Episode 18 Cowboy Trap

We're travelling all over Britain,

exposing some of the worst building bodges you've even seen!

People out there should know that there are people like him around

and that he's not capable of anything.

Up and down the country,

cowboy builders are ruining people's lives.

And they could be in a town near you.

I was absolutely feeling extremely angry and frustrated.

Getting nowhere. Playing Mr Nice Guy.

Then I said to the builder, if you don't start conforming, I'll go legal.

With our team of good guys,

we'll turn these nightmare building projects into dream dwellings once more.

Wow!

-Da-dah!

-How fantastic is that?

Remember, eyes and ears open,

and take on board all my top tips,

in the hope that it'll prevent you falling into the Cowboy Trap.

On today's Cowboy Trap, we're travelling from the south coast

to the Midlands, to put right more builders' wrongs in two brand-new homes.

Both our home-owners thought they'd be protected by their builder's guarantees.

But a West Sussex new build has been nothing but grief for its first owner.

At one point, there were 89 things outstanding

from paintwork to gas to tiles, not working correctly in this house.

And we're in Nottingham

to discover how one lady's plans to create a dream garden and meditation area

proved to be a far from calming experience.

I'm not happy about it.

I tried to put plants in and flowers to cheer it up,

but it's still there in your face.

Every time you come out, you see the wall taken down

and the weeds everywhere.

It's not what I wanted.

First up, we're in the seaside resort of Rustington

near Worthing on the south coast.

Richard Stotford wanted a perfect retirement base for him and his cocker spaniel, Oscar.

He wanted a brand-new property, so when a friend thought she'd found the perfect plot,

Richard wasted no time travelling down to the coast to take a look.

We came to look at the site. It was a sunny day. I thought, "OK,

the house was only a quarter built, but it looked ideal.

It fitted my budget exactly, what I could afford to spend.

This house ticked all the boxes on Richard's wish list.

It even had a ten-year guarantee. He was so excited,

he made an offer right away, even though it was only a quarter built.

Several other people were keen to go ahead,

so I had to be very quick in deciding to buy today or maybe lose it.

So I agreed to buy on the moment.

Literally. From seeing the property to actually making the offer

it took place within an hour.

As quickly as that. No coming back the following day.

I said to the agent, "We'll do it now."

Richard was attracted by the National House Building Council ten-year guarantee

that covered his new home. The NHBC is an independent body

which many builders of new and newly-converted homes register their developments with.

A NHBC warranty is available on 80% of new homes built

and is attractive to many buyers who are looking for peace of mind

that their new home will be free from defects

and fixed by the builder if problems arise.

I expected the house to be fully operational, all items working,

planning control been applied for and agreed to

and all the normal regulations been enforced.

Richard was really excited by the prospect of his brand-new home.

Having signed up to buy it on completion,

he couldn't wait for the builder to finish.

It was really excited and I was really looking forward to it.

I was pumped up. This was my new home, living the rest of my life here.

Model helicopter enthusiast Richard was on cloud nine about the prospect of his new home.

He paid the full asking price of £300,000 for his three-bedroomed, two-bathroomed detached house.

And having only seen it in the early stages,

he couldn't wait for the builder to finish.

The house went wrong from the day I moved in. Or tried to move in!

I was even given the wrong keys to get into the property!

From day one. We had to break in to the house!

After we'd got in, I then found I couldn't get into the property

because there was a bag of sand on the driveway.

It had been left by the builder.

It was very inconvenient because the furniture lorry couldn't back onto the driveway.

These were only the start of Richard's problems.

Gas Safe said the boiler was dangerous.

The new kitchen turned green with mould due to a water leak.

There was no permission to lower the kerb to access his drive,

and the driveway was sinking.

The number of defects just kept on rising.

I was absolutely feeling extremely angry and frustrated. Getting nowhere.

Richard hoped his brand-new home would be stress free.

But soon after moving in, he suffered a heart attack.

He's given up battling his developer now, and paid to fix most of the problems himself.

But irritations remain.

As you can see,

we've got a small crack here on the first tile into the bathroom.

The tile has actually started to cavitate.

It hasn't actually cracked, but it's caused a fracture.

It looks unsightly and should never have happened.

If we look behind the W.C here,

the tile one side has completely broken,

showing the exposed floorboards.

It's been like that since the house was purchased. Totally unacceptable.

It's time for me to come and see Richard's house of horrors for myself.

Hello, Richard.

-Do you mind showing me the problems you have?

-Come in.

-Thank you.

Look down here. Can you see that?

Ooh. That looks a mess.

-Yes.

-I reckon that cut that with a hammer!

-Probably!

That would worry me. That is not a good cut at all.

-That's what's upsetting me.

-Any other problems up here?

-Not in this room.

-But you've got one somewhere else?

-Oh, yes.

-Can you show me that?

-Follow me.

-Let's have a look.

OK.

-Same tile.

-Yes, Clive, but look at the damage.

-The cracks.

-I've got to have a look at this.

I've never seen this before

or the like of.

I wonder if they put the tile on dot and dab.

They should have combed flexible adhesive

on top of the weatherproof boarding that should be underneath.

But they may have done dot and dab, which is four corners and one in the middle.

So when you put pressure on, there's a gap between the bottom of the tile

and the top of the weatherproof boarding.

Richard has had loads of problems with his new house.

Though it was built three years ago, the Building Control Officer has only just issued a certificate

to say the house meets all the regulations.

-It was built three years ago?

-Correct.

-Your builder originally didn't get Building Control to sign off the build?

-Correct.

For one specific reason. The house required an air test.

It's a specialised test that costs between 400 and £600. The builder wouldn't spend that,

-so he sold the house without it.

-I can't believe it.

-What did the inspector say?

-He was amazed.

With a new build, you have to make sure that building has been signed off by the local building inspector.

-Correct.

-And everything is up to standard.

-Is that up-to-date now?

-Absolutely.

-He's signed it off? Nothing else to do?

-It's all done?

-The file is closed as far as the local building control. Three years after the purchase!

I think that's a very hard lesson. There's mistakes been made along the line.

Even people working on your behalf should have known that that sign-off paper was there.

I'm sorry to hear that.

You can expect snagging in a new property.

But three years to get Building Control to sign off just isn't on.

Richard has put right nearly all the defects now, so what can we do to help him?

What could we do, in a short period of time, to make you happy?

Replace my bathroom floor.

-OK. Is that a deal?

-Yes, absolutely!

-Deal!

We're bringing in the good guys now

to take away some of Richard's stress.

We'll rip up those cracked tiles and investigate the problems

to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong.

Coming up: Richard's bathroom is the final fix needed

in his numerous problems.

Within the first four months, I'd added up some 89 defects.

We're off to Nottingham, now, to another new-build.

Suzette Harris moved here from London five years ago.

Low maintenance was top of her list.

She'd moved to Nottingham to be close to family

because she was having treatment for recently-diagnosed leukaemia.

She wanted a home she could move straight into with nothing to worry about.

It was a bit smaller than the house in London that I'd had previously.

But this new-build, I like new things.

It was modern and there was lots of space.

Suzette's new town house stands on a large corner plot

and all she needed for her freshly-built home

was a landscaped garden.

The garden was basically rubble. The front was lawn, turfed.

Then the back was just rubble.

I wanted easy maintenance because of my condition.

Something I could go out to and feel as though I wasn't in the UK. Something Med.

Something tranquil and something with very little maintenance.

Suzette moved to Nottingham to be close to her family.

It was Mum, Joan, who helped find a landscaper

to get the Mediterranean garden makeover.

She can't do a lot of gardening because of her problem.

She wanted something straightforward so she could go into her garden,

water the plants and just leave it as that. And just rest.

Suzette has some special talents. She has worked all over the world

doing holistic therapy, tarot readings and reflexology.

She also believes she's clairvoyant.

She wanted her Mediterranean garden to provide a special tranquil space

for relaxation.

We sat down and we mapped out a plan of my low-maintenance garden.

I wanted it very Med and tranquil.

I wanted an area of meditation where I could do my meditation

and other things.

We drew out a plan together.

It was decking, it was stone gravelling, a centre water feature.

Steps going up to a secluded area with trellis.

And mostly stonework and pebbles.

It's a big garden, so the job would take six to eight weeks.

The landscaper looked over the plans and asked for a deposit

to start the job.

Because I was back and forth having my treatment, he asked me for £500 in the beginning.

And he was bringing new equipment to the house to use

which I thought was very unusual for a landscaper to have to buy new products to use.

If you can hear alarm bells, no matter how faintly,

follow my top tips to stay out of trouble.

A good worker will be pleased to show off their previous work.

Builders do need new tools from time to time,

but if everything is new, you should satisfy yourself

they've actually done this type of work before.

Suzette was preoccupied with her chemotherapy.

Otherwise, she would have heard the alarm bells ringing more loudly.

I'd noticed that some things weren't as level as I thought they should be, like the brickwork.

He said, "No, you have to have it lowered because of the rainfall."

I left it to him, really, as a builder and a landscaper,

to do as he should have done.

When the job was finished, Suzette was still quite poorly.

She only had a quick look around before handing over the final payment,

adding up to a total of £5,500 for her landscaped walled garden.

What she ended up with was unstable walls and fallen fencing.

This was supposed to be a wall and was supposed to be built up

with trellis work.

That was supposed to be a meditation flat area

but in the first six to months, it's started dropping gradually

and suddenly it got worse.

The centre part, which was supposed to be a sundial,

it's very, very rocky.

If there were children around, I wouldn't feel safe with them in the garden.

It's terrible. She hasn't been in the garden because it's not safe.

She has nieces and nephews and they daren't play outside

because it's unsafe.

Suzette's Mediterranean meditation space has caused nothing but stress.

It's time for me to come and see the damage for myself.

-Hello!

-Hello, are you Suzette?

-I am!

-Can you show me the damage?

-Come through.

-Thank you.

If you want to step through here.

Follow me over here to where the patio is.

Ooh, that doesn't look good.

Looking at that, that is just one single four-and-a-half inch wall there

and it should have a retaining wall and it should have weep holes,

so that any of the moisture, the rainwater, can wick away.

-What's wrong with the top, though?

-He said it should tilt to let the water fall off it.

-But it's dropped dramatically.

-Adding the slabs on the top adds more weight

to this single pier. That's a mess.

This is a big garden, and we can't put right all the wrongs in the time we have.

So I want to find out what our good guys can do to help Suzette most.

What could we do to help you in this garden?

I think an area of tranquillity.

So that area where your wall's fell down, and that paving area.

That area of tranquillity would help you immensely, would it?

-Yes, it would.

-We could focus on that.

-Yes.

-How about I say to you that's a deal?

-OK.

This is a big job. We have to lift up those unstable bricks

and slabs, prepare the ground and start again.

Time to get the good guys in and get started.

Coming up, the independent building inspector says this laughable landscaping

has slashed the value of Suzette's new house.

This house, if it came on the market, she would have problems selling it in the state it's in.

Back in West Sussex, we're helping model helicopter enthusiast Richard Stotford.

He hoped a brand-new house with a guarantee would be trouble-free.

But now he's reached the end of his tether

as more and more problems come to light.

The latest is cracks across the bathroom floor. Our good guys are standing by to help.

But before they get stuck in,

I want the independent chartered surveyor to check the cracked tiles

don't mean serious trouble.

This is an unusual one in the tiles have these deflection ridges in them.

What have you made of it?

Well, there is a fracture to one of the tiles

but on many of the other tiles, there is a line

where it appears as if the tile has folded or bent. However,

ceramic tiles do not fold or bend, they fracture

if subject to stress.

So the possibilities in terms of what would cause the fractures and deflection are numerous.

This building has a timber suspended floor.

When laying tiles on timber-suspended floors, you have to be careful.

If there's too much flex in the floor, it will allow the tile to fracture under loading.

Having bounced on it, it does seem quite rigid

so I suspect there is some plywood or something underneath it.

I tested it out, and with me only being nine stone wet through,

I couldn't feel any movement, strangely enough.

It's difficult to be conclusive with a diagnosis, without stripping them out and having a closer look.

Now, you've found another problem in the en-suite,

the bathroom in there.

Talk us through that one as we're here.

Notoriously areas around soil pipes which lead from toilets

-can be difficult to cut. However, they're not THAT difficult to cut.

-No.

What would you give, mark out of ten-wise,

for the so-called tiler that's done this work?

I think the best mark I can give is a pretty lowly five.

-Five it shall therefore be, young Steve. Thank you, squire. Good to see you again.

-Good to see you.

Five out of ten? What's that all about?

Cowboy builders and rogue traders should be spending time behind bars.

We've got the good guys here to help put a smile back on Richard's face.

He'd hoped a brand-new home would be stress-free.

Steve is leading our team today. So what's the plan of action?

We know there's problems under those tiles.

But what do you intend to do today?

The plan is to get up there and have a look.

See if I can see any cracks.

We've got to take the bathroom out, the toilet out, wash-hand basin.

Get a plumber in there. Try and sort that out.

Then chip away at those tiles. See if we can get them up

and see what the problem is.

With us, Steve, time is of the essence. How long will it take to do the job?

Hopefully, it's going to take us a day.

Depends how quickly we can get the tiles up, lay some ply down,

-put some Unibond on the ply.

-Yeah.

-Seal it all up and get on with the tiles.

-Fantastic.

-No problem.

-I'll catch up with you later.

-OK.

-Cheers.

While Steve and the team get stuck in, chipping away the cracked floor tiles,

I want to track back with Richard and find out when the problems with his new house started.

With a new build, it's always good to in-build a small retainer

that once you're happy with everything,

-then you pay the last payment.

-That didn't apply here, Clive.

There was no retainer. It was actually a deal today

based on providing the property with carpets. I said, "How much will you take without the carpets?"

He said, "We'll take three grand." I said, "You've got a deal."

When you made that final payment, I would imagine you'd already seen the finished property by then?

-Yes. Correct.

-And you were, on the face of it, marks out of ten?

It was OK. I could see nothing wrong.

You couldn't see a thing wrong. So you were chuffed. Here's your new property,

-nobody's lived in it before. What was the problem?

-I moved in. For a few days, all was fine.

Then I thought, "The driveway doesn't seem right." It didn't look right.

-Was there a list then of problems that occurred?

-Absolutely!

-Over what period of time?

-Within the first four months,

I'd added up some 89 defects!

-Get out!

-89, to be precise.

-This is what I'm telling you. Anybody with a new-build now,

there should always be a retainer held back for the snags.

One recent survey found over 90% of new homes have faults.

Here's my tip.

Don't use the developer's recommended solicitor.

Before you complete your purchase, hire a surveyor

to draw up a list of existing defects

so you can negotiate remedial work

or a reduction in the purchase price.

Richard didn't have a survey done.

He didn't think he needed one as his new house was guaranteed.

He's learned an expensive lesson.

The lesson I'd tell anybody now is,

don't take it as a fact that you've bought a new house from the NHBC

and you've got your warranty,

-you still need a chartered surveyor to look at it.

-I couldn't agree more.

Pay £300 and get a chartered surveyor to approve it.

You're doing my job for me! Because you were handing over, in this case, £300,000,

for an extra miniscule per cent, you could have had a surveyor round

and he'd have given you the list,

you give it to the builder and say, "You're not getting the rest of this money until it's sorted."

-Absolutely.

-After the guy from the National House Building Council had done his tour,

-is this where you got the 89 faults?

-Yes. Yes, it is.

His tour took what, a couple of hours to do?

Well, he came here about six times!

-That's incredible.

-Every time he came here,

he asked the builder to be here to represent themselves.

On one or two occasions they turned up. The other times, they declined to come.

Did they do any reparation to those 89 faults at all?

Yeah, they did a bit of work in the kitchen.

When your National House Building Council representative left,

what were his last words to you?

"I go back to my office. A report will be issued. You get a copy, the builder gets a copy,

"and he's required to comply with our regulations within a 14-day period

"and carry out the work within 28 days.

-"That's statutory requirements."

-Did he?

-No.

How come? I don't get it. He's flouting that.

-So did you get any compensation at all?

-I got just under £1,000.

That's only because the developer refused to come and do any work.

You haven't been in good health. Tell us some of the problems you've been suffering.

Well, it was ironic or otherwise, and it can't be proved legally,

but within six weeks of moving in here, and the builder gave me a lot of grief,

and refusing to carry out the work he'd originally said he would do,

ie, in the contract, I then suffered a major heart attack.

£300,000. You can't put a price on your health.

You can't, because potentially I nearly died.

And nor would you now spend £300,000,

£100,000, £50,000, without getting your surveyor in

to come and check that property if it's a new build.

Richard's new home has brought him a whole heap of stress.

I hope our team of good guys can help him get back on his feet.

But coming up, I'm shocked to discover just how bad his relationship with the developer is.

At 9.00pm one evening, he knocked on my door

asked could he chat sensibly. When the door was opened, he forced the door and threw me across the room.

We're back in Nottingham. Suzette moved here to be close to her family

when she underwent treatment for leukaemia.

She, too, had bought a brand-new house, hoping it would be stress-free.

But when she hired a landscaper to transform her plot from builder's yard to Mediterranean bliss,

she was left with a garden which is now too dangerous to enjoy.

Before the good guys put right some of the wrongs,

I want to get the verdict of an independent chartered surveyor.

Nick, you've had a chance to have a look around this garden. What has jumped out at you

immediately that you know is wrong.

The size of the gravel is too big and it's all lifting up.

The decking's all wrong.

They've put all of this in. The walling isn't correct,

there's no weep-holes, it's sunken,

it's not properly supported. It's a disgrace.

To me, these people, they've got no basic building knowledge or anything.

They're just cowboys, aren't they?

The difficulty is that they've underpriced the job,

they haven't got enough skill to do it anyway.

The whole lot is just bad. And it's diminishing the value of the house.

This house, if it came on the market, she'd have problems selling it in the state it's in.

One of the big factors for us is your opinion on the work they've carried out,

or not carried out, and what your mark out of ten would be.

I find it very hard to give them any marks at all, really.

-It has to be zero.

-Your mark for these guys is zero.

-Zero.

-OK. Thank you, Nick.

-That's OK.

-Thank you, sir.

Zero out of ten? Suzette didn't see that one coming!

This is a big plot.

Too big even for our guys to tackle everything.

Suzette's priority is to create an area of the garden

where she can find calm and tranquillity.

So our team is working on the secluded patio area,

stripping out slabs and bricks and levelling the ground.

Peter is leading our job here today. So what's the plan?

The first thing we're going to tackle is the paving.

If we can lift the paving, then strip back the brickwork on the frontage,

that'll give us a much, much better idea of whether we have to pick up

on what's been left, or whether we have to go a step further

and start again. But I'm hoping

that we don't find anything too nasty.

While the team carry on their good work,

I want to track back with Suzette and find out her plans to create a Mediterranean garden

went so wrong.

-What you wanted was some tranquil garden.

-Yes.

-That you could come and relax in and recover in.

-Absolutely.

-So you give the builder the plan.

-Yes.

-Of what you wanted done.

-Correct.

-And he said first of all, how much it would cost, which was?

5,500.

How long it would take to do the job.

About six to eight weeks maximum.

-Did it take that six to eight weeks?

-It took longer.

-How much longer did it take?

-A lot longer. I can't remember the exact amount of time.

-But longer than six to eight weeks.

-Yes.

-And he'd convinced you that he could do this job?

-He could do it.

And not worry about it. That was a big thing he said in the beginning.

"Don't worry about anything. Get your treatment done. Think about your health. I'll do the rest."

If you were in that condition health-wise,

it's understandable that you were just relying on him

and all you wanted was this dream garden.

-Yeah.

-As time progressed,

were there any other major problems you came across that you had to talk to him about?

Yes, on the levelling of the patio at the back,

and the steps I thought were too high.

He said, "No, I'll sort it all out. It'll be OK when you come out again."

Like I said, I wasn't watching this project throughout.

It wasn't something I was watching every day.

There were times I missed him going,

then he wouldn't show on time and he was becoming unreliable.

He'd go away for a few days, then come back.

Then go for a lunch break and not come back all day.

He was very unpredictable on his attendance.

-Did he turn up on time for his money?

-He only came twice.

He came the first time for the 500.

And then the latter part when he finished the job.

When he took that last payment,

were you happy with what he'd done?

When I looked at it as quickly as I did and walked around, yes.

-How long was it before you realised you had problems?

-Four to six months.

I noticed discrepancies with the tilt.

The steps were too much for me to get up and down.

I called him and said, "You gave me a five-year guarantee."

He said, "No problem. I'll come back on Friday and sort it out."

Friday came and went. Never showed.

I kept calling constantly. After that, the wall fell down.

When he took on the job, Suzette's landscape designer promised his work had a five-year guarantee.

But when she called him back, he never came.

Take my tip.

Use your judgement to assess whether he'll still be around

to live up to his promise.

Suzette took him at his word,

and has been left facing a big bill to put right all her builder's mistakes.

Suzette's garden has been left in a right old state.

It's time to call this guy to account and see what he's got to say for himself.

-When was the last time you had any dialogue with your garden developer?

-A year ago.

Remind me again how much of your money he'd taken from you.

-5,500.

-Five and a half thousand pounds.

If you had the chance to speak to him now,

what would you like to say to him?

I'd like to say that he took a woman's trust

and he utilised it to his best ability.

And that he shouldn't be working as he is and advertising as he is.

So he can't do it to anybody else.

I'm going to give you an opportunity now

to put those questions and more to him. We have a phone number.

I'll just dial this number in, OK?

OK.

We're dialled.

NUMBER UNOBTAINABLE TONE

It says, "Number not in use".

And it won't go to speakerphone.

Now, that again tells me that there's every possibility

that this is a pay-as-you-go sim card

which doesn't mean anything to him

and they just discard it.

If they're offering you just a mobile phone, it's always dangerous. Always get a landline.

And always test that landline number

to make sure they are who they say they are.

They're taking your money, remember.

I've got a message for all you cowboy builders out there.

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

By revealing the tricks you cowboys use,

we'll stop everyone else from falling into your trap.

Coming up, I hope Suzette's garden of tranquillity

will be the garden of her dreams.

Wow!

-Da-da!

-How fantastic is that?

We're travelling back down to the south coast.

Three years ago, Richard Stotford bought a new-build with a 10-year builder guarantee

which has caused him nothing but stress.

He found a list of 89 defects and has spent years putting them right.

The latest of these is a cracked bathroom floor.

He's wondering how this could happen in a brand-new house.

Our good guys have been on the case, ripping up tiles and laying a proper base

to avoid any future tile traumas.

Steve, what have you found, problems-wise, under the old tiles?

I had a look and I noticed some cracks on the tiles.

I noticed they were roughly 600ml apart.

So I suspected, when we took them up,

the cracks were under the joints of the chipboard, which they were.

Where the joints are, that's the weakest point of the floor.

Any movement is going to be where the joints are.

So that moving in that area, that's where the tiles were cracking.

-Tell us how you treated it with that board on top.

-This is waterproof board.

-Also I've Uni-bonded it. PVA, white glue.

-Yep.

That will seal it off. It'll stop the adhesive going off too quickly.

It's a precaution, really, but we always do it.

That's really, really important.

If anybody's doing a job like this, you've got to do it.

What are we doing from here on in?

That has to go off first. Then I'll set the tiles out.

Work out the best way of doing them.

Try and get some nice even joints round, some even cuts.

Then we'll mix up some adhesive

-and start laying them.

-Tell you what,

Richard's had a really tough time of it lately.

I just want to put a smile back on his face.

Thanks so much. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to show him what you've done!

Cheers, Clive.

While the boys carry on the good work laying down tiles chosen by Richard,

I want to find out how he's left things with his developer.

What's your relationship like with the developer?

We haven't got one! The relationship is unbelievable!

I gave the developer a lot of grief, verbally on the phone, and through my lawyers.

I thought that was the end of it.

At 9.00 one evening, he knocked on my door, asked could he chat sensibly

and when he got the door opened, he threw me across the room.

-Unbelievable.

-And I said, "You ought to go". He said, "I'm not going."

So I said I'd get the police and have him taken out of my house. At that point, he left.

-Did you report that to the police?

-That was reported, he was cautioned the following day.

If he comes near the place, he'll be arrested.

That's the kind of man we're talking about.

Did he know your condition?

Yes, because he'd been written to by my lawyers

saying, "You've put a man who's touching 60 under a lot of pressure.

"You know he's not well, and you won't carry out your legal responsibilities."

You did the right thing by contacting the police.

Intimidation. This is another thing these cowards do.

It's total intimidation when the chips are down.

After Richard's ordeal with his problematic new home,

I'm hoping he'll be more prudent in the future.

Richard, with everything you've gone through, with this new-build property,

if you were to buy another new property,

what lessons have you learned from this purchase

to help with another one?

I'd say to the developer, "I'd like to buy your property, where's the reference?

"Are they happy with what you've done?" If he says no, I'd say, "I'm not looking at your properties."

Secondly, I'd actually be on site an hour before exchange of contracts.

-For what reason?

-To make sure what I'm buying really exists.

With no damage.

Richard's right.

Just because it's a new property built to current building regs...

There's certainly no damage to his bathroom now.

I can't wait to show Richard what our top team of tilers have been up to!

Before we take a look at their work,

what I want you to do is just remind me

what it was like before we arrived.

What was that floor like?

The first tile in off the carpet is cracked in the middle, literally.

You can put your finger in and find the crack.

Then a tile adjacent to that

was about to crack, or trying to crack, four tiles along.

So, Richard, what are you hoping for in terms of what our good guys have done?

A job that's far superior to the original job!

A proper, proper job.

-Yep.

-OK.

Are you ready to have a look?

-Go on. Try me.

-After you, sir.

-Richard, check out your brand new floor.

-Oh, my God!

-Oh, my God!

-What a difference!

-Absolutely!

-Somebody chose a very nice floor tile. Who was that?

Who do you think?

You! I think it was a great choice! It is so much better!

-Yep, absolutely.

-To be fair,

this is really fresh. But you'll notice there,

some of the grout is already going off

and you'll see it drying off and it'll blend in.

-Beautiful.

-Very nice.

The cracked and dented tiles have been ripped up.

And the chipboard has been strengthened with weatherproof boarding

to help prevent more movement and cracking.

Richard's chosen aquamarine tiles have created a calming bathroom

to be enjoyed once more.

-Are you happy?

-Absolutely! Can we do the rest of the house?

Come back next week and start again!

In Nottinghamshire, Suzette Harris's dreams of a relaxing oasis

to help her recuperate after chemo were left shattered

when rogue builders ravaged her garden.

Now our team of top builders are digging in!

I've got to say here, Peter, you have done an absolutely stunning job.

How long have you got left?

We have a few bits and pieces to finish off.

Some panelling to fix in and some planting to distribute on the site

and that's it, really.

Talking of the plantage, I love it. Loads of structure, good architecture.

It looks fantastic.

But also this is a nice little haven for her to come and enjoy.

We worked from, having spoken to her, we worked on the original brief

in that she wanted somewhere she could come and hide away, if you like,

not be overlooked,

perhaps a bit of meditation or just chilling out.

That's what we've tried to create.

We've concentrated on the steps in particular.

I know Mrs Harris spends a lot of time with her mother.

Her mother's never been able to utilise this part of the garden.

So we hope they'll both get quite a bit of enjoyment out of it.

I think they're going to love it. I can't wait for you to finish

and show her what you've done.

While the guys step up the work, I want to find out how this stressful situation

has affected Suzette.

How frustrating was it when things started to go wrong with this garden?

I was very depressed.

-Take me through those dark days.

-I was very depressed anyway, with going through the chemo.

You know, the actual treatment in itself.

And moving here from London

and moving away from friends and being here on my own

it was very depressing anyway.

Then coming back to see it all like it was,

it just made things like ten-fold.

-How did you feel yourself?

-I was distraught, crying, tearful.

I became agoraphobic, didn't want to go out of my house.

I had to go through the GP a lot. I was very depressed.

-You can't put a price on that, you know.

-No.

-You can put a price on wrecking your garden.

-Yes.

-But the emotional...

-..aspect, you can't.

-No.

What is your opinion of your landscaper now?

I think that people should know that there are people like him around

and that he's not capable of doing anything.

With my clairvoyancy, I believe what goes around, comes around.

Let's hope so. Let's hope that is the right karma.

The strain of the past five years has taken its toll on Suzette.

But I want to make sure she's now armed and ready for any other potential cowboys.

What do you think you've learned from having those guys here

that you could take forward to when you employ another tradesperson?

I'll check the qualifications, phone the house number, make sure it's valid. Check addresses.

-Full contract agreement.

-Full contract agreement, yep.

-No money up-front.

-No money up-front.

Don't hand over that final payment until you are 100% happy.

-Absolutely. Until you've bounced on the product!

-Yes! Exactly!

I'm loving that!

The wait is almost over for Suzette.

The good guys are done transforming this unsightly, unstable mess

into an area of meditation.

Remind me what it was like before we arrived.

A building rubble site.

Simple as that.

Now, are you excited about seeing what our good guys have done?

-Really am.

-Great. OK. Are you ready?

-Yes.

All right. Let's go.

Look, first of all, at the outside.

Wow!

What do you see?

A fantastic mirage! I feel like I'm back in the oasis somewhere!

Looks great, doesn't it?

-You've got a wonderful set of steps. Great for Mum, too.

-Brilliant.

-She'll love that.

-Hidden behind those wonderful screens,

is something else.

-Let's take a look.

-That's fantastic.

-You can walk up the steps!

-Yes, I can! They're not wobbly!

The wall's looking good.

-Follow me.

-Yes.

Wow!

-Da-da!

-How fantastic is that!

Yes, I can sit out here

and meditate!

-It looks the business!

-Absolutely! It's wonderful!

What do you notice that's so different?

Everything! Everything's different!

-The whole garden's beautiful.

-The structure of it.

It's sound, it's solid!

Everything's done the way I wanted it.

I'm loving the structure as well.

-The planting here is so architectural, it looks fantastic.

-It does.

Wonderful shapes, colours, everything.

Thanks to our good guys, it's an end to the building site.

With the unstable walls, the fallen fencing

and the sunken patio.

Suzette can now enter her garden of tranquillity

with easy-to-access steps up to a safely-secured screened-off area,

giving her the peace and quiet she needs.

Come and have a sit down right here.

-Take a seat.

-Absolutely beautiful.

Sit down and enjoy this wonderful tranquil place.

-Look at that for a sun trap!

-That's right on my face.

-Fantastic.

Wonderful!

Happy? Scale of one to ten?

A hundred!

-That's what we want!

-Thank you so much! Give you a big hug!

We've certainly given Suzette that tranquil space she'd longed for.

Remember, don't hand over that final payment

until you're 100% happy with the work that's been carried out.

That way, you won't end up falling in the cowboy trap!

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