Episode 24 Cowboy Trap

Across the country, cowboy builders are causing chaos.

They've truly messed up our lives with the way it's been.

I find it very stressful.

So watch out, they could be coming to a town near you.

I'm fed up with people ripping me off.

My team and I are going to be righting some of their wrongs.

Wow, that's smart.

And I'll pass on my hints and tips in the hope it will prevent you from falling into the Cowboy Trap.

Today we're travelling from Yorkshire to Edinburgh.

We're meeting homeowners who hoped calling in the builders would make

life better, but they found out that bad things happen when builders can't be bothered to finish the job.

There's a kitchen crisis when guys who actually worked in a warehouse posed as professional fitters.

I don't know how people sleep at night, me, and I don't know

how people could work for them, to be honest.

And we're meeting a retired couple who wanted to extend their two-bed flat to allow extra mobility,

but at the end of the job the builder retired, leaving them with a wet-room washout and a rubbish ramp.

And then it turned into, you know, you keep the money and get somebody else to do it.

First we're heading to Normanton in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

Single mum Donna McAlpine suffers from severe arthritis.

When she was told she would eventually need to use a wheelchair,

she decided she had better save up for a new kitchen, which would be easier to use.

I just wanted a big kitchen so I could get about

because the health visitor has given me a wheelchair,

and I needed to get about more easier to get to things.

Donna saw just the kitchen she liked advertised in her local paper, and then she started saving.

The new kitchen would make life so much easier.

I wanted big handles, to be honest with you, so I could get into things, because my hands seize up.

I wanted a proper lever tap

because I can't twist, because of my arthritis.

It's a shame Donna didn't check the reputation of this kitchen company first.

Fast forward two years of saving, this is the kitchen and half the

doors are missing, that's definitely not what the brochure promised.

I saw the brochures and I thought it looks really nice, like, so I started to save up.

I rung them up and then a chap came out to see me, and he did the plans of the kitchen.

He was going through things for me

and he seemed like a right nice chap.

The company doesn't usually install kitchens, it only supplies,

but the silver-tongued salesman said he could arrange fitters.

The salesman was full of surprises, he told Donna when her kitchen was

delivered she should pay the van driver in cash.

Friend Liz was worried.

She had to pay up front.

And my partner told her that when you were in business

you had your own float of money and this paying up front was

a bad idea, really. But she said that's what it says, so that's what she did, she paid him up front.

Sadly, Donna ignored her friend's advice.

Take a tip from me...

Then you'll have the proof of how much you've paid.

The credit card company must pay you back if you don't receive the goods.

When the delivery van arrived, Donna was excited

but her joy quickly turned to dismay when she saw the clumsy kitchen company delivery guy in action.

My son gave him a hand with it because he was just dropping it on the floor, all the boxes were open.

The sink weren't even in a box, it was just all scratched. I said, "Is that a new sink?" He says, "Yes."

I said, "What about all the scratches on it then?"

He goes, "Oh, it'll get scratched anyway."

That's what he said, I couldn't believe it.

But still Donna handed over her cash.

The van driver phoned the fitters to get them over. Meanwhile, Donna checked through the delivery.

It's not the splashback I wanted, even the worktop's the wrong worktop.

It's the wrong cupboards, the wrong coloured cupboards, it's not the right sink

and it's not the right appliances I asked for.

The fitters arrived the very next day and Donna doled out the rest of her savings in cash up front.

After two days of chaos, the crazy kitchen fitters did a bunk, never to be seen again.

Donna's dream was dashed.

He never even sealed the sink,

so all the water's gone underneath and bevelled all the top.

Underneath has been leaking. He said, "Get some putty

"and patch it with putty."

Donna paid £5,000 in cash - £3,000 for the kitchen and £2,000 to the fitters.

Donna has been left with a kitchen with missing doors.

There's a lunatic layout with the cold fridge freezer

next to the roasting cooker, dangerous electrics, a shoddy sink, and the wrong appliances.

The fitters didn't care less once they got their hands on

Donna's cash. In fact, they didn't seem professional at all.

All my window sill's smashed where he's just hit it with a sledgehammer.

The pair of them were just laughing about it.

Donna saved up for two years for the kitchen which would make life easier.

Now she wishes she'd checked the company's reputation before she ordered.

I'm fed up with people ripping me off.

Donna had saved hard for several years in order to have her dream

kitchen but after spending thousands of pounds, all she was left with was a room barely fit for purpose.

Time for me to meet her and find out exactly what went wrong.

-Hiya.

-Hi, are you Donna?

-Yes.

I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap. I hear you've had problems

with cowboy builders in terms of kitchen fitters on this occasion. Do you want to show me the damage?

-I'll show you.

-Come on, let's have a look.

Come on in.

Something already out of line straight away, this little baby here,

and it does look pretty much...

Generally a mess. Tell me what the problems are that you've noticed.

Everything's a mess. The cupboards are not straight, they're all different angles, nothing fits.

It's just falling apart, basically.

-Just looking around, obviously you've got sockets and different things that are missing.

-Yes.

In terms of this sink, it doesn't look like it's seated properly.

I know. It leaks, I can't use it.

-He told me I've got to use putty, like a new putty's come out, to seal it.

-Yes, right(!)

I mean, that is a complete mess.

Loads of problems over this side, what about problems over there?

-A lot of problems over this side as well.

-With?

With the cupboards not been on straight and the hob lifts up.

-Does it?

-Yes.

Let's take a look.

Again, you've got cables that are sticking out all over the place.

-That should never be happening.

-All live wires.

-So all of this actually lifts up, yes?

-Yes, it just lifts up.

No, that can't be right.

Do you know what though, there is a bonus and that is, if you can never

get that drawer open, you can get your cutlery from under your hob!

-I mean, how hideous is that?

-I know.

-And dangerous.

-It is dangerous.

I'd be worried that there's any certification for that.

These guys, minimum, should be Part P registered to do any

-electrical work and I bet he never showed you anything.

-No, he didn't.

It's a real, real worry, that is.

And that refrigerator door,

it rubs up against that one there and it gets that hot.

It gets really hot, does that.

There's no way a fridge freezer should be near to your oven because when your oven gets up to

temperature, all the time your fridge and your freezer are overdriving,

it's working constantly.

We've looked at dangerous things in terms of your kitchen, but I'm

now worried about food hygiene and making sure that gets sorted.

So you're going to need to address that.

In the short space of time we've got, what would you like us to do for you?

I just don't want...

SHE SOBS

I just don't want you spending your money on me.

We've come here to help,

and that is exactly what we're going to do. You've had a rough time.

You've had a real rough time of it.

We're not going to allow that to happen anymore, OK?

We're here to the rescue so dry your eyes, all right? Put a smile back on your face,

and we'll try and put this whole thing right for you.

-How's that?

-I hope so.

That kitchen is a disgrace.

Donna and her family shouldn't have to live like that, but I know how to put it right.

It's time to bring on the good guys.

Coming up... An independent chartered surveyor

says Donna could be in for a nasty shock from the dangerous electrics.

The plumbing that's been installed hasn't been earth bonded,

which means there is a risk of an electric shock.

We're travelling north now to Scotland, to try and help some more homeowners.

We're in Dalkeith just outside Edinburgh to meet Liz and Mike Mills

who wanted an extension to their ground floor flat.

We have an area outside that we don't use really,

it's had a small patio and a path,

and we don't use it because we're not sun worshippers, as such.

So I said, "I wonder if we could do an extension right across the back of the flat."

Liz and Mike wanted to extend and adapt their modest two-bed ground

floor flat in this small modern block.

Liz has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis,

they hoped more space and a wet room would make life easier.

We have a two-bedroom flat, basically, and one bathroom.

For a start, I needed more space, I also needed a second loo, that was extremely important,

and I wanted a wet room because I can't climb in and out of baths,

having been diagnosed with arthritis.

Getting a wet room was the obvious thing to do, where

you are on one level, where you have a surface which is nonslip, and where

one could have a shower without worrying about where the water was going.

So that was the importance of it, and of course what it means is that

she can walk into it and she can walk out of it.

Liz was told she may have to use a wheelchair soon, so they decided to

ask the builder to build an outside ramp into the flat.

We decided we'd have a ramp put there because, although things have improved in certain ways,

I don't know that I won't one day need that wheelchair, so we decided to go for a ramp.

I find steps very difficult to walk up.

Daughter Cath offered to help find a builder.

She'd heard of a guy who'd done a lot of work in the area and earned himself a good reputation.

This builder is somebody that had built about four or five different

conservatories in the estate, so I had

known him very, very well from the conservatory aspect of things, and had gone along and various friends

of mine had got conservatories built and they all seemed to go very well.

The Mills were in a hurry. In their rush, they'd made a common mistake.

Just because a builder is skilled at conservatories doesn't mean he'll be the right choice

for a new extension, but he promised he could get the job done by Christmas.

It was September-ish when they started

and because we wanted it by Christmas, they were trying to get it done quickly for us.

The work got off to a good start and the Mills were impressed with their builder.

Everything looked good and towards the end of November,

it did look as though they would actually complete in time.

The job went well right up until the end,

but then Mike noticed the floor in the wet room didn't look right.

It was obvious to me that water was not going to necessarily flow the way it should do.

I suggested to them that we should get the levels right at the time, but I was actually told that wasn't

a problem because the person who was going to come and actually do the floor would level it all out.

The guy came to do the floor and he put the membrane in and I said,

"What about getting the levels right?" He said, "That's not my job."

So obviously the levels should have been done prior to his arrival.

It's common for tradespeople to blame each other for mistakes but take a tip from me.

For big projects that may require several different contractors...

The Mills' job looked good when the builder left, but when they came to

use the wet room, Mike realised he had been right about the floor.

The floor doesn't drain properly, so what it means is, whenever the shower

is being used, we've got puddling taking place on the floor itself

and also around some of the edges.

It's on some of the edges particularly that we're

very concerned about water seepage under the floorboards.

The pooling water isn't just causing damage, Liz worries it may prove dangerous.

I'm not very steady on my feet anyway,

and if I would slip, as I did once before in a shower

where I did bruise myself quite badly round and about.

I'm quite scared now of a damp floor,

certainly one that has the water lying in it.

Liz and Mike's builder quoted £37,500.

They paid £34,000 before the floor problem came to light.

Then they realised the ramp had been bodged too

and that would have to be rebuilt.

Overall it was a good job but in the builder's eagerness to finish

so he could sell his business, he neglected the finer details.

He promised the floor would be fixed but no-one ever came back.

Really our lives have been held back by it.

We haven't been able to get on with our lives

and plan things and do what we want.

Daughter Cath has been very supportive

but she's been very worried by the effect this has had on Mum and Dad.

My mum has been extremely distressed by it

because this affects her life on a daily basis.

So between the two of them, Dad's been supporting Mum but it's been very hard for the two of them.

It's two years now since the builder left.

He told them to keep the final £3,500 and sort out all the problems themselves.

Looking at initially the wonderful creaky floor

that we've been bequeathed here, OK?

I don't know whether you can hear this.

This has been going on... LOUD CREAKING

So it's almost certain that we've got water getting in under there

and this is going to lead to an expensive

repair in the future when everything begins to rot.

Anyway, as far as the shower room is concerned,

we have a lot of puddling and so on which takes place.

Down here we've got puddling, there's water down there, water over there,

but not only that, this sealant under here, which there's gaps in already,

so every time a shower is taken here,

immediately there must be water going under the floor there.

Then of course we have our lovely window here, which has got all these little white marks in it.

That window was put in and we were promised the day after it was put in

that it would be changed for one which didn't have marks in it.

Liz and Mike wanted an extension to make the most of their home but their builder badly let them down.

Time for me to meet them and find out more.

You must

be

-Liz and Mike.

-Yes.

Hello, I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap.

Now I hear you've had problems with cowboy builders.

-Yes.

-Would you mind telling me the story?

-Come on in.

-Great, let's

go and have a chat.

It's time to sit down with Liz and Mike and find out about all the problems with the wetroom.

The floor is not properly graded or whatever they call it.

So they hadn't put the gradient in and tanked it out properly.

Yes, so therefore the water would not flow away so we had a lot of puddles.

Also the water had seeped under the floorboards so the bits was

going into the wetroom would squeak and it was warped again.

OK so there's a lot going wrong in that wetroom, you're right, and they didn't know what they were doing.

I can't believe the Mills' builder suggested they got someone else in to finish his job.

No wonder they need us to call in the good guys,

getting the job done is crucial with Liz losing her mobility.

What could we do that would help you get to that next stage

and start to get this whole cowboy build fiasco well and truly behind you, what could we do for you?

The wetroom is the key because paddling at midnight is not such fun.

No. We're delighted to come and help.

The new extension was supposed to make life easier for Liz and Mike but it's left them feeling more

stressed than secure and Liz really needs that wetroom so she can shower in safety.

It's time to bring on the good guys and get it sorted.

This may look like a small problem but it's a big job for our guys to put right.

We'll have to re-level the entire floor so all the water drains away as it should.

Coming up; we discover Mike's builder is enjoying his retirement after making theirs a misery.

In this case, your bad builder has actually gone to Thailand.

We're back to Wakefield, Yorkshire, now.

Donna McAlpine saved up for two years to remodel her kitchen to help manage her arthritis.

She paid out £five, 000 in cash to a company she wishes she'd never heard of.

She's been left with missing cupboard doors, dangerous electrics, a shoddy sink, and a lunatic layout.

We're standing by to step in and right the wrongs, but first

I want to see how an independent chartered surveyor rates the work.

The obvious thing is that it's unfinished.

The second thing is that the quality of the bits that have been completed is rather poor.

The units are built in areas, they're not level.

There are certain minimal risks in terms of the electrical installation because the plumbing that has been

installed hasn't been earth banded which means there is a risk of electric shock, albeit a low one.

Given the electrical installation is incomplete, the plumbing requires

redoing, the quality of workmanship I would give four out of ten.

four out of ten? This builder is definitely cooking up trouble.

Our good guys will have to show real skill and ingenuity to save these badly butchered units.

Andy is leading the team today and fortunately he has a plan.

We're going to replace the bottom units and repair them so it'll look all nice.

These are all going to be cream so it'll give it a bit of a retro feel.

The other problem we've got with this is the oven housing and the

fridge are a bit too close together, so what we're going to do is take this packer out and move

them over so we've got a packer in between so this doesn't get too hot.

We're going to tile it all anyway.

What we were thinking about doing is replacing all of the sockets

with new faces so when it's all done it will look nice.

While we're doing that we're going to check all the sockets and make sure they're all OK for using.

While Andy and the guys get stuck in fixing all the problems, I want to sit down with Donna.

I want to know how this half-baked kitchen went wrong, even before it was installed.

When the guy come and delivered the kitchen,

this delivery driver, he weren't in no uniform or anything like that.

He just come in a white box van

and he were dropping it out left, right, and centre outside,

dropping it, and my son Steven said do you want any help with that, mate.

He said no I'm all right.

Well, Steven seen the way he were handling the goods and it was getting

scratched and knocked about outside so he decided to help him.

So there was no care taken in offloading?

No, there were no care taken unloading.

He brought it in and half of it were

unpacked, the sink were even sealed up with a thing on it.

I said are you going to check this kitchen before you go and he said I'm in a bit of a rush so I can't check

the kitchen for you but you can guarantee half of it won't be there anyway because it never is.

-This is the delivery driver?

-The delivery driver.

But did he check your delivery list of what you wanted compared to what he actually had delivered?

No. No he didn't.

So nobody would have known whether you were short anyway, well apart from the delivery driver who

-obviously realises that everywhere he delivers across the country that all the bits are never there?

-Yes.

A delivery driver should have the delivery sheet and he should be able to tick exactly everything he's got.

Well, he didn't, he didn't do that.

Too busy to get away, he was hurrying to get away.

Of course he's in a hurry to get away because he doesn't want you to check it. But if you don't check you

can then end up being culpable for not checking the delivery.

Successful deliveries are a huge challenge for any company so always check your deliveries.

You expect goods to arrive on time, the company has to be sure its stock is accounted for.

If you believe valuable items are missing, phone the company while the driver waits.

Donna paid cash on delivery and she was about to fall into another trap, the deliveryman arranged the fitters

but she discovered too late their real job was working in the delivery warehouse.

They fitted kitchens for cash at weekends.

How did you find out that these guys weren't proper kitchen fitters?

Well, after about the twentieth phone call, I rang them up and I spoke to

somebody else in the customer services and she were a right nice laugh actually. I said to her

I've been waiting for these cupboard doors and waiting for this and waiting for that.

I said how would you feel if it was you and she said I wouldn't be happy either.

She said I can tell you now that they're warehouse workers.

I said they're not kitchen fitters then and she said no.

She said I don't know how they got hold of your plans, Mrs McAlpine,

for doing it but they are not kitchen fitters, they're just warehouse workers.

And how did you feel, what was your reaction?

I was gutted with it for

the simple reason is they

didn't know what they were doing and they made out, because they didn't tell me they weren't kitchen fitters.

They didn't tell me they just worked in a warehouse.

I had the impression that they'd sent them, they're the kitchen fitters at the end of the day.

I didn't know they were warehouse workers.

An absolute total scam really.

Yes. I were totally gutted.

Donna spent fruitless hours on the phone

arguing with the company, her phone bills have gone through the roof.

Now it's our turn to turn up the heat on these kitchen cowboys.

If I was to say to you, Donna, you've got a chance to speak to

them on the phone right now, would you take that opportunity or do you want me to do it?

I'd rather you do it.

OK. So what we're going to do is make the call and see where it gets us. Here we go.

Hello, it's Clive Holland here, is there any chance I could speak to

management regarding some work that's been carried out in Normanton? Great, thank you.

This company doesn't seem to care about customers once they've got their hands on their cash.

We're on hold for 20 minutes and they still don't have any answers.

Because it really is a disgrace the way these units have been fitted,

the fact that there are lots of parts missing still.

Now this is costing her a fortune on the phone so what I'm going to do is leave it in your capable hands and

I'm trusting you to sort this for me and get back to us as soon as possible.

I'd really appreciate that.

Hopefully we'll start to get some results.

It took four more calls before the doors were finally delivered 12 weeks after the bogus fitters left.

The company said they'd send them back to fix their mistakes but Donna sensibly declined.

Coming up; I can't wait to show Donna her remodelled, professionally installed kitchen.

It's fantastic,

-I love it.

-We're back in Edinburgh now.

Liz and Mike Mills decided to extend and adapt their two-bed

ground floor flat to help Liz manage her osteoarthritis.

The new extension went well untill the finishing stages

when the wetroom floor turned out to be a washout and the new wheelchair ramp was, well, frankly rubbish.

Building control say it has to be demolished and rebuilt.

As far as the ramp was concerned, he took a...

there's a requirement to have railings if the drop off

the ramp

is greater than a certain height.

Naively we had assumed that if somebody's putting in a ramp, they know that you wouldn't put in a ramp

unless there was a lack of mobility tucked away somewhere or another, that from a safety point of view

they would have quoted for the rails at the same time as they quoted for

the ramp, but they didn't do that.

Fortunately Liz doesn't yet need a wheelchair

so the immediate priority for out team is putting right the wetroom floor so she can use it safely.

Before out team get to work, I want an independent chartered surveyor to give us a score for the job.

Some of the workmanship in the extension is of a

good quality, an acceptable quality, however there are some items that are positively unsatisfactory.

The workmanship for the external ramp is very poor, it does not meet with

current legislation and requires to be removed in total and rebuilt.

The wetroom, the standard of tiling is good, however the standard of

finish for the flooring where the seal of the floor, is very poor.

The drain for the wetroom should have the floor falling towards the drain.

This is not the standard that we see here and there's water puddling on it, which will always be a problem.

I have to be fair here and the marks out of ten would be five

because some of the workmanship is of a good quality

but the defects that we see, I would just have to give it a five.

five out of ten?

The builder was out of his depth when it came to the floor and the outside ramp.

Fortunately we've got the good guys in now.

Kevin is leading our team today.

Initially we're going to take out the basin, take out the toilet, we're going to lift the floor,

we're going to pour a new concrete floor with a grading that's going to run to the drain.

There's a new double-glazed unit going in the window and then

once the concrete's dry there's going to be a new vinyl floor going in.

Liz and Mike's builder quoted £37,500 for the extension.

They paid him nearly £18,000 before he lifted a single brick, I want to fine out why.

-So work starts the beginning of October, did he ask you for any money up front?

-Yes, 50%.

That's a massive chunk.

Half of the figure upfront.

Did you actually question in your head, why half upfront before anything's done.

No, we presumed that was mobilisation.

Now the big problem of course is...

by giving them that money, there's every possibility you may well have never seen them again,

and this happens, believe me.

I've been in those situations where I've met people

that have handed over deposits nowhere near as large as that.

Normally I hear about £5,000 upfront and £10,000 upfront. Half...

Half that money up front is a lot of money.

Yes, I understand where you're coming from.

If these guys are bona fide businesses and have been rolling for a while, they'll have cash flow.

If they haven't, they're in trouble.

They'll also have accounts with builders merchants and suppliers.

A majority of those builders merchants and suppliers

will have them on a 30-day turnaround, so therefore they'll go

and buy the product for this particular job and all the supplies

and they won't have to pay for them for 30 days.

They are quite literally laughing all the way to the bank,

taking half that figure upfront before you've even seen their work.

When Liz and Mike agreed to pay so much money upfront they fell into a common trap.

You don't pay for a meal in a restaurant before you eat it

so don't pay your builder before they start, either.

Instead, sign a contract with a scheduled series of staged payments.

Only pay after each specified stage of the work is complete.

Hold back a modest retainer at the end for snagging,

which, fortunately, Liz and Mike did do.

Liz and Mike held back £3,500.

Their builder told them to keep the money and hire someone else to fix HIS problems.

He had other things on his mind, like putting his feet up and taking a nice long rest.

Now, Mike, at this stage normally we phone the builder, or attempt to phone the builder,

but in this case your bad builder has actually gone to Thailand.

We did manage to track him down, so just briefly, I've got a few of his answers here.

He said he realises there were problems with the wetroom

and he tried to put these right,

but it says here "the Mills wouldn't let the contractors back in the property,

"even though he realises that they weren't up to standard either.

And then he said you can keep the rest of the money,

around £3,300 and get the job done for yourself.

Is what he's saying there fact, you wouldn't let these guys back on the premises?

No. the only possible reason for that might be that he wanted to come on a day we weren't here.

-Right, OK.

-That's the only reason. Other than that, we wanted the job completed.

He's also questioning as well that the problems that were brought up by Building Control

were sort of blown out of proportion, he doesn't think it's as bad as they're saying it is.

I'm not an expert. I have to go with what Building Control requires here.

Exactly, and that is the absolute minimum -

you've got to go with what Building Control request.

So he can argue till he's blue in the face, if they don't pass this off

and give you a completion certificate then it's because it's been done incorrectly.

Liz and Mike were disappointed when the builder failed to finish the job,

the problems overshadowed the bits of the build that went well.

Coming up, I hope Liz and Mike will be wowed by their new wetroom.

Wow, that's smart.

We're back in Normanton, Wakefield, now.

Donna McAlpine wanted to remodel her kitchen to cope with her arthritis, but her cowboy kitchen company

sent half a kitchen and the bogus fitters, who actually worked in a warehouse, messed up the rest.

Best friend Liz and son Michael say the whole episode has really upset Donna.

It's upset her, she's not happy with it.

She just wants it sorted really and done right.

I think it's affected her bad to be honest,

I've seen her cry about it and stuff.

Hopefully there'll be no more tears now.

Our good guys are in cooking up a safe, simple-to-use, fully fitted kitchen.

Tell us what you have done and what you're about to do.

Right. What we've done is replace the wall units and the two tower units,

one of them's the oven housing and one's the fridge unit.

We've done them in cream to give it a retro look

because we couldn't get the same units as what they had before.

Well, I love it, actually, so whether it's been by design or by luck, really, it looks great.

I hope she's going to be happy with it.

What we've got to finish off is the cornice, plinth, pelmet, and we're about an hour away.

About an hour away, brilliant.

I can't wait to show Donna what you've done,

-I'm sure she's going to love it, but for now, mate, thanks very much.

-Cheers.

So while Andy adds the finishing touches

I want to find out what Donna has learned from this kitchen chaos.

What lessons have you learned

from having a cowboy trades company in your property?

Well, me personally, I'd look into it more.

Definitely look into it and find out if anybody's had jobs done

by the company I'm looking at,

and have a look at it to make sure it's to my satisfaction and see if it's been done correctly.

I'm liking that, research is crucial.

Even if you're looking on the internet, you'll find if there's problems with these companies, OK.

But remembering about finance, no paying money upfront and that sort of thing.

-No, I'm not going to do that no more.

-Good.

If they say they want money up front next time, I'll say not to bother, just leave it,

I'll find somewhere else.

Well done. You see I'm liking that attitude already. Fantastic.

-Yes, good.

-Now what was this kitchen like before we arrived?

Pfft, a disaster. Everything was a disaster.

Cupboards weren't on straight, it was bodged up,

all wiring weren't done correctly, the sink weren't sealed,

there were leaking underneath the sink, the cooker hob weren't fixed down properly,

it was all bare wires showing underneath and you could pick it up.

It were just everything, I could go on forever.

Forever, in fact it'd be easier to say what was good.

-Nothing were good.

-I don't think it was, I think you're right there.

Well, I tell you what, the good guys have been in. I'm about to show you what they've done.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Are you sure?

Come on, let's have a look.

-Come on, Donna, come and feast your eyes on this, missus.

-God.

We'll just shut the door.

It's fantastic, I love it.

That's what it should have been like.

-That's beautiful.

-It is, beautiful.

I'm loving the retro look that Andy's done.

-They've really made a lovely job of it.

-These cabinets are nice and straight.

-Yes, they are.

-Lovely worktop.

Yes, it's all been sealed properly, there's no gaps.

Everything is looking beautiful.

Your sink...

-in situ properly now.

-Right.

-Your hob, do you remember what that was like?

-Oh, yes, I remember that.

The other thing as well, your actual fridge door shuts properly now so it's sealed.

-Yes, I'm not getting no heat in the fridge like I were before.

-Exactly.

-Yes.

-So all of that is done.

-It just looks completely blooming different, doesn't it?

-Oh, it does, yes, it's beautiful.

Donna's crazy kitchen catastrophe is almost behind her now.

She was delivered half a kitchen and the bogus fitters butchered the rest.

We've cleverly adapted the good units and added contrasting doors to the ones above.

Underneath is finished off with a smart tiled splashback.

We've made the electrics safe and refitted the hob and the sink.

Finally, we've increased the gap between the fridge freezer and double oven

to maintain a safe temperature for the chilled food.

At last Donna has the fully functioning kitchen she spent two years saving up for.

-Are you chuffed?

-Yes, I am.

-Are you liking that?

-Yes.

Does that make you much happier now?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Good. I'm glad!

We're finishing up back in Edinburgh now.

Liz and Mike's builder left them with a rubbish ramp and a washout of a wetroom.

Our team had to completely relay the floor to achieve

the correct gradients for the water to drain away safely as it should.

When it's done, Liz should be able to shower, confident she won't slip.

Finally they can put this bodged job behind them.

When you're sitting in there and you're looking out,

you're looking at the ramp and you're looking at the wetroom,

how are you feeling?

It's been stressful, hasn't it...

-You do see her in tears quite often.

-..that it's not been completed.

I've been told they were going to come and they never did.

So that in itself is stressful.

I like somebody to be upfront.

As far as the extension is concerned, until such time as it's been sorted out

we can't actually relax, knowing that, OK ,it's done, because we just never know.

We knew there was going to be upheaval to get things fixed so we're constantly waiting for

the upheaval, so there's nothing we can do of a permanent nature until the problem's been sorted.

The wait is over but before I show Liz and Mike what our good guys are capable of,

'I wonder what they've learned from the whole experience.'

I want to know what it is that you've learned from having

a cowboy builder in your property and what you'd do differently next time.

So whether it was a builder, electrician, plumber,

any of the trades really, what would you do differently, Liz?

I'd look into the backgrounds of them, do some research on their previous work.

The more haste, less speed of trying to get the job done very quickly is counterproductive.

With Liz's situation, I understand you needed that,

getting it done quickly, but I also agree with exactly what you've said.

If you can just pace yourself a little bit

and do all your research factors first, and that way you won't end up falling in the trap again.

I know by looking at you guys and talking to you that I don't think you will anyway,

I think you'll be far more savvy this time around and more switched on.

Now before I show you what the good guys have done, just tell me what the problems were in that wetroom,

especially for you, Liz, because I know there was a big problem.

Well, the floor was not properly graded, so there were lots of puddles and lumps and bumps in it.

And of course you had the problem with that window and everything else, didn't you, before.

Yes, the windowpanes, which had always been promised for an exchange,

it had white marks in it in the gaps.

So hopefully we've done that exchange and we'll soon find out.

OK, so are you ready to come take a look with me?

-I definitely am.

-Yes, please.

-Let's go. Liz, you come first with me, in you go.

Wow, isn't that smart? I love it.

-Do you like that?

-Yes, very smart.

Now then, what a difference.

-What a difference.

-The whole floor has been regraded so that the water

now will wick away to that drain, so you won't get pools of water all over the place.

That window you were talking about, Mike.

Yes, no white marks there.

No white marks in it at all, and where you had the leak problem here that was causing grief

-to the timbers underneath, that's all been sealed away too.

-They've sealed that as well.

-This is now an area that, Liz, it's so important for me, that you can use safely.

-Yes.

That you can come in and have peace of mind. I think it's critical.

Liz and Mike's builder didn't finish the job - it's a common complaint.

The water on the wetroom floor didn't drain.

It was a danger for Liz and damaging to their home.

We've relevelled the entire floor so the water flows away just as it should.

There'll be no risk of slipping and sliding in here with this safe new floor covering.

Mike's bugbear has been fixed, too, with new glass in the double-glazed unit,

no trace of the marks which were a daily reminder of all the problems.

So, how are you feeling, what are your thoughts now, Liz?

Oh, fantastic, thank you.

-What about you, Mike?

-Can we have a list of your builders please?

Of course, they're out there.

This is the thing...

Ahhh!

Come on, young Liz, come on, give us a hug, give us a hug.

-You'll be happier now.

-Tears of joy. Thank you.

Tears of joy, that's what we want. It's a pleasure, really.

Thank you very much indeed.

You're lovely, give her a hug.

-It's been nice.

-Thank you very much.

-It's a pleasure.

-You're allowed lots of hugs

You know, a safe wetroom will really help put Liz and Mike's worries behind them,

and Liz can put her best foot forward while we've got those cowboy builders on their toes.

But remember, if you want a job doing right, please make sure your builders

have got the right experience for the job, and that way you won't go falling into the Cowboy Trap.

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