Episode 36 Cowboy Trap

We're searching the country for the worst building disasters in Britain.

But now, after everything's been unearthed,

we now find that we're living in a death trap.

Cowboy builders are causing disaster and devastation

and they could be coming to a town near you.

It's just a whole range of emotions, really.

You're devastated, you're angry, you feel so stupid.

But never fear. We've got a team of good guys on standby

to repair these botched builds.

We're so grateful. You've saved my children's lives, basically.

I'm going to pass on all my hints and tips

in the hope that it will prevent you from falling into the cowboy trap.

'On today's Cowboy Trap, we're travelling from Middlesex to Suffolk.

'We're meeting homeowners who made the same mistake.

'They hired builders to do work on gas and electrics

'who weren't qualified and put their lives in danger.

'In Ashford, we discover a serious gas leak

'after the builders illegally moved the meter,

'which put this family's lives at risk.'

There's a massive danger element here

and it's put my family at risk.

It's left me feeling sick. My stomach's in knots over it.

'And when the builder who came to fit windows messed about with the wiring,

'he left a serious risk of electric shock for this woman.'

He had put wires underneath concrete

and behind plasterboard

that weren't covered as they should have been

and it was illegal and very dangerous.

'First up, we're heading off to help a young family

'who decided they needed a brand new kitchen extension.'

We're in Middlesex to meet Graham Mercer and Fay Lee Chiltern

who wanted an extension to their property to create more space for their young family.

The dream was for us to make a bit of a run-down house into a family home.

'Fay Lee and Graham have two very young children, Roman and Kai,

'and Graham's 13-year-old daughter Hannah stays at weekends.

'Their house is small, just two bedrooms,

'so they decided to build a new kitchen extension

'and downstairs loo to create more space.'

It was just having the garden done, the extension, the kitchen made bigger,

and the driveway sorted out, and a downstairs toilet. And there was an old boiler outside, as well.

'Fay Lee and Graham got some builders in to quote,

'but their estimates were for more than the couple could afford.

'But they were about to get a much lower quote.'

Fay Lee's cousin, Linda, recommended a friend's partner, a local builder, to do the job.

So they got him in for a quote.

He came round to give us a quote and it was virtually half the price

of what other builders were quoting.

So, being a family friend, we thought we'd use him.

'The couple made a classic mistake.

'They liked the price, but didn't question where the corners would be cut.

'Take a tip from me...'

'You'll see what you're really getting for your money.'

'Will he be using cheaper materials or spending less time on the job?

'Fay Lee and Graham thought they'd be in safe hands with a family friend.

'His first job was to install a new boiler.'

He came and he started in the October and put the boiler in,

because we had no heating in the house,

which was great, the heating was working fine

and with the winter coming, it was good that we had a warm house for our children.

'Once the new gas boiler was installed,

'there was a halt to the work as a very harsh winter set in.

'But in the new year, the new extension quickly took shape.'

Things looked as if they were really coming along.

The walls were going up and the cement flooring was put in

and it was like, "This is brilliant, it's starting to look like a proper extension."

'With the main build done, the couple agreed to pay in cash.

'There were lots of bits to finish, but as soon as the money was handed over, the builder vanished.'

You know, phoning him and him saying he was going to come and then he wouldn't.

That was when it really did start to sort of sink in, "Hang on a minute, something's not right here.

"He's had the money..."

'Graham finally got sick of being fobbed off

'and went round to confront the builder.

'He didn't like what he heard.'

He'd had enough. He really didn't want to work.

He said to me that he was £800 in debt for our job,

that he wasn't earning any money

and the reason for this is the price of materials had gone through the roof.

'Fay Lee and Graham paid the builder £16,500 in cash.

'They were left with sloppy standards and a half-finished toilet.

'But even more worryingly, there were bare wires poking out everywhere,

'and they discovered the boiler is dangerous.'

The boiler, we've been told, is dangerous.

He's left live wires underneath the kitchen

and, obviously, with children... Not only children, myself, as well,

I could've touched that at any time.

'I can't believe this couple's builder took their money and deserted them,

'leaving their home with unsafe electrics and a dangerous boiler.

'Let's see what they got for their money.'

That's a bit of a concern, the wires under there.

I'm not an expert, but that doesn't look really good to me.

So, yeah, exposed wires.

There's all gaps and stuff round the plug sockets. It's just clearly not finished at all.

'I don't like the look of these electrics.'

This is where the electrics have been moved.

There was an outhouse that was knocked down and they've moved the electrics to here, on this wall.

It looks like they put it on some ply board.

And this is where the toilet and sink are supposed to be for downstairs.

'The boiler installation also looks really dangerous.'

On this side, we've got the boiler that's been moved from the outhouse, that's been fitted here.

The problem is that it's combustible material, so you've got flame and gas and now wood here.

So we're extremely worried for fire and stuff like that.

Graham and Fay Lee's dreams of a bigger home for their children

turned into their worst nightmare when their builder abandoned the job,

leaving them and their young kids in danger.

I think it's time for me to meet them.

-Hello, there. You must be Graham. I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap. How are you?

-Please to meet you.

-Do you mind if I come in and have a chat?

-Absolutely, come in.

-Brilliant.

'Our first priority here is to make this young family safe.

'You can't mess with gas and electrics. Lives could be at risk.'

The safety element is paramount.

If it's safe, then I'm happy, and that's it.

Well, you charge me with that, OK,

and I'll make sure that is done for you.

Graham and Fay Lee desperately need their gas and electrics fixed

so their whole family can be safe once again.

I think it's time to bring on the good guys.

'Safety is top of our list.

'We'll do a pressure drop test on the gas and test all the electric circuits.

'That boiler needs urgent attention, too.

'Coming up, we discover the family is in real danger. There is a life and death gas emergency.'

After everything's been unearthed, we now find that we're living in a death trap.

'Next up, we're racing off to help another homeowner in East Anglia.'

We're near Newmarket in Suffolk to meet Karen Steel,

who wanted a conservatory to give extra room to her two-bed bungalow.

'Karen has a very busy job as a youth support worker.

'She bought this small bungalow nine years ago. Five years later, she decided to remortgage

'so she could build a large conservatory leading onto the garden.'

I like to do my garden. It's just nice if you can sit out

and enjoy, especially in the evenings,

and just have that bit of extra space, really.

'Karen got some quotes for a basic conservatory

'and along the way, she heard about another builder who sounded like he could do something better.'

Karen believed her conservatory would be in safe hands

because her builder came highly recommended by a friend.

The builder was my friend's partner's brother

that she recommended and said that he was working on his own and doing brickwork.

'Karen hired him to lay the foundations and do the brickwork.

'He introduced another builder to install all the framework and windows.'

They came round, talked to me about what I wanted,

sizes, how I wanted it to be,

and then went away, put together a little booklet, really,

of printouts and things, of measurements and how it would look.

'The conservatory was taking shape. On paper, at least.

'But now the plans were more elaborate than a basic structure

'and the cost was going up, too.'

The first day was knocking down the old structure,

which was a little bit nerve-racking, because it's all underway,

but you're glad it's underway, as well.

'Karen had chosen a design which covered the whole of the rear of the bungalow,

'linking from the French doors through to the garage.'

It was an exit, it was a back door out of the lounge, which led into a porch

and then that led into another porch that led into the garage.

So I thought rather than having two small areas that I can't do anything with,

that I'd quite like to build something to make the house a bit bigger, a bit more room.

'The work was done quickly and it looked just like she imagined.

'The brickwork was done, the frame was up.

'The builder asked for the final payment just as Karen was leaving for work.'

When it came to the final payment, I didn't see any problems with the brickwork,

so I paid the guy who did the brickwork.

The guy that did the UPVC,

he told me he was going to finish that day.

I was very naive, I didn't look round before I made any payments.

'Karen sensibly withheld final payment until the work looked like it was almost done.

'But then she slipped up. Take my tip.'

'If you need more time, ask the builder to return later.'

'..before you hand over your money.

'Karen would come to regret she didn't check before she paid.'

Karen noticed something was seriously wrong

when the rain falling on the outside of the conservatory had started to come inside.

There was a leak down the walls

above the entrance into the main house, into the lounge.

And then I started looking round

and found other problems.

'The builder who fitted the windows was the wrong man to reroute the wiring.

'His work didn't look safe at all.

'Karen decided to get it checked urgently.'

My work colleague's partner was a qualified electrician.

He looked at the electrical work and said that it was illegal.

And the Building Control people came out and verified that, as well.

'Karen demanded the builders come back, but they failed to fix all the faults.

'She didn't know what to do next.'

When I realised the extent of the kind of...

..such a low standard of work and the problems that were there, I was absolutely devastated.

'Karen paid £17,000 for her dream conservatory.

'The electrics are dangerous, the roof leaks, panels are misted over,

'the guttering is defective and the French doors failed building regulations.

'The building inspector has told her she must put things right or else.'

Well, he said that, ultimately, although someone else had done it,

it was my responsibility and that if it wasn't done,

they could actually take me to court.

'Karen has been saving up for four years to fix the damage.

'She's still paying off the mortgage loan for the original work.

'It's time for me to meet her.'

-Hello, are you Karen?

-Hi.

-Hi, I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap.

-Ah. This is a big space.

-It is.

Ooh. Ooh. Right, OK. Talk to me about this.

This, erm, electrical wiring

was originally behind this plasterboard,

and it was brought in at a diagonal, which I now know is illegal.

Ah. That's interesting that you now know that,

if you see your electrician doing anything like that, forget it.

'Electrical cables should run vertically. Running them horizontally

'in the middle of the wall increases the risk of someone putting a nail through them.'

What's happened here with the electrical work?

Well, where the remedial work was done,

he used a circular kind of saw...

It's called a still saw. It creates a lot of dust.

Oh, don't! I dusted everywhere for so long.

Looking at where he's used the still saw, it's actually pushed the brickwork back.

Ah. You see, the simple thing there would've been

to have just taken the sill up, taken a row off

and he could've got the cables in the cavity.

And they wouldn't have even been on the surface. You wouldn't have had all of this damage.

It's ridiculous. Any other problems you've got in here?

-Well, next, really, is the doors, in terms of building regulations.

-OK.

These doors are internal doors.

These doors, I now know, have to be proper external specification doors.

So building regs will not actually pass this.

How would he have not known that you needed external doors there?

Erm, I believe that he did know,

because when I challenged him about it at first,

he told me, "Well, if you leave them up for a couple of years,

"there's nothing they can do about it."

-Yeah, whatever.

-So, yeah.

-For me, I just don't understand that.

The truth is, they are not external doors,

they should be and that needs addressing, too.

'Karen has saved up some money.

'What she desperately wants now is for the building inspector

'to certify her conservatory safe and complete.'

What could we do that would put a smile back on your face

and would help you to draw a line under all the agro you've had?

I think the most important thing is the work in terms of replacement doors,

electrical works, guttering, the stuff that's on the building regs

that they've pointed out need to be addressed to comply.

And then any, sort of, work that can be done to

make it a nice space for me to enjoy.

OK. Well, you can charge me with getting those jobs done, all right?

-We'll make sure we get in the good guys.

-Fantastic. Thank you.

-Thanks.

Karen's unfinished and unsafe conservatory is really getting her down.

So I think it's time to bring on the good guys.

'Coming up, an independent chartered surveyor has more bad news for Karen.'

An awful lot of it has got to be done again from scratch, and it's going to cost thousands.

'We're back in Middlesex now.

'Fay Lee and Graham both work for the same international courier company.

'They wanted to make their small two-bedroom house bigger.

'A family friend built them a new kitchen and toilet extension

'and installed a new gas boiler.

'But the couple are worried the work may be unsafe

'and their young children may be at risk.

'Before we get the good guys to test the gas and electrics,

'I want to hear an independent chartered surveyor's verdict.'

Overall, when you first have a look at the building, approaching it from the outside,

it seems to be undertaken quite reasonably.

It's only when you get closer to the building

that you realise the defects with it.

You've got a gas boiler fixed to a timber panel,

that should be a non-combustible material.

The electrics are very messy inside the consumer box.

To give them their due, this is a temporary fix, because they've got to plasterboard and finish the room.

Elsewhere in the property, the kitchen finish is very poor,

and, to be honest, it requires a lot of work to bring it up to standard.

With the gas boiler being mounted on the timber panel,

and the potentially lethal electrical installation,

I'm going to be reducing the points to one out of ten.

One out of ten? This guy's not just dodgy, he's dangerous.

'Our good guys have got to carry out urgent tests on the gas and electrics.

'Paul is heading up the team today. So what's the priority?'

The heating and the electrics are most important,

cos the family's in danger, really, of the house catching alight

by electric or gas. So there's a big safety issue, we've got to address that.

We have to do a pressure test on the gas mains,

make sure there's no leaks and see if there's enough pressure to the boiler,

and then the electrician has got to do tests from A to B

and make sure that the line, ie, the electrical wires, are OK and there's no joints.

Cos sometimes nails go through them, and with a builder like we've had here,

he could easily have done that. And that's another way it can catch alight.

Hopefully, it won't be under the floor behind plaster. But it's a worry.

When someone hasn't really cared about what they've done, you start to think, "What else is there?"

'It's not long before the guys discover a serious problem.

'The gas meter has been moved illegally.

'The pressure drop test reveals there is a life-threatening gas leak.

'In this situation, you should phone the National Gas Emergency Service immediately.'

We've tested the gas and we've found it's dropped ten millibars in a minute.

In layman's language, it means there's a substantial leak somewhere.

The main risk is an explosion.

If you turn on the lights with a gas leak, it can actually catch your house alight.

The homeowners have been very lucky.

'The highest level of gas emergency has been declared

'and the National Gas Emergency Service arrives within 30 minutes.

'Life is in immediate danger.

'There could easily be a massive explosion.

'The risk is so serious, the engineers must wear gas masks.

'Just 30 minutes ago, the young family were unaware of the dangers.'

We had no idea. We thought, structurally, it's OK.

Yes, he hasn't finished the job, which is annoying.

But now, after everything's been unearthed,

we now find that we're living in a death trap.

We've got two babies, which is the thing that just sickens me.

'The gas supply is disconnected.

'The meter must be moved outside before the gas can be put on again.

'Now our team can get back to work.

'With the emergency over, it's time for me to find out

why Fay Lee and Graham let their family friend builder move the gas meter.'

-You had your gas meter moved.

-Yep.

Erm, where you aware that your gas meter can only be moved by National Grid?

-Absolutely no idea.

-Did he convince you it was fine for him to be able to move it?

Yep. He got a colleague, who works for one of the suppliers,

and said, "This guy's going to come down, he'll move the gas meter,

"place it in the position," which was in a cupboard inside the house.

-And we had no idea.

-No clue.

I just thought that he knew what he was doing, he's a builder,

so if he's got someone to come in and he's going to be doing it,

I did not think that you weren't allowed to move stuff around. I thought he knew what he was doing.

'If you want your gas meter moved, there's only one option.

'Take my tip.'

'They will ask the National Grid to organise the meter move.'

'There is a charge for this service.

'This family's builder did it wrong

'and he put them in serious danger.'

Had it been in the winter time, all the windows closed,

doors closed,

kids playing, you're in the house, you've got bare electric cables,

because I know he left you with electricity cables that were live and exposed,

if that gas had built up in your property

and you'd have had any spark whatsoever,

I reckon we'd be looking, seriously now,

at a massive void here.

The property wouldn't even be a property. They left everyone in danger.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a killer.

Where he put the gas flue

is classed as an enclosed space, right outside your door under the soffit.

Illegal. Can't be done.

It's all right.

Seriously, we cannot allow this sort of thing to happen to anyone.

These are the dangers that these cowboys leave you in.

You must see these guys' qualifications.

It is vital that that happens, yeah?

'They've had a hell of a shock.

'The family's cut-price extension could've cost them their lives.

'Coming up, there's good news. The house is made safe.'

So grateful. You've save my children's lives, basically.

'We're back in Suffolk.

'Four years ago, Karen Steel remortgaged her bungalow to build a conservatory.

'The work was so bad, it failed Building Control.

'The wiring is dangerous, the guttering leaks and the French doors are wrong.

'Our guys are ready to get the job signed off,

'but first, I want to hear the verdict from an independent chartered surveyor.'

From your point of view, what have you seen that you don't like?

Well, it's a mess. There's a catalogue of issues

that we could go into.

Starting at the front of the property, the gutter going across the front

goes up and down, mostly up. That's not good, water doesn't flow uphill.

-Nothing short of a bodge.

-It is a real bodge.

-It is.

Inside the house, they've put a new set of glazed doors through to the new conservatory

and to comply with current building regs, they should be thermally sealed

between the inside and the outside of the property.

The electrics are still exposed, never been covered up.

They don't appear to comply with current regulations.

What score out of ten would you give this guy for the work?

Well, my feeling is it should be a zero, really.

An awful lot of it has got to be done again from scratch and it's going to cost thousands.

'Zero out of ten? Even the basics are wrong.

'Fortunately, our team is here to put them right.

'Trevor is in charge today.'

Obviously, loads of problems in the property for Karen. Tell us what your plan is.

We need to have a really good look at this conservatory.

The main thing being that the chap that's put it up

has put the wrong dividing doors from the lounge to the conservatory.

They should be of an external grade. They're not. Contravenes all building regs.

The electrics look like a bit of a shambles, so we need to be stripping those out and redoing them

with a proper certificate at the end. Plastering. The list goes on. Guttering.

It's lots of little bits and pieces that need a good look at.

How long do you think it's going to take you to do the job?

We anticipate no more than three to four days at the absolute tops.

It's just a case, really, of planning it methodically and working through them.

-I'll let you get on.

-Lovely.

-Cheers.

'While Trevor and the team get the transformation underway,

'I want to track down what went wrong.'

Talk to me about how much it was, overall, going to cost and what you were going to get for that money.

Originally, the conservatory was going to be smaller than it is now.

It wasn't going to go out quite so far

and it was also not going to adjoin the garage.

But then, when they marked it out with the string...

Yeah, they lined it out with marker string.

It looked quite small.

Now, the quote that I got was all in technical drawing,

what it's going to look like, with the amounts for the quote.

-And that was for?

-The total quote was around £12,000.

-OK.

Then I made it slightly bigger and, also,

I kind of thought about how useful it is to come in straight from the garage

without going out and getting wet. So I asked for it to adjoin the garage,

which they agreed to.

I didn't get another set of quotes with drawings.

When you've got your plans, look over them and look over them and look over them.

'Changing your mind is easy. It's where Karen went wrong.

'Take my advice.'

'Even worse, Karen's new plans were never agreed in writing.'

The second quote on the revised plans, as it were,

there was no drawings, there was no written quotation,

it was just the verbal quotation.

-Right, so you had no contract, even?

-No.

-It was all verbal.

So just remind me how much it was ramped up from the £12 grand.

What did it actually end up as, with those little extras?

-Just over 17.

-Ooh! That's a massive ramp.

-I know.

When you consider that 12 grand was your main price in the first place,

you've now added on an extra, what, five, five and a half on top of that.

That's a massive chunk of money.

'The bricklayer has offered to come back and fix his mistakes.

'But we're on the case now. We tried phoning the other builder

'but his number is no longer in use.

'Coming up, I can't wait to see Karen's face

'when she hears her conservatory is ready to be signed off.'

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah! It's fantastic!

'Back in Middlesex, we're finishing up.

'Fay Lee and Graham's builder left them with an unfinished and unsafe extension.

'Their gas and electrics were so dangerous that their whole family could've been killed.

'The National Grid team has finished moving the gas meter.

'Our good guys have been busy making the family's home safe.

'I want to find out from Paul how they've been getting on.'

They've got it safe now, but there was a lot of leaks inside the house,

so it was a life-threatening situation, really.

What other problems have you found and how are you resolving them?

We found a lot with the electrics, as well. We've had to do an NIC certificate test on it.

They found quite a few faults but, thank God, they're all fixed now.

The lads have been there. There was three of them there all day.

What have you actually got left to do on the job?

We've got quite a lot of remedial works to do, but I'm sure we'll get it done

and leave them safe so they can sleep at night.

'Fay Lee and Graham have been struck by the severity of the situation

'and have got lots of questions for their bad builder.'

The builder brought in a so-called qualified electrician and gas engineer.

But he left this lovely family in danger.

It's time he gave us some answers.

What would you like to say to him?

Knowing what you know now.

Erm, well, the foremost thing in my mind is the safety aspect

with the children being here, and us, obviously, as well,

where there's been that danger element

that this house is a death trap and how does he work like this?

What about you, Fay Lee? Is there anything you'd like to...?

Yeah, I'd like to know why he installed the boiler on plywood

when he should've known, as a builder, that that's unsafe.

OK, look, I'm going to give you the opportunity to speak to him on the phone.

So if you just fire away with the green handset button

-and put it on speakerphone for us so everybody can hear what he's got to say.

-OK.

-PHONE RINGS

-It's ringing, anyway.

'We're in luck. The builder picks up.'

Hello, it's Graham here. By leaving the boiler on the wood,

you've endangered my family's lives.

We've got two babies here and that could've combusted, gone up in flames.

'He accepts there's a problem with the boiler. But what about the gas leak?'

Moving on from that, we've got problems,

because the gas meter was moved inside the house and put into a cupboard.

This gas was leaking. It was totally done illegally

and there was copper piping leading from this gas meter, and that's totally illegal.

'He says that the gas wasn't his responsibility.

'He'd hired a gas engineer who had reassured him it was fine.'

Yeah, but you'd just taken his word for it. These guys have been working for you,

you're working for us, you're our builder and we put our faith into you.

And there's all these danger elements.

'Finally, he hangs up.'

We're not saying, here and now,

-that he was responsible for the gas leak itself.

-Right.

But he should've... By association he is, because he should've done a drop test on it

and they failed to do that and they put you guys in danger.

'I've got a message for dangerous cowboys everywhere.'

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

And by revealing your tricks and techniques,

we'll prevent others from falling into your trap.

'The good guys' work is done. Before I show Fay Lee and Graham how their home's been made safe,

'I want them to convince me they've learned from this experience.'

What have you learned from having cowboy builders in your property that you could take forward?

Oh, so much.

First and foremost is that these guys are qualified

and not to take the word of any people that you know by association or anything like this.

And, financially, not handing over cash hand over fist like that.

Just don't do it. You just don't do it.

They're lessons learned. I know they've been tough lessons for you, but you need to take them forward.

Just remind me, first of all, what it was like before we arrived.

What were the problems? And there were problems you didn't even know about.

The electrics. There were live wires under the cupboards.

The boiler was mounted on the plasterboard and it shouldn't have been.

And the gas mains had been moved into a cupboard.

And, obviously, we found out that it was actually leaking.

-Yeah, that was the big shocker, wasn't it, Graham?

-Yeah, absolutely. I think...

I've not been feeling great over the last few months and we can probably pinpoint where that area is now.

It's not been pleasant. Absolutely.

Right, are you ready to come outside with me?

This is a slightly different one for me, simply because it's not like tiles and paintwork,

but this is really critical.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

-We're ready.

-OK. Follow me. Let's go.

OK, guys. Now, at first, this might not have the wow factor.

OK, I want you to come this far out because I want you to look at a few things that we've got going on.

First of all, all the pipe work has been renewed, all your gas pipe work.

The actual mains gas meter has been re-sited and boxed up properly.

So what was paramount for me was your safety and your children's safety. So that's all been done.

Your gas boiler has been re-sited

and onto proper fireboard.

So it's fire protective, too. They've sorted out your electrics.

Another critical thing for me is this, documentation.

I get excited about proper official paperwork, as well.

I'm going to hand you this. This is the Gas Safe record certificate.

This will be followed up with a Gas Safe safety certificate

which you have to store in case you want to sell the property.

You'll also get an electrical check safety certificate coming your way.

-What do you think?

-It's just fantastic.

-Fantastic.

I'm speechless. Absolutely speechless.

-We're so glad now that the children are going to be in a safe environment.

-Yeah.

It was just frightening. Absolutely frightening to think that all that was going on

-and you guys have come and really...

-Rescued us.

-Yeah. Absolutely. Fantastic.

We're so grateful. You've saved my children's lives, basically.

'Fay Lee and Graham's builder abandoned their extension before it was finished,

'leaving them in danger. The dodgy electrics and live wires were a worry with their small kids.

'The boiler and gas were in a potentially lethal state

'The leaking gas pipe could've been deadly.

'The electrics have now been fully tested and fixed

'and the live wiring has been covered and sealed in.

'There's no more risk of children's fingers touching those wires.

'The boiler has been securely fitted on fire-safe boarding,

'so there's no danger of combustion.

'The gas meter has been moved to its rightful place and the whole system made safe.'

You now know you're gas safe and electrical safe.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Pleasure.

-Wonderful, wonderful family.

-Thank you very much.

You're welcome. And take good care, yeah?

-Thank you so much.

-See you, guys. Thank you.

-Bye.

-Enjoy!

-Thank you.

'We're back near Newmarket in Suffolk.

'Four years ago, Karen Steel's dream of a new conservatory ended in disaster.

'Her bad builder's poor workmanship meant Building Control failed the work on three separate accounts.

'She had unsafe electrics, uneven guttering and the wrong French doors.

'Karen was devastated. Work friend Jan couldn't believe the change in her.'

Every time she spoke about it, she kind of welled up

and got really upset about it.

And if you know Karen at all, you know she's not the type of person that would get upset

about things like that normally.

You go through a whole range of emotions. You're devastated,

you're angry, you feel stupid cos you've been ripped off.

'Hopefully, Karen's only emotion will be joy when our good guys are finished.

'They've been busy banishing those bad builder botches.'

-I tell you what, what a difference this makes.

-Doesn't it just?

It's amazing, isn't it? Just talk us through what you've done and any problems you've found.

First thing we did was to take out these old doors that were separating the lounge and the conservatory.

So you've got external grade doors now. Next thing, all the electrics. Work's certificated.

-What a mess they were.

-We found holes in the wiring, the lot. It was an absolute shocker.

So stripped right back out, new electrics all run in, we've got all new points,

new light fittings have gone in. So we're happy with that, we can put a certificate on, job done.

All the walls have all been plastered up, we've rerun all the guttering on the conservatory,

so it actually falls away and the water goes where it should do now.

In the down pipe. So that's all working well.

We've re-hung all the doors, the door into the garage, the doors out to the patio.

And now we're on the last leg, which is putting in this lovely new floor for Karen

-and some nice skirting to finish it all off.

-I know that the floor wasn't in the remit, so what's this?

-Is this the big old heart pumping away?

-I'm getting soft in my old age.

OK, superb. How long do you think you've got left?

-An hour, two tops.

-A couple of hours and the job's a good 'un. All right, mate, well played.

-Thank you.

'While Trevor finishes up, I'm hoping Karen has become more savvy to scheming builder ways.'

What have you learned from having a cowboy builder in your property

that you can take forward? Cos you're going to need people in in the future.

Well, first off, I shall be doing good research,

getting a full contract, and when I change my mind,

-make sure that the contracts change with it.

-Yes!

So that I know exactly what's going on, stuff's not added on.

And just to make sure, as well, at each stage

that I'm happy with what's happening.

And try and keep to that original plan.

Try not to make any changes, I think is important.

-Just remind me what it was like before we arrived.

-Oh, it was a mess.

There was plaster hanging off the wall with exposed wiring,

there was sills wobbling everywhere, there was units with condensation in them. It was horrible.

-Are you ready to go and have a look at your conservatory?

-I am.

-Ready to pull back them curtains?

-Yep.

-Come with me.

Tiny little steps. That's where it is. All right?

Right, stand there for a minute. OK.

Open your eyes.

Wow.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah! It's fantastic! The floor! It's a proper floor!

Proper doors and no condensation.

Lights that work!

Thank you so much. It is fantastic.

-Let me just tell you what's been happening.

-OK.

-All your electrics now made safe.

-Lovely.

You'll soon be having an electrical safety certificate issued to you.

All of your conservatory now is watertight,

-so you've got no water coming in.

-Excellent.

-All this rain can stay outside.

The doors that we had a problem with because they were interior doors

are now external doors,

so now you should get your certificate.

Fantastic. Cos...I can actually put stuff out here, knick-knacks, and it's...

Before, I just couldn't take any pride in it. I just ignored it, really. But this is fantastic.

'Karen's conservatory catastrophe is almost over.

'She was left with misty windows,

'uneven sills and poor brickwork.

'Building Control refused to sign off the work because the guttering wasn't level.

'The electrics were dangerous and even the internal doors were wrong.

'We've transformed the conservatory chaos from top to bottom.

'The guttering has been rerouted, so it's free flowing away from the home.

'We've made the electrics safe and finished off the lights and sockets.

'The doors and windows have been replaced and the brickwork fixed.

'Finally, the walls are plastered, ready for Karen to decorate her new sanctuary.

'After four years of waiting, at last she has a stunning space to watch over her beautiful garden.'

All right, Karen, I'm going to leave you to have a look around

and check out their wonderful workmanship and I wish you all the very best of luck.

It's not nice being hit by a cowboy builder,

-but at least now we can move on.

-Yeah, big learning curve.

Big learning curve. All right. You just take care of yourself, yeah?

-And have fun in your new conservatory.

-Thank you!

-See you, Karen.

-Cheerio.

I'm so chuffed that now all Karen has to do is those finishing touches to that beautiful conservatory.

And no longer does she have to look at a building site from her living room.

Remember, if you have any doubts about your builders,

halt the work straight away until your fears are allayed

and that way you won't go falling into the cowboy trap.

'Tell us your tale.'

'Help us round up the cowboys.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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