Episode 14 Cowboy Trap

Once again, I'm on the trail of cowboy builders.

This time, I've come north of the border to Scotland,

because there's no place in the UK that's immune

to dodgy building work.

It's never ever stopped dripping since the Saturday he left.

Never ever.

I'm out to show you how to put right the wrongs

these cowboy builders have done.

I was so sure the roof was going to come in,

and I just stood and watched it. Couldn't do anything. I froze.

You know, I'm still shocked,

even after all this time of hunting down cowboy builders,

just how easy it is for them to con people out

of their hard-earned cash.

It just shattered my life.

I never really got what I wanted.

Whether you're a native of the north or dwell down south,

nowhere is safe from their cowboy clutches.

I hope today that I can reveal some of the tricks of their trade,

so you know what to look out for,

and can avoid falling into the cowboy trap.

I'm here in beautiful Craigo in the county of Angus,

on the east coast of Scotland.

And I'm here to help a local lass whose life has been blighted

by a cowboy builder.

This end of terrace former council house is home to mum of four,

and grandmother of nine, Lorna Russell.

Former nurse and care worker Lorna retired nine years ago,

and now loves to spend her time gardening and doing crafts.

Figurines and gnomes are her passion.

It's always been a love of mine. I think I was good at it at school.

I can use them either for indoor statues

or outdoor garden statues or whatever.

But I don't sell anything! I just give them away.

I have the greatest of pleasure of giving them.

Lorna has suffered with arthritis for over 30 years.

As she gets older, managing the stairs is getting harder.

So she thought it was a good idea to convert a timber extension

she was using as a sitting room, into a downstairs bedroom.

Because my arthritis in the wintertime was really bad,

I decided to make it into a bedroom for me.

And there as one other addition to Lorna's wish list.

She wanted her new bedroom to have a bay window.

It was always a dream of mine to have a bay window,

because I had been, when I was younger,

in somebody's house with my mother, visiting.

And they had a bay window.

And I remember I went on tippytoes,

and we were looking out both sides of the window and having great fun.

And I thought, "Oh, that's what I would like." That's what I wanted.

In the autumn of 2008,

Lorna was ready to go ahead with the work,

and she felt she'd found the right builder.

But to be honest, alarm bells should've been ringing

right from the start.

I thought, "I'll phone up a few builders."

And I phoned up three.

And, er...one phoned back to say that he couldn't manage, he was busy.

Another one said it was too small a job.

And the third one said he could do it the following weekend,

so I chose him.

Unfortunately, Lorna didn't do any further research

on the builder she chose, and he was the only one she asked to quote for the job.

He came over to have a look and see what was going on,

and I asked him, "Could I possibly have, you know,

"just a nice bay window? That's all I want."

And he said, "Oh, that's no problem."

And I said, "OK, when can you start?"

And I knew I had the money saved up.

He sent he could start in a couple of weeks or something like that, which he did.

Lorna already had a timber potting shed built on the back of her home.

It had previously been converted into a sitting room with doors

connecting to the kitchen.

Her new plan to change it into a bedroom with a bay window

would mean extending the roof to cover the new window structure.

The builder quoted £1,650, and wanted £800 upfront,

with the rest on completion.

This was Lorna's first mistake.

The low price was attractive, but unrealistic.

Take my advice -

Only then can you get a realistic idea of the cost.

Remember, you get what you pay for!

Lorna accepted her builder's unrealistically low price,

and work began soon after.

he came over on a Saturday morning, he brought the wood

and he just started building.

He says, "How far do you want to go out?"

And I said, "Oh, I'm not wanting to go out very far, like, you know?"

So he just began working.

Not long after work had started, Lorna had a sinking feeling

that her dream bay window wasn't going according to plan.

The truth is, it was going horribly wrong.

The first thing I noticed when things were going wrong was one day

I was at the foot of the garden, and I looked out

and I saw this gaping hole.

And he was trying to do something to the roof. He was scratching his head.

He didn't know what to do, that's what I thought,

and I just thought, "I have a cowboy builder here."

Take my advice and avoid falling into the same trap.

If in doubt, do this before continuing with the job.

Lorna let her builder carry on with the job,

but it wasn't long before his bad practice began to show.

In the third week, there was water coming in,

cos it had been raining.

He came back to do some repairs to stop the water,

but it never really stopped.

Having already handed over half of the original quote,

Lorna did the right thing by holding back the next payment,

until the work was watertight.

I didn't give him the money,

and he was just not in a very good mood about it.

I said, "You have to make it watertight for me.

"It's still dripping with water."

He says, "Well, if you ask me to come back and you don't pay me money,

"I'm going to have to charge you more for this."

He came back on the Monday to try and fix it,

and he says that was the best he could do, and that was it.

Left the site.

Lorna sought advice, and was told not to give her blundering builder

any more cash until he fixed the problem.

But, not long after,

Lorna's water worries gave her an even bigger sinking feeling.

I just heard... It was like a scraping noise, and I looked,

and it was like in slow motion.

A long piece of paper came down with this huge piece of plasterboard,

and then I saw the fibreglass stuff dripping onto the floor into a pile.

And I was so sure the roof was going to come in.

And I just stood and watched it.

I couldn't do anything. I froze.

Lorna's heartless builder refused to return and fix the faulty roof

without being paid any more cash.

She felt like the whole job was a washout.

I was emptying it every day in the winter,

when there was icicles inside, and there was ice on the floor.

How could somebody do this and not repair their mess?

By ruining her home,

this tradesman had caused Lorna to become very depressed.

She lost all motivation to do any of the things she truly loved.

I gave up on the garden, I gave up on doing repairs

and things like that.

And my crafts...

I couldn't go into the sheds.

Getting worse by the day,

Lorna's leaky roof has now loomed over her for almost three years.

It's time to put a stop to this cowboy calamity.

I'm here to find out what we can do to help Lorna

and get her botched building work back on track.

DOORBELL CHIMES

Hello, you must be Lorna? How are you?

Ooh, you're dragging me in! I like that! I like that!

-How are you?

-I'm so pleased to see you!

-Really?

-I'm going to hug you!

-You want the hug already?!

-I do!

We'll have plenty of them! You'll have plenty of them...

Do you want to come in?

Well, yeah, please. It's a bit cold outside! If you don't mind!

Just point me in the direction of where the bad news is.

-Oh, right.

-It's right through here. Excuse the mess here.

-No, it's OK.

That's where it's come from, all through there. Do you see it?

Er, I see it, but...

-It's not safe.

-OK.

-I just wanted you to see.

-All right, well, you come back this way.

-Yes.

And I'll go and have a look.

'Aww, Lorna's welcome has warmed the cockles of my heart!'

Oh, no!

'But all of a sudden, I have a sinking feeling.'

You've got to be having a laugh!

What on Earth has been going on?

Whatever has been going on has been a complete disaster.

Pure weight is forcing that down.

These timbers are just no good now.

When they dry out, they'll warp all over the place, they'll move.

Look at all the spores and everything that's growing on this.

Look at that!

This whole thing's going to have to be stripped out.

The timber is just so... Look at this!

She's had to be living like this.

This is just chipboard that's on the floor.

Look. You'd go through that at any time.

I don't like the idea of this at all. I mean, look at this pooling of water.

Woah!

I'm not liking that at all.

We've got damp in these walls,

and a socket there that I need to check whether that's live.

If it's live, we need to isolate it straight away.

Now for the outside.

I need to uncover what's causing this rotten roof disaster.

What the heck has been going on?!

I've got to find out how long this has been up, for a start.

There's a valley! There's a valley!

This is raised too high for the actual flat roof itself.

What I can see there, it's tilted up into a V, into a valley,

and the water is all sitting in there.

There's no proper gulley, no way of getting that water off the roof.

Do you know why... It's found its way out,

and that is through the actual ceiling,

and caused so much damage.

I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like this before.

If that was designed to be a bay...

OK, it's in a bay shape, I'll give him that.

So, I'll tick the box, I'll give him one for that.

These are six doors that could've been like a French door, um,

and all he's done is battened them together.

See this ridiculous batten, look.

This is, like, to stop the doors opening, maybe.

It's just awful! That is just awful! What is it about?

Man! Confused is what I am.

The work on this botched bay window beggars belief,

and things aren't much better inside.

You see where this tiling is, here?

It's almost like a stone effect tiling, but it's blown off of here.

There will be a couple of reasons. One is that the adhesive,

it needs a bond on the timber, but above all else, it'll be because damp is coming through there

and it's just blown it off.

And if you're in the vicinity of that

and it clocks you one on the napper, you're going to know about it!

I really don't know what this befuddled builder was thinking.

I'm hoping Lorna will be able to shed a little light

on the situation.

I've got to be honest with you, I do not want you going,

as of today, as of this very minute...

-See this threshold here?

-Mm-hmm.

-That's as far as I want you to go until this has been sorted out now. OK?

-Yeah.

It's a dangerous area here and it's unsafe.

This room is in such a state,

it's hard to see what Lorna actually wanted from it.

I decided to make this into a bedroom for myself.

-OK.

-And I got the builder to come and have a look to see

if I could have a nice bay window put in.

And this is what I've got!

It is in the shape of a bay, I'll give him that,

but that's not a bay window.

-That's just a series of doors put together.

-Yeah.

They're a series of doors you can get off the shelf at a DIY store.

This builder's rotten choice left Lorna with a decaying disaster

of a bay window.

If you're DIY-ing and can't see the wood for the trees,

then take my top tip.

Get to a timber yard.

They'll help you choose the wood that's good.

It was obvious to all that the problem with the roof was

her so-called builder extended it without putting in supports, roof supports.

So that's why it collapsed.

The thing I'm interested in is the bay window.

It's what she dreamt of. She wanted a bay window making.

So he decided to go and get a series of interior half-glazed doors,

exactly the same as these.

He was going to then design, and as I've tried to do here,

create the bay.

Problem was, of course, these were internal doors.

Of course, with interior doors, they're a real lightweight construction.

Exterior doors are made far more solidly.

And, of course, from a security point of view,

all these are plywood panels.

A burglar or would-be burglar could just break into them a doddle.

Just kick 'em in and they're in the house.

Here is the top tip.

If you want a bay window, get a bay window made specific,

bespoke, for your property.

These were just hopeless for the job.

Back at Lorna's, I'm still trying to figure out what her cowboy builder's

been up to.

Cos he's had to do a bay,

-then he's had to extend the actual roof itself.

-Yes, mm-hmm.

But what he's actually done is, rather than carry on the fall line

so that you would reduce the height, it's gone like a V.

That's right, like a pond on the top.

-Correct. And that's what's carrying this water.

-It never goes away!

Well, it certainly doesn't, not when it's filling up rubbish buckets like that.

There's gallons of water in there.

I want to speak to somebody from the local council, building control,

and find out what their actual regulation would be to cover this.

And I'll get some insight and find out if he should've applied

for building regs, because it is a living space.

-You've changed it. It's just a change of use.

-I know.

It's changed from what would've been somewhere to grow your plants,

to somewhere where somebody's going to sleep and live.

Neither Lorna or her builder had applied for a building warrant.

If you're planning a build, take my advice.

Regulations vary across the UK, so you must check requirements

with your local authority before starting any work.

As I look around it, it's just in such a dangerous state,

and when I say dangerous, just stay where you are,

because I just want to show you what I mean here.

For instance, you can see all these spores here,

where the moisture's travelled along.

If you'd got a trickle of water coming down

and through the socket,

and it makes a complete line through the socket

into this patch of water here,

unless you're wearing your wellies or any rubber soles,

you've got yourself a new hairstyle at the very best.

It is a conductor of electricity, water.

They don't make good bedfellows,

and you could've been in some real danger.

One thing we do need to do is make sure it's isolated.

This is a standard plug in tester and this will tell me

a couple of things.

First of all, that it's wired right and there's no short, but also -

I'm just going to switch that on - it tells me that it's live.

That socket is actually live.

It's fine, in terms of the way it's been wired and its continuity,

but it shouldn't be where there's water concerned,

that's for sure.

So, things like that worry the heck out of me.

This has been like this for way too long and needs addressing, fast.

We need to get it sorted quickly.

So, for now, we're going to back off.

I'm definitely going to seal this area off, and job's going to be...

-Yeah, make it safe.

-Yeah, make it safe. Definitely.

Coming up, I call in building control

to advise us on the best way forward, and hear their view

of this shoddy job.

There's nothing here that can be retained.

There's nothing of any worthwhile merit in being left.

And Lorna reveals the true depths of her despair.

I've cried a lot. Buckets full, like that.

For the last ten years,

house-proud Lorna Russell has lived in her home in Craigo, Scotland.

Lorna's dream since childhood has been to have a bay window.

When arthritis made climbing the stairs difficult,

she decided to add a bay to a former potting shed

she was converting into a downstairs bedroom.

Lorna was originally quoted £1,650 for the work,

and shelled out £800 upfront.

But she was left at risk when her badly built roof

and ceiling caved in.

For three years, she's lived with this depressing devastation.

I want to hear her story of how things turned out like this.

How did you, then, Lorna, go about finding your builder?

Somebody who could do the job?

Well, I tried three different builders.

Well done.

And the one that did the work, he was available at weekends only.

So he's probably working for someone in the week,

and he's saying to you, "I can do this as a sideline job...

-Yeah.

-"..on a weekend."

-That's right.

-Did that sort of sound any alarm bells to you then,

or were you just happy that you'd got somebody to do it?

I didn't find him to be dishonest with me.

It wasn't my business anyway to know what he was doing.

-Did he say how long it would take?

-Three weekends.

-Three weekends?

-Three weekends, he'd do it.

Were you happy with the way work started

and what he was hoping to do for you?

Sometimes he was standing scratching his head, worried about it, you know?

I was looking, I would be sitting here and I would see him there,

and I just thought to myself,

"Gosh, there's something surely going wrong," you know?

And I went down into the garden and I could see the sagging in the roof.

So it seems that the work was already looking suspect.

And when the bungling builder claimed he'd finished,

what did Lorna make of her new window?

Were you happy with the bay window?

I mean, it's not really a bay window. It's a series of doors.

No, I have to be honest.

When I saw it, you know, completed, I was pleased with it.

The new timber, I was going to stain it.

-You liked it?

-I did.

New wood. And it was a shape like that

but it wasn't as thick as this one here. That's what I noticed.

By using interior doors to build the window,

the room was never going to be warm or safe.

But there was a bigger problem.

The funny thing is, once it was up, it was leaking. I said that to him.

I phoned him and asked him to come over.

He came over and ripped off other stuff. It was thin as paper.

-You mean the felt?

-Yes.

-He was ripping the roof felt off?

-Yes. The water was still coming in.

There was not a complete seal.

He had this big bottle of gas that was sitting on the roof.

I said, "Do you want something to stand on because the roof is sagging".

He said, "No, no, it's going to be all right. I'll fix it.

"If you have my money on Saturday, it will be all right. I'll be finished today, even."

However, I didn't go for the money, it was just something I didn't do.

There was a nagging doubt in the back of your mind

that the job that this guy was doing was substandard.

When did the first lot of roof fall off? The plasterboard panel?

I was sitting here and I just thought I heard something.

It was like a creaking noise.

I looked out of the corner of my eye

and saw this thing going slowly down on the floor.

It was the plasterboard attached to the wallpaper.

-It was hanging with the wallpaper?

-Yes.

A big piece and then all of a sudden, it started just to come down.

-Did you phone your builder?

-Oh yeah, regular.

He said, if I paid the 850, he would replace it.

But he said he would need more money to come back and repair it

because he had tried to repair it.

That's when I took professional advice.

-What professional advice was that?

-The first thing I did was go to CAB.

-Citizen's Advice.

-Yes.

-They were very helpful.

Getting advice is the best thing to do

the moment you realise something isn't right.

Here are my tips -

Lorna took the expert advice and didn't hand over the remaining £850.

But this didn't go down well with the builder and it seemed to aggravate his wife.

His wife came up to the door and threatened me. She was worse.

She threatened to come and pull it down because I hadn't paid the £850.

So, you are having the confrontation at the door.

-Did you feel really vulnerable, as well?

-Yes.

I was told not to speak to her if she came back.

"Don't open the door, speak to her through the door and tell her to get off my property."

She was told not to come back by CAB. It got stopped.

I've cried a lot, buckets full, like that.

It was just a dreadful time.

Lorna's really suffered due to this botch job.

Sadly, her bay window dream has been quashed by building control.

Adding a deep window structure to the size of the existing room, is too big for building regulations.

She's now had architect's plans drawn up for large panel windows instead.

I want to find out how we can help.

I want to put things right for you.

Tell me what you would like us to do with that area.

I want a bedroom, a single bed

and because of building rules, I can't have a bay window.

So, the architect has made it straight along to match.

-OK, I'll take a look at those plans.

-Yes.

-I want you to stay away from it. I don't want you to take a look at it.

-I won't.

I want it to be a nice, big surprise when we show what we can do. How's that?

-Brilliant.

-All right?

-Yes.

-A nice smile on your face.

-Thank you.

There's no doubt that this job bears all the trademarks of a cowboy builder.

I've invited along independent chartered surveyor, Keith Moir,

to assess the work and I can't wait to see what he's got to say about it.

You have had a look around, what sort of opinion have you got of the work that has been carried out?

The joiner has created a bay window effect on the end here.

But in doing so, he has removed the load-bearing element from the timber rafters

which held up the roof.

There has been a major deflection of the roof timbers

which is allowing water ingress

to take place within the ceiling of the house.

For the work you've seen - I am talking about the additional bay window -

what mark out of 10 would you give the guy that has carried it out?

The work that has been carried out is fairly poor.

It has resulted in the damage and the loss of support for the roof.

So, it would be a 0 or a 1 out of 10.

Keith, great to see you. Thanks very much for your input, it's invaluable to us.

-Okay, Clive. I will let you carry on having a look.

-Thank you.

It really doesn't get much worse than this.

I am going to declare this area a definite no-go zone.

I'm taping the area off and I think it's time to call in the good guys.

Head builder Vic is coming along today to look at the job

so we can decide on a plan of action.

-Hey, you must be Vic.

-Pleased to see you, Clive.

Mate, we're so glad that the good guys are in town.

Normally, we have to peel back the layers of cowboy builders

but there are no layers to peel back this time. We can see it all for ourselves.

What I want to know from you is, because this has been such a state for a while,

what sort of plan have you got to put it right?

I think the only plan is to totally demolish it.

I think the only course of action is to take the roof off,

take it away from here,

put in a new foundation and start again.

What is it going to entail? What materials are we using

and what sort of things will we be doing?

We'll dig out a new foundation, find out what's underneath here,

build a foundation, then we'll joist it, suspend insulation,

put up the timber frame, put on the roof.

And then we'll put in the windows again, the blockwork cladding,

the timber frame with rough cast, decoration and that's it.

Great, she has been so down for such a long time on this.

So, bringing in the good guys is going to make sure that she's going to be chuffed, I know it.

I can sense it already.

I've also called in local building standard officer Mike

to guide us on the rules and regulations going forward.

-Ah, tell you what, I thought so, is this Mike?

-Yeah.

-Come in, Mike.

Come and join us.

You're a building controller, building standards officer.

-You know the history of this story.

-Yes.

-Does it look any different from the last time you came?

It looks slightly worse. A good bit worse in fact.

We had concerns about the structure,

they have been proved to be true now.

Obviously, it was originally a place for growing plants and flowers.

Did the builder apply for a change of use? Can you remember if he did?

No. That's never happened. I think that is where all the problems have started.

If he'd applied for permission and got permission, because the building standards is pre-emptive.

You get your paperwork sorted out first and then you carry out a construction.

This is where it has fallen down.

-This is where you issue the build warrant?

-Correct.

It is interesting because she wanted a bay window.

But it's the structure of it that is just ridiculous.

That is where our initial concerns were. They have proven to be true.

The building doesn't have a lot of structural integrity at all.

From what we can see, you are better starting again. There's nothing that can be retained.

Thanks again, Vic, and thanks Mike for coming in. Cheers.

Later, I tried to get some answers from this elusive cowboy.

What do you think you did well on the extension?

Because I will be honest with you, I couldn't find anything that was right.

And I can't wait to see the look on Lorna's face

when she sees her new bedroom.

I think I'm going to faint.

In Craigo, Angus,

Lorna Russell's bay window dream lies in tatters.

Her callous cowboy took £800

but left with a leaking roof and dangerous electrics.

Armed with a building warrant, the good guys have been going full steam ahead

to turn Lorna's dream back to reality.

While they crack on with the job, I want to take the cowboy builder to task

for the botched work he carried out in the first place.

Not to mention the misery it has caused poor Lorna.

She's had to face the disappointment of the original job,

has been threatened by the builder's wife

and been living with the consequences for the past three years.

I am going to speak to him on the phone, hopefully, if he answers his phone

and I'd like to pitch a couple of questions at him.

But I would like a couple from you too.

If you could think of a couple of questions.

Just, why didn't you come back and try again?

That is what you do isn't it? If you make a mistake, you correct it.

But, he just seemed to give up.

We have got to give him a right of reply.

Let's hope he answers the phone.

I'll pitch a couple of those questions to him.

I've got a few questions of my own.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

But I can't ask any questions if he won't answer the phone.

Cowboy builders are notorious for avoiding phone calls.

I've got an answerphone.

Hello, it's Clive Holland here from BBC's Cowboy Trap.

I am with Lorna, lovely Lorna in Craigo.

We have got a few questions that we would like to ask you.

The first one is from Lorna, really. Why didn't you come back?

She was giving you the opportunity to come back and complete the work.

From my point of view, I have got umpteen questions to ask.

One is, what do you think you did well on the extension?

Cos I will be honest with you, I couldn't find anything that was right.

You left this poor woman in a real dangerous situation.

We await your call. Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.

'I am disappointed to only get the builder's answering machine

'but I do have a solicitor's response to discuss with Lorna.'

His lawyer has been in touch with our production team.

Obviously, as they usually do, they are denying everything.

What he is saying is,

there wasn't enough money to get the job done right.

-I don't understand that.

-He quoted, didn't he?

-Yes.

The original quote was £1,650.

And you paid him £800 upfront, am I right?

He never mentioned anything about extra money

or the job was too big. He didn't think it was a problem.

He gave me a price and said he would see to everything.

For me, for him to be coming back

and say there wasn't enough money in the pot.

I'm sorry, but if you were quoted that price to do the job properly,

and within the regulations, then get the job done right.

Thanks for sitting with us.

Hopefully he'll get back to us in the future.

We've just got to hope and pray that everybody that's watching today

does their research thoroughly and they won't fall

into the same trap as you and many people like you.

I thought I was clever enough but unfortunately for me, I wasn't.

'While Lorna deals with the upset of the builder's claims,'

the good guys are finding a solution

to the problems caused by his shoddy work.

With new walls, a watertight roof and double glazed windows,

Lorna's dream of a downstairs bedroom is within reach.

I can't wait to see inside.

It's nice to be back at lovely Lorna's.

I know the work is just off to my right.

I daren't have a look, I don't know why.

I know our good guys always make it good but here goes,

-because it was such a mess.

-HE LAUGHS

Now that's what I'm talking about! Come on!

LAUGHS

What a difference! I can't believe it!

The last time I was in here, the roof was falling in,

there was water everywhere and the thing was just falling to pieces.

I mean it just...

It is just a completely different room altogether.

No bay, we've got no bay.

I know Lorna wanted a bay.

Those windows look great!

Oh, I know she's going to be chuffed with this.

I think we'd better go have a look outside.

Oh, now that's a surprise.

Now that is a surprise.

In here before, if you remember,

we've got the windows that were looking through

and there was all those big tiles on here.

That had been falling off and was really dangerous.

That is a lovely finish. That is a fantastic finish.

It just makes a whole world of difference.

Not only has it affected the main bedroom

but it's now affected this conservatory.

It's given this wall a real good finish.

It's added to it.

Straightaway!

I remember before we had slabs down here that were all broken.

Obviously, the guys have taken that up

and put some decorative stone down.

That was not in the remit, by the way, for Vic and his boys.

It's just a world of difference.

That looks amazing and it's got a sort of reflection

to the original conservatory as well, in terms of the timber.

Fantastic roof on it and look at this,

we've got a two-coat render going on here.

Here in Scotland this is called harling.

It's a stone finished render. That looks amazing. It really does.

That's incredible.

You know, it's times like these it just makes your heart sing,

that the good guys are out there.

As I look at that, it reminds me almost like a Scottish salmon

rising up in the air, heading the ball, back of the net!

I can't wait to show Lorna.

But before I do, there's one guy who deserves a big pat on the back.

-You builders have to do all the titivation as well.

-Oh, yes.

What an amazing difference!

I mean, a few weeks ago,

this was nothing more than a broken down shed.

That's all it was. Aye.

What were the things that were the main problem with the take-down?

We took it down in a day and then we just had to dig everything out

and get down to the hard foundation and start again.

It wasn't too difficult to come down.

The electrics were really dodgy and now everything is looking great

so you've had the electricians in to sort that out.

You've sorted out the roof as well. It looks a fantastic job.

I'm proud of it anyway, Vic. That's for sure.

-We will be as well.

-Thanks, Vic. Great to meet you.

-Nae bother.

That just leaves one job for me to do.

Lorna, this is the bit that I love

because the good guys have been in and done their work.

I've seen it and I'm suitably excited. How are you feeling?

-Very excited.

-Very excited.

-Yeah. Absolutely.

What are you hoping for now?

What are you hoping to see round the corner?

That I've got my dream, and that's my bedroom.

I hope we can make that dream come true. I really do.

So take my hand, missus. Shall we go?

-Yeah, sure.

-Come on. Follow me.

This is a totally different world.

-What do you think?

-Fantastic. It really is. I love the colour.

So chuffed!

-My friends will be jealous!

-Will they?

-Yeah!

And the neighbours will be coming in.

Look at my trees, still kept.

I heard a lot of dust and I heard the saw going

and it was this he must have been cutting.

It must've been. He's re-dressed this whole outside.

-It looks so much better, doesn't it?

-Oh, doesn't it.

Now we've got to have a look what it looks like on the inside

and I hope you're going to be happy with what we've

-done on the inside because well, let me just show you.

-Yeah.

After you.

My gosh! Look at that!

-Do you remember before, that had your windows in?

-It did!

And it had tiles that were falling off the wall.

The only thing is now you can't see into that particular room

but I don't suppose you mind, do you?

-Not at all. No, no.

-Now for the big one. Shall we go and see your room?

-Yeah.

-Carry on.

SHE GIGGLES This is great!

Wow!

-Oh, my bed will go there.

-The bed's here, the bed's here.

My French dresser is going here and my chest of drawers is going there.

Isn't that something. SHE SNIFFS

-Hey.

-Oh, boy.

I think I'm going to faint!

HE GIGGLES Oh, thank you, Clive.

What do you think about this? You've got a new floor.

-Roof.

-Roof. Walls.

-I know.

-Now, you haven't got the bay that you originally wanted.

No. But I like that. I do.

The cactus will hang lovely there.

And look at my look-out as well.

-That is beautiful.

-Still see the garden.

When I think about the little potting shed I was so proud of,

and loved, and made plants and it's come to this, finally.

-It's just... Well, you know.

-Is this your dream?

It is.

In terms of getting your life back on track and,

and feeling much better, does this help?

Absolutely. There's nobody else getting this room. It's my room.

I'll never stop sleeping in here, probably never come out of it!

Somewhere where you're really up there on the chuffometer.

-The very top.

-The very top of the chuffometer.

No wonder. What a difference!

Lorna's bedroom dream was a dripping disaster zone

but we transformed it into a watertight room with a view.

And to top it all off,

Mike Miller from the local building standards office

has returned with an all-important legal document

that will be the cherry on top.

Mike, are you there? Will you just come in for a sec?

We've got one happy lady, here.

Just tell us what exactly the plan is now in terms

of getting the documentation so that Lorna can sign?

What you've got to do is fill out this actual completion certificate.

You submit that to us to say that as far as you're aware,

the works have been completed in accordance with the approved plans.

-I'll agree with that. So excited I'm shaking. Yeah!

-Congratulations.

I'm going to now depart.

Before you go, could you let me go and do one thing? Would you mind?

-You want to do one thing. OK.

-I want to do one thing.

-You want to do one thing.

-I'll just be a minute.

-I'll come back in a minute.

-I'm worried, now, Mike.

So, thanks. This is a really happy day.

I'm, I'm sorry you're going!

-You're sorry I'm going! I'll stick around for a bit then, eh?

-Look.

Put the kettle on, eh? Oh! Hey, I'll tell you what...

-I've been in the shed.

-He's slimmer than me!

-And me!

Slimmer than me.

-It's got Clive on there.

-Do you like it?

Do I like it? I love it!

-I'm loving it. I'm loving that. Thank you.

-You're welcome.

I'll leave you to it. I'll leave you to have a look around.

-It's been a real pleasure.

-Thank you so much.

-You take care.

Safe journey. Thank you, Lorna.

Aw, there's no place like GNOME.

At last, Lorna's dream of a downstairs bedroom is a reality.

Really chuffed that Lorna

has got the bedroom she always dreamed of and hopefully,

she can put her bad builder experience behind her.

Remember, always do your research on your builder,

otherwise you're going to end up in exactly the same situation.

But I also have a message for all cowboy builders out there.

Look out, because we're on your trail.

If you've had a problem with builders

and you would like to tell your story on Cowboy Trap,

please call us.

Help us round up the cowboys.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd