

You know? It's almost like icing, isn't it? Like a work of art, that.

Yeah, I wouldn't quit your day job, big man.

After a lot of hammering and a lot more stapling, it's taking shape.

Yeah, really pleased.

I mean, we've cracked the back of it,

you know, the wood work side of it,

but we've still got quite a lot of work to do on the finishing side.

I mean, we quoted £200, but obviously the more you look at it,

I'm thinking it's going to be a tight, tight budget.

Don't say that. We can't blow the budget on this one.

I'm already dubious about who will pay over £200

to have some chicken wire in their kitchen.

Back at home, Sarah's putting the finishing touches to her

newly tapered table tops.

So, a lovely bit of just clear furniture polish,

so I'm really bringing out that hand-sawn finish.

They were nice before...

..but they're even nicer now!

Instead of a coffee table and bench,

Sarah's created two matching rustic side tables.

The stools were cut in two,

providing a set of legs for each side,

supported in the middle by a new wooden beam, which looks lovely.

Well, actually, really chuffed with these.

I think we've achieved a lot from just a pair of stools, and I'm

thinking somebody's going to want these in their home, aren't they?

Sarah first laid eyes on the stools...

What lovely legs on those.

..when Jane was off-loading items before a big move to Wales.

-I think one of them belonged to my mother.

-They've got that

certain look that people want in their homes these days.

Sarah took them away,

leaving Jane wondering what might be done with them.

I'm hoping she might sand them down and give them a rustic look

and maybe make some money out of it, who knows?

Who knows? I do.

They caught the eye of Ali and Nikki from online retailers,

-Such And Such.

-The markings on here are lovely.

-Loads of character, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Both beautiful.

They wasted no time in snapping them up.

Well, this is exactly what we kind of work with.

They're individual pieces.

They've got a bit of a story behind them. They're fantastic.

We're looking forward to getting them up on the site.

-People will really like them.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Now Sarah's gone all the way to Anglesey to visit Jane

in her new house.

Hi, Jane. Hi, how you doing?

-I'm fine. How are you?

-Yes, very well, thank you.

-Good.

Those stools I took from you - had you had them for ages?

One was my mum's,

so I'd known that all my life, and the other's was my mother-in-law's,

and they sort... They kind of matched.

We just had no space for them.

Did you think we might do something with them to update them?

Just maybe some fabric on the top and maybe paint them, which is

something I'd always intended to do but never got around to doing it.

I was hoping I might make something which might be able to make a

little bit more money, so I've got some pictures to show you what I did

-with them.

-Oh, great.

-Would you like to see?

-Yeah, love to.

-Deep breath, because I cut them in half.

-I turned them into tables.

-JANE GASPS

So, there they are.

Wow! I'm amazed.

I would never have thought of doing something like that.

I did cover them with a bit of fabric a couple of times,

but they were always stools to me.

They've been bought by a shop who specialises in selling that kind of

natural-looking product, and I made some profit to share with you.

-Oh, good!

-In fact, I've got some here.

I've got £120 here.

-You're joking!

-For your stools.

Oh, my goodness! That's ridiculous.

-Hopefully in a good way!

-I'll never throw a stool away again.

That's amazing. Thank you so much.

I'm going to put you on the spot. What are you going to do with £120?

Well, I honestly didn't think they would make that much money.

So, I suppose, as we are going to be doing up the kitchen here,

that it will go towards something in there.

I'm so pleased that's going to a good home,

and it was lovely to catch up.

-And you too.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you so much too.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

The cost of the table top, plus the carpenter's labour, came to £70.

Sarah sold the tables for a total of £190,

meaning Jane has £120 to put towards her new kitchen.

In Walthamstow, Sarah's back to catch up with Daniel.

Have the rusty old railings she left with him had a magic makeover?

Well, I have been wondering -

can you actually make old railings into something designer and cool?

Let's go and find out.

So this one's quite different.

Using some materials that I haven't used before,

so we're using the wrought iron from the gates, and then I've made

a Jesmonite top, so I just hope she likes it.

When Sarah dropped off the pile of old iron,

Dan faced a challenge of herculean proportions.

Incredibly, he's risen to the challenge and created a cool,

sophisticated console table.

The railings have been welded to create a simple support structure,

keeping their rusty... I mean, patinaed, appearance.

Daniel has worked with a brand-new material, Jesmonite,

to create a classically simple, cool-looking top.

It's quite an achievement,

considering what he had to work with.

-Daniel.

-Hello.

-Oh, wow!

Quite different.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, I'm good. Good to see you.

-Oh, my word, I had no idea it was going to look like that.

-No!

-How cool.

-Something a bit more contemporary, a bit more modern.

What are you thinking? Were you thinking bar?

-Console?

-I was thinking console.

It could go into someone's hallway, if they have a wide hallway,

and it could be somewhere where there's a telephone,

or they can put their keys when they come in.

But it's quite a modern statement piece.

It's elegant. It's great. The lines on it are fantastic.

I think it's actually turned out to be much more elegant

than I thought it would be, because I had this idea that we were

going to create blocks to clamp the pieces together, which was...

I think now, in hindsight, it would never have been

-structurally sound enough.

-I love what you've done.

I like the sort of quirkiness of it, and obviously you've used them

-in the structure under here.

-Yes, to support the top.

So a nice bit of recycling where you're not wasting,

you're not buying in material,

which... It saves money, even if it makes more work.

Talk me through the top. What's that?

This is Jesmonite, which is a material I had not used before,

so we had to build a mould and pour it and cast it, and then release it

from there, and hope that it was all in one piece,

but it's quite nice because it's cold and it's...

-Cold, and it's crisp. It's fantastic.

-Yeah, yeah. And cos

it's wrought iron and it's welded,

-and this is Jesmonite and it's quite thick...

-Yeah.

..it should hold at least lamps, if not,

if somebody wanted to put something heavier on there,

to a degree, then you would be able to.

£600 left on the table?

Yep.

The only cost, really, was the Jesmonite and the labour.

It's a fantastic piece, Daniel.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you, Sarah.

-Let's get it packed up and let's sell it.

-All right.

I'm really happy that Sarah's happy with the piece,

but this piece is quite different for me.

It's exploring new materials and different aesthetics,

so really, really happy with how that went.

So, as it turns out, yes, you really can make railings into a stunning,

high-end designer piece of furniture.

Who knew?

When Sarah met Simon at the recycling centre,

-there was a difference of opinion...

-They're quite cool, aren't they?

They are, but I'm throwing them away,

so not thinking they're all that cool.

No, obviously not. OK, for me, they look quite cool.

..but it wasn't long before he was embracing

Sarah's love of all things old.

I've got loads of stuff you might consider patina.

I can see you're talking on my wavelength already.

And, in no time at all, the old became new again.

Determined to find the console table a new home,

Sarah opened her laptop and uploaded pictures on to the internet.

Apparently, that's how you sell things these days.

Look, it got 51 hearts.

I don't know what that means.

Sarah's travelled to Altrincham to catch up with Simon,

and let him know how she got on online.

-Hi, Simon.

-Hi. Good morning.

-How you doing?

-Very good, thanks.

-How are you?

-Very well. Very well.

Distinct lack of railings at the front of your house.

Yes, and even fewer at the back now than there was a few months ago.

So those railings were original to the area.

I think they were original to the area.

If you look around, they're all around the perimeter there.

-Did you wonder what we might do with them?

-I certainly did. I...

I had no need for them. I kind of wonder why anyone else does.

Your railings went up to Walthamstow to a guy named Daniel Heath,

who is a well-known maker and designer, and he thought

really carefully about what to do with them, and I've got

some pictures to show you how they ended up. Here goes.

Wow!

It is very different from what I took out of my back garden.

-So this is a console table he's created out of them.

-OK.

-What do you think?

-It looks a damn sight better than it did

-in the back garden.

-Well, they're currently still for sale.

I haven't sold them yet. When they have done, I will be back in touch,

and hopefully handing over some money to you.

Fantastic. Even better news.

Lovely to catch up again, and I'm going to keep my eye open for

-some railings around here.

-There's plenty there.

-Thank you ever so much, Simon.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Cheers.

Daniel came in on budget of £600, but with the railings table

still to be snapped up, we could end up being £600 down.

Hopefully, though, it'll find a new home soon,

and we can share the profits with Simon.

Well, it was lovely to catch up with Simon. I don't think our

console table was exactly his cup of tea, but it will be somebody's,

so I'm hoping to be back here and handing over some profit very soon.

Sarah's back in East Sussex to see what Norman's managed to

cobble together out of that broken cupboard.

Well, I left Norman with the merest remnants of a cupboard in the hope

that he would be able to transform it into something fabulous

that I can sell at a profit.

I cannot wait to see what he's managed to do with it.

Sarah had gathered a pile of broken wood that was,

apparently, once a cupboard.

Norman has miraculously pieced it all together to create a gorgeous

kitchen cabinet. He's taken great care to keep just the right amount

of wear, so it's brimming with cottage charm.

Those original hooks have been incorporated,

which will be perfect for crockery,

and that chicken wire frontage is adorably rustic,

without over-egging the farmyard ambience.

It's a perfect rural accent for any bohemian kitchen.

I'm impressed, but what about the boss?

-Norman?

-Hiya.

-Hello, how are you doing?

-I'm great.

-You?

-Yeah, I'm good now!

-Look at that!

-Looks great, doesn't it?

It looks amazing. I can't believe that's what has come out of

that pile of timber offcuts and stuff I left you.

-It's amazing.

-Yeah, looks great, doesn't it?

I think it looks lovely.

You've left just the right amount of old, beaten up detail on it,

and made it fresh enough to go straight into a kitchen. I love it.

We kept the hooks under here so you could have your cups, and...

Yeah. So we used all the old timber that we could for the sides,

the hooks, but we had to have new shelves, and the back

and that's what we came up with.

It's great. I think it's lovely.

Excellent. Once on a wall filled up with chickens,

it'll look great!

I think we can find something better than that to put in it.

Well, Norman's feeling like cock of the roost now,

but did he come in on budget?

-I left you with 200 quid on the table for it.

-Yeah.

-Is that where you came out?

-Uh-oh.

-Well, actually...

-Here it comes.

-We're actually...

-300, 400...

We didn't actually do as many hours on it as we thought,

so we're actually going to let you have it for 175.

Under budget! Cock-a-doodle-do!

I loved it anyway. Now I really like it!

That is really good.

I think 175 quid, I have to be able to make some profit on that.

-Yep.

-I think that's going to be an easy job to sell,

but I might need to borrow that chicken for some sale shots!

I'm sure Peggy won't mind. She's a good egg.

-Thank you so much for that.

-Thank you as well.

-That's lovely.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

Well, I am cock-a-hoop over that transformation.

Norman has made something really beautiful with those old scraps,

and that's quite difficult to do.

It was busy, busy, busy at the dump,

but Sarah still spied Luke about to throw his rubbish into the skip.

-You're having a smashing time this morning, then?

-Yep.

It may have looked beyond all hope,

but even Luke could see the potential.

It's solid wood, so you could make anything out of it, really.

It depends how much skill her team has got.

Don't you worry, Luke, they've got plenty.

Sarah got in touch with vintage and retro store, The Old Cinema,

in London, who love that kind of thing, and they bought it.

Sarah's set her Sat Nav to Little Bollington, outside Altrincham,

to bring Luke up to date on his old bits of wood.

Hi there. How are you doing?

Good. Good to see you again.

Yeah, and you. So, this is it then.

You'd just moved in the last time I saw you. Is that right?

-Yes, absolutely.

-Fantastic. How's it going?

It's going well. It's going slowly, but it's going well, yeah.

Those bits of wood that I took from you -

they had a bit of character left in them, so did you think that there

was something that could be made out of them?

I've thought about it, but I have got absolutely no idea how

you could make anything out of them,

so I'll be interested to see what you're done.

-So I've got some pictures to show you. Are you ready?

-Yeah.

Kitchen cupboard.

-Wow.

-I don't know if you can see here, but all those little pegs

that were inside the cupboard have been reused to hang cups on,

-or hooks for the kitchen.

-That's well cool.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, wow!

-Is that a surprise?

-It's a big surprise, yeah.

Yeah. It's creative.

It was snapped up by a shop in London, and that is going to go into

somebody's house somewhere and be on their kitchen wall,

being loved by them. And, good news - I made some profit on it.

-Oh!

-So I've brought that for you, I have £100 here for your old doors.

Amazing!

What are you going to do with the £100?

Probably help pay for plastering and that sort of stuff.

Nothing very exciting or interesting,

but trying to get the house looking really good.

Good luck with the plastering. I know it's hard work.

Thank you so much, lovely to catch up.

-Yep, thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-All right, bye.

With Norman coming in under budget at £175,

after Sarah sold it for £275,

it leaves £100 for Luke to do up his kitchen.

Thank you, Norman.

Sarah saved three unwanted items from the skip...

..and now, rather than being chucked in the landfill,

they've been given a new lease of life.

So, you've seen the transformations from old rubbish into lovely stuff.

How about you have a go? Pick up those tools, and just get started!