Episode 13 Cowboy Trap

Once again, I'm back on the road, hot on the heels of those cowboy builders

who break people's hearts and dreams with dodgy building and broken promises.

My kids came screaming out of the bedrooms, "Mummy, mummy, are we going to die?" They were really upset.

After all the years of working on Cowboy Trap, I'm still amazed at the arrogance of these cowboy builders.

I've seen some real bodges and dodgy building work really makes people's lives a misery,

not to mention in cases life-threatening too.

This was the last straw. It's the second time he's nearly killed us.

Today, I hope to help an unfortunate family who could have been killed by the work of a cowboy builder

and who felt they had no-one to turn to for help.

It's like living in a nightmare with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Along the way, I'll give you loads of hints and tips

that hopefully will help prevent you from falling into the cowboy trap.

Today, I'm 30 miles north of London

in the county of Bedfordshire

in a town called Luton that's famous for car production

and hat-making, hence the reason the local football team are called The Hatters.

Luton is on the up and boasts a diverse ethnic mix,

including a thriving Asian population in the north-west of the area

where Farhana and Mudassar Shah live with their four children.

Everybody seems to get along with each other

and I feel comfortable in Luton.

The couple met 16 years ago in Pakistan

when Farhana went with her family in search of the perfect partner.

We had an arranged marriage. Various suitors came to meet me

and when he came over, our eyes kind of like just met.

That was on the Friday and on the Monday, we got married, so it was all very sudden.

The couple settled back in Luton where Farhana was working as a local government officer

and Mudassar took up a position as a supervisor in a cash and carry.

All they needed was their dream home and in 2007, they spotted it -

a three-bedroomed terrace with a bathroom,

a galley kitchen and an open-plan living-dining area

and their cherished back garden.

This was the second house we saw. My husband fell in love with it.

It seemed the ideal place for their growing family -

Zara, Jamal,

Elena

and their youngest, Haris, who's just five years old.

But there was only one toilet and shower and when you consider that there's six of them in the house,

it became a real juggling act every morning when they were going off to school and to work.

I have to time it. The eldest one goes in first, then the second eldest, then the third,

then the baby goes in last.

It's a nightmare. We're on top of each other.

I said to my husband, "We need to maybe think about a second bathroom."

After two years of saving up the pounds, they had managed to bank eight grand.

With the kids growing fast and Farhana growing out of patience,

they had a two-square-metre extension built on the back, so they got that much needed shower room.

After getting three quotes, they gave their business to a builder they had befriended in the area.

He said, "You're Muslim, I'm Muslim.

"We have to help each other out." That kind of thing.

"I know that you haven't got a lot of money and I understand,

"so I'm not going to charge you as much as I would charge somebody else."

The quickest way to turn your friends into enemies

is by going into a business transaction with them without first ticking all the boxes.

Just because you know them doesn't mean you know their work,

so do your background research, just as you would with a total stranger.

The Shahs didn't do their homework, but they booked the builder anyway to extend their home

and fit a new shower room in just three weeks.

The total cost was eight grand.

He wanted £3,000 up front first.

I said, "Can I write you a cheque?" He was like, "No, I need cash."

We said, "Can we have a receipt?" He said, "I don't do receipts.

"The work is much cheaper because I don't have to give you a receipt."

Farhana and Mudassar were wary, but paid the cash anyway

and were relieved when building got off to a flying start.

The foundations had been dug, the four walls went up, so I thought, "He's going to do it really quickly."

They paid an additional three grand, but then things took a dramatic turn for the worse.

The children started to complain of headaches and Farhana noticed the boiler flue was blocked.

Fearing a potentially deadly carbon monoxide leak, she questioned the builder.

I said, "You've blocked the flue." He said, "No, everything's fine.

"Trust me. I'm the builder. I know what I'm doing."

One Monday morning at 6.40am, Farhana was taking a shower

when she heard the shriek of the carbon monoxide alarm.

She jumped out of the shower and called for Mudassar.

My kids came screaming out of the bedrooms because it woke them up. It was such a loud, piercing alarm.

They said, "Mummy, what's that?" I said, "A carbon monoxide alarm."

"Mummy, are we going to die?" They were really upset.

Angry their family had been put in danger, they confronted their terrible tradesman.

He goes, "No, it's nothing. It's not a problem.

"It's just the alarm."

He said it was steam. He said the alarm went off because of the steam, not the carbon monoxide.

They had uncovered a cowboy, but Farhana was thankful of one thing -

the carbon monoxide alarm she always kept in the house.

It cost like £25

and it was the best £25 that I've ever spent because it did save our lives.

For four days, the family found themselves without heating or hot water.

Incredibly, Farhana found herself begging the cowboy builder for help,

the very same person whose bodged handiwork could have killed them.

We begged him. I said, "Please, you need to sort the boiler out. My children can't live like this.

"It's so cold in the house." At that point, I was almost in tears because it was just so cold.

The builder agreed to help, but cheekily, demanded a further two grand.

Feeling utterly desperate, the couple paid and an engineer sorted the problem.

They had forked out £8,000 so far, but weren't out of danger yet.

Through the roof of the extension, the rain water had seeped out on to the electrics

and short-circuited the whole house.

And I went mad.

This was the last straw. It was the second time he nearly killed us.

Once again, she confronted her bodging builder.

He was like, "I'm coming over now. I don't want to see you upset."

But the only thing this cowboy cared about was more cash.

He said, "I'll finish the job, but I need an extra 1,500."

Thankfully, this time, they didn't pay up, but their builder never returned.

Our house is like a building site.

We've got dust, mess. The kids can't go out into the garden.

There's rubbish and rubble.

The bathroom is not even a bathroom. It's just like an empty shell

with just some plastic sheeting over the top.

The experience has left them devastated.

It's like living in a nightmare with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Farhana and Mudassar's friends and neighbours are horrified

at the dangerous state of their home.

They could have been electrocuted.

They could have all been gassed.

What sort of builder is that?

The man messed them up. I've seen the place and it really looks bad.

The amount of rubbish out that back garden, that is a haven for rats.

It is literally a rubbish job.

It took the Shahs two years to save up the money required for their extension,

but now they have a home that's unfinished and unsafe at best,

but at worst, it could have killed them. It's time to meet them.

I want to find out what I can do to help.

-Ah!

-Hello there.

-Mr and Mrs Shah?

-Hi.

-How are you? I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap.

-You've had problems with cowboy builders.

-Yeah.

-Where is the problem?

-In the back.

-Do you mind if I take a look?

-Yeah, sure.

-You rest your feet. I'll catch up with you later.

-Thank you.

'The couple lead me straight to the kitchen.'

It's very compact and bijou, this.

This looks like the original end of the property, the original building.

Look at that. Not everybody is as big as me,

but boiler there, wall there, very little space.

'And through the kitchen is what's meant to be the family shower room.'

Wow, this is really tight!

The extension itself, there's not much space.

'My main concern is what's underneath this floor.'

Looking at the actual slab itself, we've got the right DPM - damp-proof membrane,

but what we haven't got above the insulation is another course of DPM, that's missing,

so I have a horrible feeling that although a lot of work has gone into this floor,

that might have to come up, which will be a real pain.

'And there's another problem. The drainage pipe for the shower should run along here.'

We've got waste. The problem is, where the channel is,

the channel's rising up, so there's no way in the world that that would work.

'This uphill slope means nasty blockages are inevitable

'and outdoors, it takes no time to sniff out other bad bodges.'

Look at that! As soon as I step outside, my mind's working overtime.

I can see loads of things going on that shouldn't be going on.

So end of the original building, new extension.

Where that gas flue is, there's no way that that can come out like that.

At this stage, because it's in part build,

all the fumes and the wind catching it are blowing that back inside.

They should have known that. That's got to be ducted away properly.

'And my next clue points to more foul play.'

Manhole cover...

..but looking at this, no manhole.

I'm telling you now, I reckon that he's poured a slab directly over that manhole.

'If I'm correct and this cowboy has built their extension over a manhole,

'then a new one will need to be created. Believe me, that is no easy job.

'And the problems don't stop there.

'When this extension was built, they had to excavate the garden,

'but instead of building a retaining wall, the cowboy left it completely unsupported.'

So it's actually pulling forward all the time.

It's started to fracture already there, look,

just under the weight.

So that's...just completely unsafe.

'Around the corner, the potential for collapse continues.'

It's not supported, it's not shuttered off.

If that section of the neighbour's garden falls, it falls directly against the wall,

therefore, all the moisture is held up against the wall and it could start to just transfer inside.

I mean...

Very little thought has gone into that.

'With piles of stones, dangerous tools and rubbish everywhere,

'this entire back garden is highly hazardous to the family.'

It's a mess. I need to find out from the Shahs exactly what they were hoping for.

Farhana, that's a beautiful name.

-Does it mean anything?

-It's just Arabic. It means "happiness".

No way! It means "happiness"!

-Have you had much lately?

-No.

-I don't think you have.

-Not since I've had the building work started.

-It's more sadness, isn't it?

-Stress and sadness, yeah.

We hope to bring you a bit more happiness or a bit more "farhana" into your life.

At the moment, it's really messy. I want you to walk me through...

Shall we start off in the actual shower area and toilet?

Well, it was meant to be a downstairs bathroom.

'This extension was meant to have a shower, toilet and sink, but it's so badly planned out,

'I doubt the cowboy knew what he was doing from the start.'

-Did he have a proper plan?

-No, he just drew it on a piece of paper.

'Before we get in there, I want to know about these dodgy cables and pipes.'

He moved the electrics and then the water was leaking down.

He short-circuited the whole house because water was coming all the way down this wall through those pipes.

When I confronted him, he said, "It's not even live wires. How can it short-circuit the house?"

-I said, "It is live because the boiler's working."

-Correct.

And I said, "You think I'm stupid. I know that much."

'Copper pipes, leaking water and electricity - what a lethal combination!

'Any member of this family could have been electrocuted.

'I want to know what Farhana was planning inside the shower room.'

-There was meant to be a door here, a shower there, the toilet there, the sink there, all in a row.

-Yes.

I said, "We need an extractor fan." He said, "No, you've got two big windows."

He's thinking that in winter time, you'll have your windows open,

when it's freezing cold, to let the steam out? You're not. That's why you need an extractor fan.

'And that's not the only thing missing.

'There's a mysterious manhole cover lying outside.'

There's a problem with the floor. There should be a manhole, an inspection pit.

Yes, and he covered it up. When I approached him about that,

he said, "The inspector said I can do that after I've finished the job.

"I can put another manhole cover outside."

When I spoke to the inspector, he said he asked him to move it first before he covered up the floor.

-How else would you connect to it?

-Exactly.

'Manholes are a forgotten essential of everyday life.

'Below them lie systems of drains, electric cables,

'gas mains and telephone lines,

'all of which make our modern-day lives possible.

'The Shahs' cowboy ignored the request of the building inspector

'and built over their access to the drainage system.

'Don't make the same costly mistake. Take my advice.'

'The Shahs' cowboy blatantly ignored the building inspector.

'I want Farhana to show me more of his shoddy work.'

This is the back.

-Yeah, this is the...

-The extension part.

There's a few problems. The big problem that I've got is in terms of the gas flue.

The flue has actually got an incline in it.

The roof isn't sealed. The fumes are coming back in.

My daughter has been complaining about headaches.

My son's been complaining about headaches and my husband has as well.

-This is the thing, particularly with carbon monoxide. It's a killer.

-We have got an alarm.

The last time the alarm went off was when he had blocked the flue and the alarm went off.

-It's dangerous.

-It made me angry.

This guy is really playing with people's lives

and if he's doing this sort of work at other people's properties,

-it will not be long before something goes wrong.

-He'll kill somebody.

'This is terrifying.

'Carbon monoxide is colourless and odourless.

'That's why it's known as the silent killer.

'Every household needs to take the right precautions.'

Here's a very important top tip.

If you've got one of these, a gas boiler, you definitely need one of these.

These are about 20 quid down at your DIY stores.

I don't know what the decibels are on this, but it's quite piercing, so just be ready.

HIGH-PITCHED BEEPS

That's definitely going to attract attention. There's no two ways about that.

It will warn people. You know that's going to be a carbon monoxide alarm. Get out the building.

If possible, open windows and doors to allow any of the carbon monoxide to dissipate.

But the next thing you've got to do and most importantly

is to contact a Gas Safe engineer who can deal with it or your local gas supplier.

On your gas meter, there's a freephone number.

Make a note of it and keep it safe.

Make no mistake. Carbon monoxide is a killer.

'Farhana and her family were in real danger and seeing this garden, they still are,

'particularly with these unsupported walls.'

Because we've had a real dry spell, the ground is cracking up big style.

It could fall at any time which is dangerous.

I thought he knew what he was doing, but I'm not a builder.

-In hindsight, do you think he was doing it properly?

-No, definitely not.

I can see you're chilling. You've got goosebumps!

OK, Mrs Goosebumps, let's go.

'Coming up, it's judgment time when I call in an independent chartered surveyor.'

There's no plan in existence for this work. It's just wrong.

'And Farhana and Mudassar tell me how the builder affected them financially and emotionally.'

The fact that we've lost all this money, it makes you feel stupid. I could kick myself.

'In Luton, Farhana and Mudassar Shah's morning routine of getting up, washed and dressed was manic.

'Mum and Dad dreamed of a new shower room, perfect for their growing family

'and to complete the home they love.

'They hired a friend to build an extension,

'but after forking out every penny of their eight grand savings,

'the careless cowboy put their lives at risk...twice!

'Then he hightailed it out of there, refusing to return.

'The family have been left living in a cluttered, dangerous building site.

'It's time for me to find out more about how they ended up in this cowboy cash-tastrophe.'

How did you go about finding the actual money, Mudassar?

Every month, we were saving a little bit.

-Watching it grow. And it took a while to save. How long do you think it took?

-About two years.

When you thought, "We've got the money," how did you go about finding the builders?

-I've known him for the last two years, so I thought if anything goes wrong, I know where he lives.

-Yeah.

At that time, I thought, "She knows the family, so maybe he's the right guy."

'Their builder friend quoted £8,000 and wanted three grand up front.'

How was he going to be paid?

-You offered a cheque.

-Yeah.

-Well done.

-But he wouldn't accept it.

-Oh.

He wouldn't accept it. That should automatically suggest alarm bells.

In my experience, it's so they avoid paying the Inland Revenue.

'Unfortunately, Farhana and Mudassar left themselves open to problems

'by agreeing to pay cash.

'Don't let this happen to you.

'Then you'll know at what stage you need to pay.

'The couple agreed to the quote and booked their builder.'

-What did you tell him you wanted?

-I said, "I want a door here

"and I want a shower here, a bath there."

He said, "Yeah, fine. We'll do it like that."

He'd done all the measurements.

When he dug the foundations and he built it, I said, "It looks a bit small."

He goes, "I gave you the measurements." I said, "You didn't say it was the outside measurements.

-"I thought that's..."

-The internal space.

-He goes, "I never said that."

I said, "That was the impression I got."

'Farhana made the common mistake

'of thinking the outside wall measurements were the actual size of the bathroom, not realising

'that the width of the walls would reduce the interior space.

'She's now been left with a tiny shower room. Don't let this happen to you. Take my advice.

'Disappointed by the size when they saw the foundations,

'the Shahs still proceeded with the build.'

How soon into the build did you think there were problems, alarm bells, shall we say?

Two weeks into it. He wasn't coming every day like he promised at the beginning.

He just kept blaming it on the weather.

'But not turning up was nothing compared to putting this family at risk. Twice!

'First, the builder blocked the gas boiler flue,

'putting the whole family in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.'

Our carbon monoxide alarm went off.

-We had to call out Transco and the gas engineer.

-Yes.

They could not believe what the builder had done and they even had a go at the builder.

The builder said, "There's no carbon monoxide. It's just steam. That's why the alarm has gone off."

This is a real worry.

'But the careless cowboy didn't stop there.

'His leaky roof left a potentially lethal combination of water and electrics.'

He hadn't finished the roof off. It was raining heavily and it was windy.

The rain water came straight into the extension part and into the kitchen.

And it short-circuited the whole house.

'The cowboy put the entire family in danger of electrocution.

'Unsurprisingly, Mum and Dad were angry and confronted him right away.'

-So you told him, "You've nearly killed us twice."

-Yeah, and he's like, "I can't talk now."

-He goes, "Why do you keep ringing me?" He put the phone down on me.

-"Why"? It's fairly obvious why!

-How much of your money had he got at this stage?

-Eight.

-Eight.

Eight grand. There was no incentive for him to come back. He'd got all the money.

'At this point, the couple's cowboy stopped coming,

'leaving this lovely family's home, life and dream in ruins.'

You've got four children, like you said, growing.

You've got no garden because it's full of rubble.

You've got tripping hazards all over the place.

Has that had an impact on your relationship?

Obviously, we were having arguments with each other. That was affecting our life.

The fact that we've lost all this money... That took us two years to save that money.

I'm trying to see how we can get the money together to get the job finished.

It makes you feel stupid because you're quite an intelligent person,

then you fall for something that you see on TV and you think,

"Look at these silly people falling into these traps!"

You know, I could kick myself.

What could we do that would make you feel a lot happier?

Well, just the garden at least back to normal,

so the kids can go out. I had that dream.

'Well, I intend to sort more than the garden.

'I want to tackle the kitchen and shower room too,

'then we'll really make this couple's dream come true.'

It makes me angry when so-called tradesmen come into people's properties and leave them in ruins.

All the Shahs wanted to do was make life better for their family

and all they've been left with is a really dodgy building job.

I've asked independent chartered surveyor Simon Levy to come along

and cast his expert eye over it and give us a score.

Simon, I'll come up and join you.

-Blimey, it's a bit dodgy!

-Hello, Clive.

-Are you all right?

-Good to see you.

Floor-wise in there, the way that he's actually done the slab isn't the best.

We feel that's going to have to be dug up.

One thing that concerns me,

you look in the hole and you see moisture, so it will have to come up.

And it's been built over an inspection pit.

There's no plan in existence for this work.

They can't think ahead, so they only come across problems when they arrive.

From your point of view, if you were giving this guy a mark out of ten, what are you likely to give him?

I'd say three out of ten. The roof is incomplete. Nobody's thought about this arrangement.

The construction is a problem as far as the neighbour is concerned. It's wrong.

So three out of ten is what it shall be, squire.

This shower room is compact and bijou.

It's worse just now because it's got all the different bits and bobs in here, tripping hazards.

It's not safe for adults, let alone the children in this property.

I'm going to cordon the area off from all the builder bodges that have gone on in here.

The only people allowed beyond that tape is myself and the good guys. I think it's time to go get 'em!

'This shower room in the rear of the house desperately needs sorting and made safe.

'Local builder Ray Johnstone and his team are raring to go.

'Thrilled at the action, the Shahs have agreed to chip in to help meet the cost of the build.

'The first task is to tackle that missing manhole.'

-I can see the lid is here.

-The lid's here, the frame's here.

The manhole is buried under there, so we've got to find that.

If the drain's blocked, the sewage will come up in that bathroom.

-What's our next plan?

-Right, we're going to tile the floor.

We'll incorporate a wet room in the shower, so she can just mop the floor and it's clean.

Then outside, what's the plan?

Outside? Look at the garden. What a mess he's left it in! We're going to clear that.

We'll build in the retaining wall and build the steps up to the garden.

I'll let you carry on, sir. Cheers, Ray. Thanks a lot.

'Coming up, I can't wait to show the Shahs their sparkly shower room.'

What do you think?

-Oh, my God!

-It looks amazing!

'In Luton, Farhana and Mudassar Shah's builder buddy quoted eight grand

'to construct the dream bathroom extension desperately needed to make their family life less stressful.

'But after forking out £8,000 to their callous cowboy, he had upped and left,

'leaving them living in a dangerous and cluttered building site.

'Farhana is struggling to live with the mess and is concerned for her young family's safety.

'But we brought in Ray and his terrific team

'who are hard at it, making this family's dream come true.

'The signs that this is a cracking job are already there, even if Ray is modest.'

It doesn't look like much at the moment.

I'm with Paul, one of our building team, and we'll talk about how we'll reinforce the wall

to make sure none of this material can tip forward.

What do we need to do once we're building the wall up?

We've got the three weep holes going in,

so any moisture on the floor

that comes through will seep through to the ground.

-So it's very important that it doesn't seep through the brickwork.

-Very.

-That's the key.

We've got a nine-inch wall going across with a damp-proof membrane.

As long as you've got that defensive membrane between the wall and the soil, you'll be fine.

'Farhana and Mudassar have been living in chaos,

'but at least now they know there's an end in sight.'

Our life is coming back to normal, on the right track, slowly, slowly.

The children especially, they can see that we're not as stressed like we were before.

Every day we come home, the work has progressed a little bit more.

It's coming closer to the end where we can finally start enjoying ourselves together as a family.

At the end of the tunnel there is a light.

'They're certainly getting there, Mudassar. Ray is making sure that drainage works.'

The cement screed slopes down to where the drain is,

so all the water can just run into the drain from all sides.

'And he's banished those dodgy electrics.'

A child could have touched that and got an electric shock.

'Now, there's a man on a mission to make a manhole.

'Thank heavens Ray knows the rules!'

You're not allowed to build over and block manholes.

They're there for a purpose - to clear any blockages within the sewage system.

'It's great to see the build going so well.'

But now it's high time we got some answers from the bad builder,

particularly, how does he do something like this to friends of their own family?

'And I'm sure this couple have their own questions too.'

When was the last time you had any conversation with your builder?

-Last Tuesday.

-Last Tuesday?

-Hmm. We went round his house.

-How was that?

-He said, "No, it's not my fault."

He said, "Just leave my place.

"You are in my place and you are saying this to me."

I was kind of like shouting at him, you know, that time.

It's brave to be knocking on their door and facing them,

but we have to give him a right of reply and that's usually by a phone call.

I'll just dial it up and I'll hand you the phone if that's OK.

It's calling now.

It's just a message saying, "The number you're trying to reach is not currently accepting calls.

"Please try again later."

This is a typical cowardice thing of a cowboy builder. It's one of their traits.

I'm absolutely disgusted by his behaviour and his actions

and the fact that knowingly,

he endangered our lives and he doesn't seem to care about that.

Your faith is lost. But I promise you, there are good guys out there.

'We did call the Shahs' builder,

'but he stated he was ill, refused to comment and hung up the phone.

'One thing is for sure - this lovely family can't go on living in these horrific conditions.

'It's got to stop.

'So it's just as well we've brought in the good guys.

'They've been working at breakneck speed to transform this house from building site to dream home.'

The Shahs have been very good. They've been providing us with cups of tea to keep us going.

'It looks as though those builder teas have worked because the job is now finished. Well done, guys.

'Luton, here I come!

'I can't wait to see the Shahs' wonderful new home.

'It's time for me to take a sneaky peek

'and I'm going to start with the family's cherished garden.'

The first things that meet my eye -

we've got new pipework here from the sink in the shower room.

The manhole has been re-positioned, the roof fixed and the gas flue is now safe.

It looks a whole heap better from here, all vented off nicely,

and here I think... That's great.

In terms of the steps, they're finished off beautiful.

That's a nice step up into a garden where they had loads of waste.

That's all been cleared. It could do with some grass putting down,

but it looks really good and we've got this wall.

You've got a damp-proof membrane behind too and the return on the far end for the neighbour's property...

There was potential for all of that earth to fall there. That's all been done too.

All in all, a real, cracking job.

Love it.

Time to check out the kitchen that had been left unfinished.

Our boys have certainly done a brilliant job fitting this room out.

Well, well, well! That does look different.

First of all, the tiles are just fantastic. I'm loving them.

They ooze quality.

I love the wall tile layout as well. They look really cool.

I'm loving the worktops, loving the hob.

I tell you what, that is a big, big change. Big change.

I'll have a look at that shower room.

'After months of heartache, at last, their extension is finished

'and what's more, it's looking lovely!'

Oh, yeah!

I mean, "tile-icious" comes to mind!

Again lovely, clean lines.

It's perfect. Layout, excellent -

toilet, your basin, the shower.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.

This cabinet with the mirror on it gives that feeling of far more space, much more space

in a tight sort of room like this.

So again it's a big, big thumbs-up and a massive change.

'I can't wait to see what the family think,

'but first, there's a man I need to thank

'and it looks like Ray is checking over his handiwork.'

That's what the problem was about - the manhole which they built the walls over the top

and we've had to build this new one, so that we can get in to unblock any blockages that occur.

As manholes go, quite a nice one.

-It's not bad.

-You can put the lid back on because that's a health hazard.

They're not the sweetest-smelling things, are they?

-They're not bad.

-Now then, Ray. Just talk us through what you've done.

If this drain had been done correctly in the first place, we wouldn't have had all this trouble.

We've done all the tiling, we've put the shower room in.

The garden's been cleared.

We've done the roof and we've had lots of rain this last week, so we know it's nice and sound.

Yourself and Paul have done an absolutely cracking job.

-I'll let you carry on inspecting the work.

-Thank you very much. Bye.

I've just got one thing left to do and that's show Farhana and Mudassar.

I hope they like it. I'm sure they will.

Get it? I'm "Shah" they will. Forget it!

'The family have been living here throughout the build.'

Farhana and Mudassar, just come and join me.

'But they've not seen the final result.'

-Hey-hey, hey-hey!

-Hey!

-Nice new kitchen.

-It looks lovely.

-It does look good.

Who chose the floor tiles?

-I did.

-Beautiful.

As it's a galley kitchen, it's quite narrow, you've made great use of the space.

'Before the good guys arrived, this kitchen was a bodged job building site with only a few units fitted.

'What a difference this beautiful transformation will make to the entire family!'

-How much of a difference will this make?

-A lot.

When I designed the kitchen in my head, I wanted more cupboard space,

so I can just hide everything away and have the minimum outside.

-Do you like it, Mudassar?

-Very nice, very nice.

The next place we're going to now is the shower room. Let's go.

'This really is the dream.'

-What do you think?

-Oh, my God!

It looks amazing.

-Fantastic.

-Just clean and light and airy.

Even though it's quite a small space, it doesn't look small.

It doesn't because the planning is fantastic.

'Before, it was an empty shell with bare bricks and rough plaster.

'Now we've created the perfect shower room with a watertight floor.

'Images like these are a thing of the past

'as now they can enjoy their super new shower.'

-That's got to be a ten out of ten.

-Yeah. Amazing.

-You wouldn't have looked forward to coming home in the state it was in?

-I used to dread coming home.

I used to stay as long as possible at work to avoid coming home.

I'm just so happy that it's all done now.

-Yeah, again...

-It's been a long time coming,

-but it's finally...

-It's finally over.

It's like the nightmare has ended.

'Before we brought in the good guys, this young family's house was a danger zone

'and they had suffered two life-threatening scares, courtesy of their callous cowboy.

'With all their cash gone, their dream was in tatters.

'But we've put life back on track by transforming their kitchen

'and giving them their vital second shower room.

'And I know they'll be delighted to finally have their garden back.'

Now then... OK, talk me through what you see now that has changed.

-I've got a roof.

-You've got no problems now with the gas

and with any water trying to get into the property.

-Crucial.

-Yeah.

-There's no rubbish.

-No rubbish.

-No rubbish.

The wall's built up and we don't have to somersault into the garden over rubble!

-Those steps are fantastic.

-Lovely.

-I love them.

We'll do the ceremonial walking of the steps.

-Up the steps and into the garden, rather than having to climb up blocks.

-I know.

'Before, the extension was a right eyesore.

'Now it's a thing of beauty.'

The whole thing is now complete.

-Windows... Job's a good 'un.

-Yeah.

-Looking forward to the future now?

-We are.

At least we don't have to fight over the bathroom in the mornings or in the evenings.

The kids can play in the garden.

They can come out in the garden. It's safer for them. And the cat. Even the cat was too scared to come out!

Because that looks so nice, I just want to get the rest of the garden all landscaped

and looking nice as well.

We'll leave that up to green-fingers Mudassar. I'm sure he'll enjoy doing that.

-It's got a new feel to it, the dream realised.

-It's thanks to you guys.

Without that, we'd still be sitting in the nightmare.

It's time for me to get in my Luton van, start getting one brown arm and flee the district.

-Thanks, guys.

-Thank you very much.

-See you soon.

-Bye.

'I'm so pleased to see this family happy again

'and I've no doubt that all the children will have hours of fun playing in their new garden.'

Once again, that's one up for the good guys and what a brilliant job they've done too!

But as for the Shahs, the builder they allowed into their property

didn't only do a bodged job, he did a lethal one.

He allowed carbon monoxide gases to pour out into the property

which could have killed them unless they'd got that alarm.

Talking of cowboy builders, I've got a message for you.

Don't look over your shoulder. We're right behind you!

If you've had a problem with builders and you'd like to tell your story on Cowboy Trap,

please call us on this number.

Or you can send us an email.

Help us round up the cowboys!

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2012