Episode 16 Cowboy Trap

We're exploring the UK, leaving no stone unturned to discover

some of the worst building disasters you've ever seen.

Me or Jim, we could have a shower, if there's an electrical fault, we could be killed.

Cowboy builders are in business everywhere.

So, beware, they could be waiting for you.

Within a couple of weeks, you could physically see that it was starting to sink.

We've got the good guys on our side, repairing those building bodges

these cowboy builders leave behind.

It's brilliant!

It looks really... I don't want to get upset on camera.

Make notes of all my hints and tips.

That way, you should avoid falling into the cowboy trap.

'Today, we're crossing the country to meet two sets of homeowners

'who were left with that sinking feeling.

'For Mark Parker, all he wanted was to replace his driveway.

'He didn't expect to wear wellies when he went outside.'

It flooded outside my door. It was an inch of water. It wouldn't go.

I had to sweep the water away. That's still happening.

'And Judith and Jim were left with electrics

'which could burn down their house or, even worse, kill them!'

I wanted a nice modern bathroom.

What I ended up with was a nightmare.

We're in sunny Staffordshire, where Mark Parker wanted to sort out his sunken driveway.

'Mark lives with Caroline, children Brandon and Adam, and dog Roo.

'They wanted to add the finishing touches to their home

'by replacing their tired sunken drive with a new tarmac finish.'

You could see that the driveway needed doing, so that was the first place to start.

Mark turned to his phone directory to find his builder,

then looked on the fancy website for more information.

'And when he met the builder, he was won over.'

He was very chatty.

He'd come across as a lovely person. He told us a lot about himself.

He seemed full of character.

He'd had an adventurous life, from what he told us.

He came across that friendly, we decided to go with him.

'Mark was charmed by the sales technique.

'The builder even convinced him that he wanted something different.'

What a salesman! He convinced us to change to a block paved drive.

'To get a special price, Mark agreed to pay a deposit.'

I gave him £1,000.

Cash. That was the provision of him knocking some money off.

It's got to be a cash job. I said, "Not a problem."

I've paid for cash jobs and never had a problem.

He did state that you'll still get the ten-year guarantee, everything on his website.

He said, "You'll get a professional job."

Mark took a gamble that didn't pay off.

Work was delayed from the start.

He said the job would be completed within three weeks.

After about six weeks, he hadn't even started.

'Mark's mum was upset for her son's hard-earned loss.'

Mark worked overtime to get the money to pay for the drive.

He doesn't like to go into debt.

It backfired on him and he's lost a lot of money.

'Mark's mistake was handing over money with nothing in writing.

'He put too much trust into his builder.

'Make sure you get a written schedule of work

'and a breakdown of how long each stage with take.

'Always get a signed contract.

'Download these from the Federation of Master Builders' website.

'But Mark's builder was still full of smooth talk.'

We asked him to come round, which he did.

He apologised. Same again, very professional.

Said, "We've experienced a lot of problems but we're going to start next week."

For three or four weeks, nothing happened. Continuous phone calls.

Continuous excuses.

Then we were going on holiday, just going away for a week.

He said to us, "If your driveway isn't complete when you come back, I won't charge you for it."

I thought, "Well, I've got you now. You've got to do the job."

'Mark was taken in by the lure of getting his driveway for free.

'So he forgot another of my rules - don't let builders do work on your home while you're not around.'

On the day we came back, he phoned us. We'd only been here an hour.

He says, "Are you happy with your driveway?"

We'd just literally walked through the door and, "Yeah."

'Mark paid £2,400 for his brand new block paved drive,

'and was left with a depressed drenched driveway disaster.'

Within two to three weeks, I thought, "That doesn't look right."

You could see a dip in the driveway.

Mark replaced one sunken driveway with another.

It's time for me to find out where it all went so badly wrong.

-Hi, are you Mark?

-I am.

-I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap.

-I've already trodden the path of your cowboy builder.

-Yeah.

Show me what all the problems are.

Well, Mark, I can see the problems.

First, how long has this been laid?

-It's been coming on to 11 months.

-Is that all?

-That's all, yeah.

That has faded so bad. That looks like a five-year lay minimum.

-What are the main problems?

-It started straight after the job.

Three weeks later, it started sinking towards the edge.

-Three weeks after?

-Yeah.

I pulled on the drive one day and thought, "That doesn't look right.

"This doesn't feel level."

It's got progressively worse.

I was kicking the top of the manhole cover

cos the blocks around it had sunk.

Where the cars are parked,

it's discoloured because the water's settling, it's not draining away.

A year in, roughly, and you've got it looking like this! It's bonkers!

-Yeah.

-It's time to find out a bit more. Shall we pop inside?

-OK.

-After you, mate.

'Mark's dipping driveway has left him depressed, too.

'His money gone. He's fed up. But now we're here to help.'

In the short space of time we're here, what would you like us to do?

Basically, I'd just love to get the...iron out the lumps that are in the middle of my driveway.

I don't want my kids tripping over the manhole covers that are protruding from the ground.

Well, we've got the good guys coming in.

We've done our background research and we're going to put it right.

Excellent. It would be the end of a nightmare to get it complete.

'We've got a big job on our hands, lifting up the bricks and relaying them on a solid foundation.'

It's time to bring in the good guys and sort this driveway out once and for all.

'Coming up, our independent chartered surveyor gives us the lowdown.'

From what I've seen, I don't think I'd even give them one.

'Now we're heading east to Milton Keynes,

'where houseproud Judith Roberts has lived with Jim Davison for four years.

'Judith remortgaged her home to restyle the bathroom,

'making the most of the space and to complete her dream interior design.'

All I wanted was a new bathroom suite, fully tiled,

and the toilet and sink fitting into units with a bit of cupboard space.

Judith and Jim hired the builder that was working on their next-door neighbour's bathroom.

I'd been popping home lunch time, seeing them in there, working.

So I popped round and got his card.

He'd given me details of his website so I had a look at that.

'Only part-way done, her neighbours were happy with their job so far.

'So Judith got him in for a quote.'

I checked the website. Some of the bathrooms looked gorgeous.

When he'd given me the quote, I thought, for over £6,000,

I'd get a really nice bathroom suite, good tiles and nice units, whatever.

So I decided to go with him.

'Their builder agreed to fit a new bathroom suite

'with vanity unit, storage and floor-to-ceiling porcelain tiles.'

Once the work had started, it was over in a matter of days,

but after the builder had left, they realised something was badly wrong.

After he'd finished, I felt sick.

I couldn't sleep. I kept saying, "Jim, it doesn't look right."

The toilet's dominating the room. It looks smaller than it did before.

'It wasn't until they started to use the bathroom

'that they realised their problems were bigger than that.'

The toilet was blocking up and coming to the top of the pan. The shower wasn't getting hot.

Then we found out that the work was poor. Everything was getting worse.

The toilet wasn't working properly.

It wasn't flushing properly cos it wasn't connected.

'Bus driver Jim was shaving in the downstairs cloakroom

'and going to the gym to shower.'

I've been annoyed that I can't have a hot shower,

I couldn't wash in the sink because the water pressure wasn't good.

It's just been uncomfortable for me, having to go to the gym to have a shower.

'Judith's work friends noticed how much it was affecting her.'

She's come in, totally distraught that the builder hasn't turned up.

She's constantly e-mailing and ringing him.

He's just so relaxed about it.

He doesn't understand how this has affected somebody's life. It's so traumatic.

'For their £6,100, Judith and Jim got a bodged bathroom,

'an ill-fitting toilet and a cold shower.

'They got straight on to the builder.'

I e-mailed and said, "Could you please sort out the shower and the toilet?

"I spent over £6,000. We should be able to use it as a bathroom."

'Judith and Jim made a common mistake.

'They were taken in by a flashy website and seeing a half done job.

'Take my tip - do your homework.'

Even if your builder's been recommended by family member or colleague, do your own research.

That way, you'll stay clear of the cowboys.

'Judith's first builder ignored her calls.

'She decided to hire a second builder to fix his mistakes.'

After being in touch by e-mail and phone ten, 12 times, whatever,

I decided to have the bathroom done myself.

'Judith's builder had been working at the neighbour's.

'He'd bodged that job, too.

'They'd hired a second builder.

'Judith hired the same guy, too!'

He tried fitting the toilet and the sink.

The sink turned out to be a nightmare. It was far too big.

That didn't go in very well.

Then we had an accident. He went through a water pipe.

'Judith has suffered at the hands of not one, but two bodging builders.

'The first guy fitted it and the second one ripped half of it out.'

-Are you Judith?

-Yes.

-You've had a problem with a bathroom.

-Do you mind showing me the damage?

-No.

-Let's have a look.

-It's a bit unfinished!

-It wasn't like this when he left it.

It did look... The units were all fit in.

It didn't look bad but it didn't actually work.

-Why is the toilet...? That's not the position it's staying in?

-No.

The original builder had the toilet down here and he moved the sink

over onto that wall.

There was no water pressure, and the toilet kept blocking up.

So I had a second builder come in.

I said, "Move it back to where it used to be."

At least the taps will work. So he's put the toilet there.

He was going to put a sink on top of here.

I don't want him to put a sink on top of that.

That vanity unit... I've got to be honest. It's a bit cheap and nasty.

It's basic chipboard and in a water environment,

that's just going to blow out.

What other problems do you have, other than the things I can see?

The bath, well, the third plumber came.

He put new pipes in.

These are what were in originally.

There's three of these, loads of pipework.

Push-fits - not a big fan of them.

They were all round the back and looped.

There's no planning gone into it.

Now, with your light fittings, especially the ones over the bath,

they have to be Zone 1 light fittings.

I need to get up and check behind to see if it's got any fire hoods

to protect it.

And I reckon I've seen enough.

Well, I have as well!

It's been there since last August. A complete nightmare.

-So, nearly a year?

-Yeah.

No sink, no toilet.

It's horrible. I hate coming into this bathroom.

'No wonder Judith called us in.

'I need to know what we can do.'

What could we do that would make you smile again?

A bathroom that looks nice and I can use.

I can't wait to lie in the bath, put my candles on and chill out.

It's high time we sorted this bathroom out for Judith and Jim.

Not just because it's unusable. It's downright dangerous, too.

Let's bring in the good guys.

'Coming up, the independent chartered surveyor gives us his verdict.'

The installation is non-compliant and could be dangerous.

'We're travelling west to Cannock in Staffordshire.

'Mark Parker wanted to replace his old sunken drive with a tarmac one.

'He was left with a bumpy cracked nightmare with no drainage system, and £2,400 worse off.

'The good guys are ready to knock up a dazzling driveway,

'but before they crack on,

'I want a verdict from independent chartered surveyor David McGuire.'

You've had a look. What have you found that's not to your liking?

First, has the driveway been laid to the correct level,

-in relation to the dampproof course of the house?

-Yeah.

Which, in this case, it hasn't.

David, we've got an undulation there, a deflection there.

That occurred within three weeks of the lay.

The installation of a block paved or brick paved drive,

as well as any drive, really, is only as good as its preparation.

And, for this type of surface,

you need a minimum sub-base of 150mm, well consolidated

crushed stone.

Yes.

I've not seen underneath here, but I would bet that it hasn't got that.

More important to us is your verdict

and your mark out of ten you'd give these guys for laying driveways.

From what I've seen, I don't think I'd even give them one.

Are we saying that these guys get a big fat zero?

Why not? They don't deserve anything else.

Thank you for your input, squire. Much appreciated. Thank you.

Zero out of ten? This guy is certainly no hero with a score of zero!

'Our good guys will make it ten out of ten.

'They'll remove all these blocks, sort out the sub-base and drainage.

'Leading our team today is Rob. What's the plan?'

We're going to take all the blocks off, take all the sand up,

to see if there is any hard core. I've took a couple of blocks up.

-I know that some of the sand goes nearly to 150mm.

-A lot of sand!

-They say 25mm, don't they?

-Yeah.

-So it's way over.

We'll take all the sand up, get it out the way, then we're going to put lines through, some string lines.

Then we can go along and measure down

and see how much hard core has got to go in place.

Then we'll put the sand down, level it all off

and start putting our block paving in.

What about drainage? There was loads of problems.

We've got some drains and we'll put them down the path of the house

and dig soakaways for the water.

'While the good guys get stuck in, I track back with Mark

'and find out how his driveway dreams became a paving palaver.'

How long after these guys left did you find a major problem?

-Three weeks.

-The three weeks he said he'd take to do the job.

-Exactly.

It was about three weeks. I pulled up one evening from work.

I looked at the drive and something didn't quite look right.

I started kicking the blocks and thought, "They look like they've sunk."

Straight away, I phoned him. He says, "We'll come and have a look."

That night, it rained for the first time we were in since it was done.

I've no idea why I did it, but I popped my head out the front door.

That was when I noticed that my driveway was flooded.

-You'd got a little swimming pool?

-I had. I took a picture, videoed it.

People wouldn't have believed me, it was that bad.

'Mark's video shows just how serious his water woes were.

-'They affected his entire family.'

-There were puddles outside the door.

They tried to get the children not to walk in it and into the house.

After a while, everybody was upset.

-You approached the builder? Said, "This is what's going down." What did he say?

-I texted a picture.

He wouldn't answer his phone. I kept trying. I e-mailed him, pictures.

After a while, he got in touch and said he'd been on holiday.

Apologised, said he was going to get the fitter back to have a look.

Which he did, eventually, after three appointments that he missed.

He had a look at the driveway and the fitter that laid the blocks, straightaway said,

"I apologise, but it's a mess. The lot's got to come back up."

The sub-base that's been applied before he put the blocks down isn't substantial.

"It's got to come back up."

-So you thought it's going to get sorted, get lifted back up.

-Yeah.

-What happened?

-He gave me a date.

I says, "When can it be done?" He got his diary out of his van.

He said, "Next Wednesday." I thought, "Brilliant!"

Next Wednesday came, he didn't turn up.

I phoned him. He answered. I said, "Are you coming today?"

He said, "Look, Mark. I've sought legal advice.

"It isn't down to me. I only laid the bricks.

"The person that laid the sub-base, it's their fault." The original company.

He said, "You need to get back in touch with them." All of a sudden, his phones are unavailable.

His number on the letterhead was an account that had been discontinued.

'Mark's builder refused to take responsibility

'for the job he'd taken money for.

'If you find yourself in this situation:

'Even if you don't get your money back,

'you may help other homeowners being stung.

'Mark was about to discover he wasn't alone.

'The local paper was onto his builder.'

A friend said, "Have you seen the free paper?" I said, "No."

And there is his picture on the front page.

He's done it to that many people, the local paper felt they needed to get involved.

There was a catalogue of people that had been affected by him.

Bad news. How do you feel about him now?

I'm angry, but also a bit embarrassed that he took us in.

He introduced us as a friend,

and we were in constant contact with him during the period that he was letting us down.

We just thought, "He's having problems. Nice guy. It'll be OK." Just let down.

'I want to find out what Mark's Trading Standards Officer did about the complaints.'

We knew where his home address was. That was vacant.

And has been vacant for a long time.

We got various mobile numbers. We rang them.

They were dead.

You did a thorough search to try to track this guy down.

When he dropped off the scene, he well and truly dropped off the scene.

I spoke to a number of people who'd paid

quite a substantial amount up-front for various jobs.

What do you think the chances are of Mark getting any success of chasing this guy down for his money?

In my personal opinion, the way it looks today

is that it's remote because we can't find the owner of the business.

You know who you are, and now we know who you are.

If you ever decide to ride back into town, we know your dodgy tricks and we'll be prepared next time.

'I hope Mark's going to be happy when he tests his new driveway.'

You can walk on this without tripping over!

'Back in Milton Keynes, we're helping Judith and Jim get the bathroom they paid over £6,000 for.

'Instead, they got a cold shower, a blocked toilet and an unusable sink.

'Before the good guys get started working their magic,

'I want the verdict from independent chartered surveyor Philip Kentish.'

Before we say anything, let me first tell you

that Judith has spent over six grand on this compact and bijou place.

What isn't to your liking?

When I first came in, nothing sticks out in your face,

but scratch beneath the surface and there are a number of things I would be concerned with.

First, I would ask for a copy of the electrical test certificate

to prove that the installation was in accordance with regulations.

That hasn't been forthcoming, so I assume that it is non-compliant and therefore could be dangerous.

I think it's best that we check it out. Anything else you found?

Of particular concern, looking above, the recess light fittings.

Fittings of this type should have a fire hood.

They will heat up in the roof void

and potentially cause fire, mixing with the insulation above.

They haven't. Therefore, it's a fire risk.

What mark would you give these guys, bearing in mind, over six grand?

It's a lot of money.

The bathroom does work, but it works appallingly, in my view.

The water pressure's poor, the usability is poor,

but the finishing is OK.

In my view, I would score this a four out of ten.

Four out of ten it therefore shall be. Thank you very much, Phil.

What about that? Four out of ten. No more than they deserve.

This job could have ended up truly shocking.

'Steve and his team are ready to get started.

'Let's find out how they're going to turn this into a haven of relaxation.'

There's loads of problems. What is your plan to put that right?

We're going to rip all the tiles that need to come off.

We're going to put nice edging for the tiles on.

We're going to take the shower screen off cos it was leaking,

make sure that fits better.

A new vanity unit, a new sink, new toilet and generally just...

-Make it look good.

-Yeah.

-On the electrical side, we need somebody to check that over.

-Yeah.

-You've got that base covered too?

-Yeah.

We've got our guys coming in to make sure it's Part P, everything's safe.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do for her, because she's lost so much confidence.

For now, mate, great to have you on board.

'Judith and Jim have been without a proper bathroom for almost a year.

'Their first builder charged £6,100. I want to know why they thought it should cost so much.'

The job that he's done up there, or was planning to do,

you should have got for anywhere between £2,800 and £3,500.

To have a real quality bathroom for the size of bathroom, that's the price it should be.

-It makes me feel ill thinking about it.

-So, £6,100 is monster.

You could have almost had two bathroom suites.

'Judith believed one of the reasons the quote was so high was because of the porcelain tiles.'

-You selected the tiles that you wanted.

-Yes.

You physically went to the shop.

The builder said to me, "Go to whatever shop.

"I'll meet you there and you can show me which tiles you want."

I met him in the shop, pointed them out.

When he e-mailed me the invoice,

he said the tiles were 2,000, with his discount, 1,100.

Then, since all the problems, having the sink and toilet moved,

I thought I needed some more tiles so I went back to the shop

and mentioned the builder who'd done the bathroom.

He goes, "Oh, yes. I remember."

I said, "He says the tiles were £2,000, with a discount, 1,100."

He went, "No. About half that."

I just left the shop in tears. I couldn't even talk to the guy.

It's a good point because I would suggest

that, if you want tiles, buy them yourself. Get the tiles.

Take your measurements, they will give you enough tiles

and a few extra, allowing for breakages.

You're better off doing it that way.

In real terms, you could have saved 600 quid there, if he said £500 would have been the price.

Because he was getting his discount, I was getting them cheaper.

Obviously, he was adding more on for himself.

'Judith's builder changed the electrics but she has no certification to show they're safe.

'We now know he wasn't qualified to do the work,

'so we're having the work checked by certified electrician Lee.'

-The fire hoods have gone in on the lights.

-Explain what they do.

If you haven't got fire hoods,

with the insulation resting on the lamps,

they can overheat and turn into a fire.

So we use the fire hoods for that protection for building regulations.

Also, the extractor fan in the bathroom

is 230 volts and it's above the bath, which is very dangerous.

You could be standing in water with no RCD protection on the unit,

and have an electric shock.

It has to be low voltage, 12 volts, and then it's safe.

Fantastic. That is a top deal.

Sorry to disturb you. You can carry on now. Cheers, buddy.

'Judith's first builder took £6,100 to install her bathroom.

'When it didn't work, he didn't want to know.

'Even worse, his electrics are lethal.

'It's time he gave us answers.'

What would you ask him, Jim?

Why the shower wasn't getting as hot as it should have been.

What about you, Judith?

I'm more concerned about the electrical work that he's completed.

Even in the loft, all the cable work that he's done could have caught fire at any time.

-Yes.

-And the plumbing.

I'm going to give you an opportunity to speak to your builder right now.

Are you ready? Here we go.

PHONE RINGING

'The person you are calling is unable to take your call, please leave your message after the tone.'

Hiya. It's Judith. Can you give me a call as soon as possible on this number, please?

Interestingly enough, he knows that we're on the case.

Our office have spoken to him.

He's given loads of detailed explanations as to why.

I'll pick out some points and I'd like your reaction.

He said that he's not a cowboy builder.

And he's saying that he's got loads of references from happy customers. What do you think to that?

Has he done the electrics and put somebody else's life in danger?

The thing is, my next-door neighbour is proof that he's a cowboy.

He's done exactly the same to her bathroom.

She's getting her electrics checked in case her house burns down.

I think that's important.

'Coming up, Judith gets a shock about her electrics.'

How can it be legal for him to put a shower in, lighting,

then say you've got to get someone to check it?

'We're travelling to Cannock in Staffordshire.

'Mark Parker wanted rid of his bumpy drive and ended up with a bumpier one - and nearly £2,500 worse off.

'Our guys are on the case.

'I want to know why Mark's drive gave him that sinking feeling.'

When you stripped it back, what did you find?

Loads of sand! We've taken out a skipful of sand

and replaced it with hard core.

-How many tonnes of hard core?

-Four.

-Four tonne?

It's unbelievable. We can't believe it. We're really shocked.

-It's rock solid now.

-Yeah.

-You've relaid the blocks.

-Yeah.

Most importantly, I can see drainage.

Yeah. They had major problems with water, stepping out into a puddle.

We put drains all the way down.

There's a soakaway at the end. There's a soakaway behind you there.

It'll all soak away nice for them.

It looks superb. You and the boys have done a great job. Well done.

-I cannot wait to show Mark what the top guys can do.

-Thanks a lot.

-Cheers, Rob.

'As they're open to the elements, driveways need maintenance.'

When you've had your driveway laid, or patio slabs, maintain them.

With patio slabs, if they've got mortar lines,

you'll get moss growing.

That isn't growing from underneath. The seeds land on top and take root.

High pressure washer, blast it off.

The driveway, that's got kiln-dried sand between the gaps.

Each year, you need to rake those out and refill it back in.

It's cheap enough to do and it'll stay looking great for years.

'Mark has been left feeling ripped-off with his dodgy driveway.

'He's much more prepared to ward off potential cowboys coming to town.'

If you've learned anything from having a cowboy builder what would that be?

I'd watch him do the job. He did it while we were on holiday.

He did what he wanted.

What he told us isn't what he did. That's plainly obvious.

Next time, I'd watch him like a hawk.

Somebody to be here. A bit of supervision keeps them on their mettle.

Remind me what it was like before we arrived.

I got seasick when I walked on it.

The worst part was that it flooded outside the front door.

There was no drainage.

It was all over the place. It was terrible.

Now, this is always my favourite bit, putting things right.

-Let's go and have a look. Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-Come on, mate.

Come and have a look at this.

Oh! Yeah!

Wow. Straightaway, a lot better!

It's much better, isn't it?

Definitely. You can walk on this without tripping over!

You've got the drop there, as the curvature goes down.

But it's what you can't see, Mark!

It's what's underneath that counts.

And do you know what? They've got four tonne of hard core under here.

This is going nowhere.

Have you noticed something else?

The drainage. That's the important thing for us.

The water's got somewhere to go.

Explain to us what was happening.

The water was just stopping where it fell, congregating in puddles.

Outside the front door was terrible.

All the drainage has been set in. The box drainage has been set in.

-I think, all in all, this is a fantastic driveway.

-It is great.

-Thumbs-up for the good guys?

-Yeah.

'The original builder left a driveway that had no drainage

'and no solid foundations.

'It needed ripping up and starting again with a hard core structure,

'for an end to the lumps and bumps.

'The gaps are filled with sand to prevent weeds,

'and the drainage system will stop flooding.

'Another job well done.'

This is going nowhere. You can drive on and off knowing full well

that underneath, the foundations are solid.

-Enjoy your driveway.

-Thanks very much. Thank you.

After a year of living with this dire driveway,

Mark and his family are on the pathway to happiness.

'We're hoping for more happiness in Milton Keynes.

'After living here together for four years, Judith and Jim wanted a fresh contemporary bathroom.

'They were left with a room that they couldn't use, and left in danger cos of dodgy electrics.

'I need to tell Judith and Jim some more disturbing information about their first builder.'

I have to bring this to your attention.

On his website, he has disclaimers for both gas and electricity.

In your case, it's the electrical side of it.

That he will either, or you will need to,

-bring in somebody that is minimum Part P...

-Didn't know about that.

-It's true.

-I didn't read it on the website. Do you believe that?

He's carrying out work...

How can it be legal for him to put a shower in, lighting and everything

and say you've got to get someone else to check it?

Let me just put it to you like this, that any electrician, qualified,

who gets a phone call from somebody to go, "I have done the electrics."

Say you've done it, Jim. You've put the cables in, all the connections.

"Do you mind checking it and giving me a certificate?"

Anybody who's worth their salt is going to say, "You've got no chance."

Because they need to check all the work that's been done, and test it.

Any cables that are hidden, any junction boxes they can't get to,

they're going to need to check.

You will not get them to do it, anybody worth their salt.

-And he's put that disclaimer in...

-Can't believe that.

So you've got no guarantee that the electrical work has been done

to the regulation standard,

because he is not qualified to do the work in the first place.

'Judith and Jim's first builder bodged the installation.

'The second builder made it worse, trying to mix the mistakes.

'I hope they won't be hiring any more dodgy trades people.'

What lessons have you learned from having a cowboy builder in,

that would make you think twice next time?

-I want to see certificates.

-Yeah.

And probably work they've already completed.

-Probably?

-I mean definitely.

-You mean definitely!

-And about four or five quotes.

Yes. As many quotes as you can get.

But the guys you decide on, or the girls, choose them wisely.

Doing your research properly is very, very important.

One other important thing. No money up front.

-Yeah.

-No need. Certainly no need.

-And when you think things are going wrong, halt it there and then.

-Yeah.

Before we arrived, describe to me what the bathroom was like. Come on!

A complete wreck.

A hole in the floor. No toilet. No sink. No side panel on the bath.

Which leaked as well.

The shower door leaked. The shower didn't get hot. It was just a mess.

So, what are you hoping for?

I'd be able to have a nice hot shower!

You're always going down the gym, Jim, to have your shower.

I just want a bathroom that works, that looks nice.

I just want to put me candles on and lie in the bath and chill out.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-Let's go and have a look.

After you, my girl. Go on, Jim.

It's brilliant! That looks really...

I don't want to get upset on camera!

-Have a look.

-It looks completely different. Absolutely gorgeous.

The border's straight.

-Yeah.

-The cheap tacky edging around the tiles is gone.

-It just looks a lot bigger.

-Thanks, Clive. That's great.

It looks great, but I've got to tell you things that are hidden.

Those light fittings didn't have any fire hoods and left you in danger.

Those fire hoods are now on.

That's peace of mind. All the electrics have been sorted.

A Part P certificate will be coming to you in the next couple of days.

Again, that's peace of mind.

Toilet's in now, the vanity unit, the bath, the tiles.

I can't thank you enough. Thanks.

You're seriously welcome.

-Thanks Clive.

-You're welcome, sir! You can shake a hand.

'Judith and Jim wanted a high quality modern bathroom

'and ended up not being able to use it.

'We've removed all the units and dangerous electrics

'and replaced them with this sleek and stylish suite and shower.

'Judith's tiles are professionally laid

'and the units fit perfectly.

'Exactly what she'd asked for in the first place.

'It's another cracking job from our good guys.'

Judith and Jim have got their life back and the bathroom they dreamed of, thanks to the good guys.

Remember, they are out there.

Do your research and you won't go falling into the cowboy trap.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd