Episode 15 Cowboy Trap

I'm back on the road, closing in on cowboy builders whose dodgy work is a real eyesore to look at.

And they bring endless grief to the lives and homes of unsuspecting victims.

I feel really, really badly let down.

We can't afford this kind of thing to happen.

I'm on a mission to help these unfortunate homeowners

and see what I can do to get them back on track.

I think he was taking advantage of me, thinking, "You're old, so you're daft."

Along the way, I will give you loads of hints and tips in the hope

that it will help prevent you from falling into the Cowboy Trap.

Today, we're travelling across Britain to meet two sets of home owners,

both of whom fell into the cowboy trap

when they hired builders who didn't have the right skills the job.

All Barbara McQuirk wanted was a shiny new shower room.

She certainly didn't expect her money to be flushed away on a bodge-job bathroom.

I thought, "That's horrible."

It's not even square. I felt gutted. I felt I'd been had.

And I meet Doris and Gordon Reid, who felt their world begin to crumble

when their garden wall started falling apart.

For two years past, that is not good enough.

My quest starts in the north-west of England.

Ooh, I do like to be beside the seaside.

The cowboy trail finds me in Morecambe, Lancashire,

a place famous for many things, including its ferry port

and the 11th-century stone graves that overlook Morecambe Bay.

Maybe that was a place where they buried their cowboy builder of the day!

Morecambe is also home to pensioner Barbara McQuirk.

Barbara grew up in nearby Barrow-in-Furness and, after living

in various towns around the country, was drawn back to her old stomping ground.

The bay is the opposite side to where I used to live.

And you've got the lovely, small places all around the bay.

It's beautiful. I used to come from Barrow to Morecambe to dance on a Saturday.

That's not the only entertaining that went on in Morecambe.

One of the town's most famous sons borrowed the name

and put this seaside town on the showbiz map.

Now, Eric Morecambe here, and his partner Ernie Wise, brought

a lot of sunshine, laughter and love into people's lives.

Unlike Barbara's plumber, who just brought sadness.

Barbara moved to her new home two years ago.

She has a tough old time

and suffers with arthritis, asthma, and diabetes.

So she wanted some renovations done to make life a bit easier.

Her dream was to have a beautiful tiled bathroom with a shower.

I had a vision of a bathroom where I could go in

and it would be warm.

I wanted it to be easy for me to use.

I thought, if I had it tiled, it would be easy to keep clean.

Because Barbara was fairly new to the town, when she decided to go ahead with her bathroom build,

she needed help in finding a contractor.

She'd made some friends in the local neighbourhood,

so asked around for some suggestions.

On hearing that one of the tradesmen was a local fella

and just about to start his own company, Barbara thought she'd give him a chance,

so she asked him if he would give her a dream bathroom.

He said he was just starting out. I thought it's good for people starting out, give them a hand.

Giving new starts a chance can be risky. Take my advice.

Expertise comes with practice,

so it's better to hire an experienced contractor.

Check your builder's credentials

and make sure they are qualified to take on the work.

They shouldn't be learning on your job.

Barbara wanted a totally redesigned bathroom with a new shower,

incorporating a seat, basin, toilet and tiling throughout.

The plumber was reluctant at first to come up with a cost,

but he eventually quoted around £2,500.

Barbara took out a bank loan for two-and-a-half grand to pay for the work.

It was due to take two weeks and started in June 2010.

He didn't ask me what I wanted.

He said, "When I finish, Barbara, you'll have a lovely bathroom

"and you'll be pleased."

I said, "Well, as long as it works and it's nice, I'll be happy."

As the bathroom work progressed,

the plumber decided to sub-contract a tiler and an electrician.

When the tiler arrived to start work, Barbara was in for a shock.

He didn't have the right equipment for the job. Not even tile spacers!

Alarm bells should have been ringing.

I thought, "Why come to do a job when you haven't got any spacers?"

If you're tiling, you know what you want.

Barbara didn't listen to her instincts.

She kept paying the builders and allowed them

to continue work for three weeks.

So what did she think of the end result?

It looked all right at first.

It's only when you sit down and notice things. "That wood there is sticking out."

"That's not even a close fit."

I thought, "My God, that's horrible."

Barbara was left with a shoddy shower,

terrible tiling and problematic pipes.

She might as well have flushed her two-and-a-half grand down the dodgy-fitting drain.

I'm still paying the loan off

with an awful bathroom!

That upsets me.

Maybe I can help out.

I think it's time to meet Barbara and see

if I can put this botched bathroom back on track.

DOOR BELL RINGS

-Hello.

-Hello. Now you must be Barbara?

-Yes, I am.

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

-I heard you've had problems with one or two trades who came to sort your bathroom out.

-Yes.

-Do you mind if I take a look?

-No.

-Great. You had to think about that!

Come on, then.

-Whereabouts...? Ooh, I can see.

-This is the bathroom.

This is the bathroom. OK. All right. You go and sit down. I'm going to have a nosy round.

First of all, straight away with the tiles, it's rare to have grout gap

like this of around about... I think that's eight mil.

It's way too wide. This is normally what you'd use for a floor.

You can see where they're wodged in there. They've just filled it.

It just looks horrible.

They've just filled it in with grout anywhere they can

and the trim around the window reveal, they've tried their best

to do a mitre joint, top and bottom around the trim, but as they got to the bottom,

they've thought, "Won't bother, just whack it on."

It does look bad.

And look at the state of that.

That tile there, for instance, that's not been cut with a proper tile cutter.

In terms of the plumbing, the way the waste pipe goes

away from the sink, it doesn't look like it's got a decent fall line.

That must be getting clogged up pretty bad.

One of the important things for me, looking at the towel rail,

and looking at the pipe work,

if any electrical work has gone on in here,

there is no visible earth bonding at all.

That'd worry me, so I need to get an electrician to take a look.

'Without earth bonding,

'the metal pipes in this bathroom put Barbara at risk.'

So, potential, again, for electrocution - high.

It looks like an odd-jobber to me, this.

Certainly not professionals that have done this job.

I think there is more going on beneath the surface.

Do you know, the work in that bathroom really stinks.

I think it's time for me to find out exactly what Barbara had in mind.

How did you get quotes and what did you want doing?

I wanted a nice bathroom putting in, with a shower,

and a seat in the shower.

So I went to see this friend of mine and he gave me three names.

And so I rang the three up and they all came out to see

and said they'd get in touch with me.

-He was only one who got in touch.

-What did you ask him to do?

I told him I wanted the bath taking out and a shower putting in instead.

Tell me the reason you chose this particular plumber again.

He'd also moved a radiator in the conservatory for me and lowered it.

And he did a lovely job.

He was polite and everything.

I thought, "What harm can he be?"

'Trusting this plumber was Barbara's first mistake.

'Her next was over money.'

-Did you take out the £2,500 loan?

-Yes.

In advance of getting quotes?

-Yes.

-Therefore how did you know how much it was going to cost?

I thought if it cost less, I could spend it on something else.

-Did you tell your plumber how much money you'd got?

-Yes.

Right, OK, this is ever so important.

If you say how much you've got, you've already fallen into the cowboy trap.

It's always best to just keep shtoom, let them do a quote

and then sort out your loan after that.

'Surprise, surprise, the plumber quoted the full amount of £2,500.

'He wasted no time starting the job.'

What happened when he said you need the tiling work doing,

did he say he was going to bring in a qualified tiler?

He didn't say "qualified". He said, "I know someone who can do it."

And it turns out... I think it was his friend.

Didn't you at any stage look at them and go, "That looks awful."?

It was only afterwards I saw how big the gaps were

and where the gaps were and the outlets were, how bad it was.

Did you ever try and contact the plumber to say,

-"I need you to put these right."?

-Yeah.

He didn't get back to me. You knew you were on a hiding to nothing.

At that stage, that dream bathroom that you'd always had in your mind...?

It was in the ether.

I just wanted that shower. I really wanted a shower. I needed a shower.

What I'd like to do is bring that dream back to reality.

-I'd like you to tell me what you would like.

-Tiles that fit.

When you move the lid off the toilet,

it would be grouted under there.

And where the outlet goes, the toilet and the sink, it would be fitted around it.

-Things like that.

-Would that make you happy?

It would be well on the way to it.

-I haven't got somebody to wash my back yet!

-Have you not?

-HE CHUCKLES

-I'll see if I can get somebody organised for that.

-58, about.

-OK.

-I don't want somebody old.

-OK.

-I can't wait to show you the finished work.

-That'd be wonderful.

-Is that agreed?

-Mm.

-Brilliant.

-That'd be superb.

Later, I'll be calling in an independent chartered surveyor

to give his judgment on the bathroom botch.

It's quite poorly done.

Now I'm heading north of the border to the beautiful Aberdeenshire countryside,

where a garden wall isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I'm in the picturesque town of Laurencekirk,

just south of Aberdeen, in Scotland.

It's a place of only 2,000 locals, so everyone knows your name

and it also has great civic pride.

This was the perfect patch to set up a dream home for finance administrator Doris Reid

and her husband, warehouse worker Gordon.

For over 30 years,

Doris and Gordon Reid had lived and worked in Aberdeen city centre.

But, in planning for retirement, they bought a plot of land

with stunning views of the Aberdeenshire countryside.

I'd always hankered after living in the country.

This was a good balance of country life to city life.

In 2007, the developer finished the couple's home.

They moved in and were delighted.

All they needed to complete their dream was a beautiful garden

with a wall at the back to tie in with the house.

We decided to have it landscaped

and we didn't really want to put a wooden fence up,

because it takes a lot of maintenance, it's not weatherproof.

I thought it'd hide the view. What's the point in being in the country,

having a view that we have and hiding it?

Doris and Gordon spoke to a friend who'd recently had their garden done.

They recommended a local landscaper,

so the couple called him round for a quote.

I said I want a wall. "Not a problem," he said.

"My brother's a builder, he works for me,

"so we can do the wall, as well."

Doris and Gordon's outside objective was for a gorgeous garden

complete with turfed lawn, patio, fencing to the side

and a wall along the back.

The landscaper quoted £3,200 for a ten-day turnaround

to create their dream garden, including the rear wall.

Neither Doris nor Gordon could afford to take any time off work

to supervise the builder, but they trusted him.

They knew it was going to cost thousands, and he told them it would take ten days to build.

It eventually took ten weeks.

Warning bells should have been ringing

when their neighbours alerted them to the reason for the hold-up.

Neighbours had said about the timing and I was quite angry about it,

but, because I wasn't actually here,

seeing what time he arrived and left, I didn't feel I could go

and say, "Hang on a minute, I know you haven't been here till 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock."

Obviously, it wasn't whole days.

Doris and Gordon put the delays down to bad weather,

but their neighbours, and their own instincts, were telling them otherwise.

Take my advice, if you notice something wrong,

stop the work immediately.

Tell your builder your concerns and, if necessary, put them in writing.

Don't hand over any cash until the problems are resolved.

Ten weeks into what was supposed to be a ten-day job, the work was finished.

The Reids were pleased to have the job done, so settled up in full.

At this time, we were very pleased with it.

It looked well, it blended in with the house.

But just 18 months later, and after the worst of the Aberdeenshire winter weather,

Gordon realised he had a problem.

I noticed some of the pebble dashing had come off the wall.

Then I noticed there were hairline cracks going down the height of the wall.

I looked over the other side, which is on the lane side,

and the cracking was very much more significant.

Gordon and Doris tried repeatedly to contact their builder

by phone and by letter, but he never replied

and he left the wall to crumble.

And, just like their dreams, it's falling apart.

I think I cried for days. I was just so devastated

once it started deteriorating, and deteriorating fast.

Less than two years after handing over more than three grand

for their ideal garden, the Reids are left with whopping wall woes.

The roughcast is coming off,

the decorative coping stones on top of the wall are loose,

and colossal cracks are appearing.

Doris and Gordon are distraught.

I feel really, really badly let down, because,

not only is the wall starting to look like an eyesore,

um, but it's costing us again.

We can't afford this kind of thing to happen. It's a big thing to get a wall done.

It's time for me to meet the Reids and find out what we can do to help.

DOOR BELL RINGS

-Morning.

-Morning.

-You must be Doris?

-I am.

-How are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-You must be young Gordon?

-I am, sir.

-How are you, all right?

-Yeah.

-I hear you have problems with a garden wall.

-Yes.

-Do you mind if I have a look at it?

-You have a look.

-I'll have a chat later.

-Sure.

-But I want to see it for myself first. See you in a little while.

-Yes. OK.

Thank you.

Beautiful views for a start. Roughcast wall, on the face of it, looks OK.

Let's take a closer look.

OK, so we're only one brick thick. Copers.

Now this roughcast, first of all, not thick enough.

It should be three-quarter inches thick.

I'm not happy about the thickness of that.

Once the rain gets in behind that roughcast,

then the water freezes in the winter

and it blows it out like it's done there.

Looks like somebody's had a little dig down.

Foundations are important when it comes to a wall like this

and it doesn't look very deep at all.

When you're building a wall like this, in terms of foundations,

you need to be 50% wider than the width of the wall itself.

You need to go about a foot deep, as well.

The coper, again, as you look at that, it's not seated correctly.

You've got grooves just under the coper itself,

but, in the middle of that, should be a nice mortar bed to sit that coper on.

This is virtually flush with the roughcast.

A couple of years and this will look really bad.

Looking now, through your TV screen, you might think,

"That looks quite a nice wall."

Up close and personal, it's a bit like me - doesn't look good at all!

It's clear to me that this is a poor job,

so I want Doris and Gordon to shed more light on their wall of worry.

Foundations-wise, what foundations have you got?

SHE LAUGHS

He's put one block on its side, I think, and just built on top.

I don't think he's even done that. Because,

at the other side of the wall, you can put your foot under the hole at the other side.

You can put your foot under it.

What sort of traffic do you get down this lane?

We get approximately 12, maybe 14, water tankers a day,

because there are a water sewage works at the bottom of the road.

You're going to get road movement,

so you are going to get ground movement.

Again, over a period of time,

this is going to break off and fall off,

whether it's the winter, the vibration, or the fact it's not seated properly.

If this had been after 20 years, I would have said, "OK, fair enough.

-"We've had use out of it." But for two years past.

-No.

That is not good enough.

-The hard, cold facts are, you know this wall's got to come down?

-BOTH: Yes.

There's no way this wall can stay up.

For as much as we're devastated at the state of the wall,

I think, really, what's more important is the safety aspect,

because kids come down here on their bikes.

I would hate to think that anybody would get hurt.

You know? That would be worse than ever.

I dread to think of these heavy coping stones,

or parts of this wall, falling on children and passers-by.

So we need to get it down fast,

but I want to find out more about the landscaper

who landed them with this bodge job.

Doris said to him, "We can get a builder in to do the wall side of it.

-Mm-hm.

-"Because you're a landscape gardener."

-A good shout from Doris.

-Yep.

-He said, "No, that's OK, my brother works for me and he's a bricklayer."

-It wouldn't be a problem.

You know, whoever your main contractor brings in as a subcontractor,

he should be aware of the qualities of their work.

Because he is responsible.

If your builder is sub-contracting part the job, listen up.

The contractor is responsible and accountable

for any work done by sub-contractors.

But it's still advisable to research anyone doing work on your property.

Sadly, Doris and Gordon trusted their landscaper.

But when did they first realise things were going wrong?

There wasn't really any alarm bells ringing,

apart from the length of time he was taking to complete the work.

-Yes.

-We originally got quoted ten working days.

When it ran into ten weeks, come the seventh or eighth week,

he would stay for an hour and then away somewhere else.

To take ten weeks, from ten days, the original quote, is crazy.

After ten weeks, the build was finally finished

and the couple liked what they saw.

But just a year-and-a-half later, the wall,

and their peace of mind, started to crack.

In between the coping stones, one or two, there was no cement.

Where's the cement gone?

When you did realise it was that bad, Doris,

how did it make you feel?

I was frustrated, angry, tearful,

you know, I was in a state.

So I called his mobile and his home number

over a period of maybe six weeks about 30 times.

-Never got any answer.

-What would be your dream for that area now?

I just want it to be 100% perfect.

Are we agreeing it's a rip-it-up-and-start-again job?

-Absolutely.

-OK,

That's what I'm going to do. Will that make you happy,

to have a nice new solid structure put up and a job done well?

We'd really appreciate it.

Coming up, I call in an independent building inspector to give us

the lowdown on whether this wonky wall should come down.

The amount that's wrong with it,

I wouldn't think it was done by somebody who is a qualified builder and mason.

In Morecambe, Barbara McQuirk had stumbled into the cowboy trap

when she called in a plumber to transform her ageing bathroom

into a beautiful, shiny shower room.

But her dreams were flushed away when after paying £2,500

to her callous cowboy, she was left with terrible tiles,

pathetic pipework

and potentially lethal electrics.

You know, I really hate it when I hear about tradesmen

taking advantage of elderly people,

so I've asked independent chartered surveyor Roger Carradice

to cast an eye over the work that's been carried out.

-Roger, how are you?

-Hi.

-So what have you found, Roger, that is not to your liking?

-The tiling.

We've got grouting smeared

in various places. It's not been cleaned off properly.

We've got wide, 8-mil joints that are unusual

for this type of fitting

and some of the edges of the tiles have been damaged.

The beading around the window reveal fits poorly.

I also noticed there is no electrical bonding

on any of the pipework, which I would have expected.

So there's lots going on in here that's a problem.

You also noted that there is a problem outside.

-Shall we go out and take a look?

-Sure.

Roger's spotted that the bathroom waste-water pipes don't discharge into the outside drain.

Yeah, I can see what you mean.

-That is a real problem, isn't it?

-It is.

The white pipe discharges into nowhere

and it's going to splash on this guard and just flood the path.

No thought has been given to the arrangement of this. It's very poor.

What mark out of ten would you give these guys for the work they carried out?

Well, basically it's pretty poor, I'd say round about three.

But the finishing, really, falls well short of what you'd expect.

Three out of ten, Roger, is what it will be. Roger-Roger, I agree with you.

Thank you.

Roger's report is a crucial piece of information. It's time for action.

On the face of it, this is a working bathroom - toilet, sink, shower, no problem at all.

However, now we've found the electrical problems,

I'm going to need to cordon this area off.

I'm going to class it as a no-go zone

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

-Ah, here are ye's. How are you, Robert? I'm Clive.

-Pleased to meet you.

What have you seen that's not to your liking?

Well it's quite general, really,

There's nothing I can see that I would deem to be at acceptable.

The ceiling isn't good.

The tiles are not brilliant.

So there are lots of items you could discuss at length.

What is your major plan? What are you going to do?

We've got to get rid of everything here. The next thing is to take the ceiling down.

We need to see how those lights have been fixed

and then we'll take up the flooring. We'll take the tiles off the walls.

Depending on what we find below these tiles,

if the wall is suitable to re-tile, we'll use it.

OK, listen, it's great to have you on board.

I can't wait to show Barbara what the good guys are capable of.

-I'm sure she'll have a cracking bathroom by the time you finish.

-Thank you.

I'll let you carry on, squire.

We're travelling back to Aberdeenshire

where Doris and Gordon Reid were left with a wall full of woe

when they fell into the cowboy trap.

They paid their landscaper more than three grand

for a turfed lawn, patio, fence and perimeter wall.

But less than two years on, their wall is crumbling,

cracked and is a threat to passers-by

and local children, who use the access road every day.

I've looked at this job and it's pretty poor, to say the least.

You don't have to take my word for it.

I've asked independent chartered surveyor Graeme Bowie

to come along and view it for himself.

Let's find out what he thinks.

-How are you? I'm Clive.

-Graeme Bowie, how are you?

-Very well, sir.

You've had a chance to look at it. What is your opinion?

The quality of the whole wall is really sub-standard.

The most important thing

when you're building anything is you get a good foundation.

That won't hold up the wall for any substantial period.

-One of the important things missing from this wall is it's got no piers to brace it.

-Yeah.

It's about 25 metres long without any brace for stability.

Piers are pillar-like structures that support walls.

So if you are building a wall, take my advice.

Place piers at least every six metres.

The number needed will depend on the wall's height and length.

Now, in terms of the work that you've seen here, do you believe

it's been carried out by somebody who knows what they're doing?

With the amount of things wrong,

I wouldn't think it's been done by somebody who is a qualified builder or mason.

If you could give this guy a mark out of ten, what would you give?

-Probably a two.

-A two?! I tell you what, that's about all it deserves.

In my opinion, this wall is completely unsafe

so I'm taping the area off, classing it is a no-go zone.

The only people allowed past it are myself and the good guys.

Talking of which, it's time to bring them on.

I've called in local builder James Fairley and his team,

who are tooled up and ready to leap into action.

You've looked at the wall, but tell us what your plan is.

I don't think there's any hope of saving any of this wall.

It's all got to come down.

We've got to probably use a digger

to remove the existing concrete.

-I won't call them foundations.

-They're not foundations.

We'll build a single-leaf wall with piers,

which are thickenings, every four metres.

Great that you're with us and getting on with the job. I'm sure it will have a cracking finish.

Well played, squire, I'll leave you to it. Cheers, James.

James and his team have a big job on their hands -

knocking down and starting all over again.

Doris and Gordon are chipping in to meet the cost.

They want to make sure that this wall is built to last.

Later, how will Doris and Gordon's new wall stand up to inspection?

So, so happy now. Just brilliant. Thank you so, so much.

Back in Morecambe, Barbara McQuirk had been led

into a costly cowboy trap.

Barbara's simple dream

was to have a new shower room with easy-access facilities.

It should have made living with arthritis less troublesome.

But after paying £2,500 to a dodgy contractor,

she was left with nothing more than a bodge-job bathroom.

We brought in the good guys to help her out.

Since arriving, they've ripped out the rotten tiles

and sorted the shower, installing a shiny new one for Barbara.

They've even put right the pipework for the outside drain,

and they're still hard at it.

But the job's not all been plain sailing.

Robert and the boys found some potentially shocking surprises.

The suspended ceiling was taken down.

We found an original pulse-switch shower, which was still live.

The electric cable had been cut off in the loft area,

but hadn't been terminated with either a connection or tape,

so that the exposed end of the cable was still live.

If anybody were to touch it in that area,

they would've got a shock.

Barbara's reckless cowboys had put her life at risk.

It's time to take those bodging builders to task.

Barbara, when was the last time you had any conversation with your builder?

Must have been four weeks afterwards.

-And that was the last time you ever had any contact?

-Yes.

-Can you remember how that conversation went?

-He was sad

because his girlfriend had left him and he might have to sell his house.

I tell you what, these sob stories they give you on the phone,

you have to supply the violin, don't you?

-I do.

-And accompany them.

THEY HUM A MOURNFUL TUNE

That's usually the case.

If you had the opportunity to speak to him

and you'd got a couple of questions uppermost in your mind, what would they be?

Don't tell me a yarn, because I'm not in for it.

And I've learnt a lot since then.

We have to give him a chance to reply.

It's his chance of a right of reply.

We make a phone call. If you just sit tight

and then I'm going to make the phone call now.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

It's gone to answerphone.

Hello, this is Clive Holland from BBC One's Cowboy Trap.

I'm with Barbara McQuirk in Morecambe.

I want to put a few questions to you.

A couple that Barbara had got first of all was

why did you constantly sell her a yarn, as she puts it?

But what I'm more bothered about is that you were the main contractor

and you then decided, because you weren't a tiler,

you brought in somebody who was a tiler. Now, with you being the main contractor,

you have to make sure the sub-contractors you bring in

are people who are qualified to do the job.

Then, you also advised an electrician that could come in to do the work.

This is where it's really scary, because we've got a problem

with a shower cable that was just cut off, that was actually live.

They're the things we're really concerned about. Thanks very much, bye.

Straight to answerphone.

What's your feeling about that, the fact that he's gone to ground now?

Par for the course.

Those sort of people. He'll start somewhere else.

We did eventually track down Barbara's plumber.

He claims his pipework was good and also thought the tiles were fine.

As for the electrics, which put Barbara's life at risk,

he couldn't comment.

At least Robert and his team have now made everything safe.

They've finished working their magic

and I can't wait to sneak a peek.

# What a difference a week makes! # Yeah.

That's what I'm talking about. Straight away, it's really clean,

Nice, clean lines. The tiling job is great.

You've got no little nicks here and there, no bits of tiles wedged in.

We've got new linoleum. Loving that as well.

Now, something's changed.

Ah! I know. There was boxing down there.

It looked like it was there for no reason. That's much better. OK.

Well, we're liking that.

Hey. Tipper-most of the topper-most!

Now, that shower room looks great

and it's now more akin to what Barbara's dream was made of.

So let's find out what she thinks of it.

Now, come with me, Barbara,

-into the hallway.

-Right, I'm coming. I can't wait.

-You can't wait?

Neither can I. I've seen it and I still can't wait!

But before we take a look at your lovely new shower room,

just describe to me what it was like before we arrived.

Do I have to go there? It was horrible.

-It was driving me up the tiles!

-Driving you up the tiles. I like it.

When you go into that new shower room, what are you hoping for?

Things fitted properly and no holes around the outlets

and things like that. Anything could have got through.

I want you to give it a good inspection.

-I want it to pass the Barbara test.

-Right.

So are you ready to go in and take a look at your shower room?

I can't wait.

Let's go. Right. After you.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Go take a look at your new shower room, Barbara.

-Wow.

You did good. Hee!

-How good is that?

-Brilliant.

What about all this? And all the tiles,

your sanitary wares here.

Oh, it's neater, too.

Oh. Oh, lovely!

Because it's lowered down now.

This is the floor, isn't it?

-See where that box section was there? That's all gone.

-It's a lot better. Yes.

-Oh, I could get a chest of drawers in there, put my things in.

-You could.

-You can make use of that space now, can't you?

-I will do.

The floor's really good.

There were dangerous electrics in the roof, so that's been sorted.

But, to me, it looks like a totally different room. Clean lines.

Remarkable, to what it was. Oh, it's got new things on here, as well.

Oh, it's beautiful.

'But there's still something missing for Barbara.'

I can't wait for a shower. No-one to wash my back.

Ah, Eh, never mind. But generally you're happy?

Oh, I'm delighted.

What will it allow you to do? Has it given you an incentive...

-Get up and have a shower and start the day fresh.

-Yeah.

A score out of ten, what would you give it?

-11.

-11?! That's what we want.

Yeah. I'm so happy.

-Oh.

-Good. Good, I'm pleased for you, Barbara.

-Thank you.

-Really chuffed for you.

I want you to enjoy this new shower room of yours.

And, hopefully, you'll never get any more cowboy builders coming in.

No, because you told me what to do.

I'm going to leave you to have a wander around

and a nosy round and enjoy what you see. You look after yourself

Now, I'll leave you with a nice new, sparkling shower room.

-I'll sit on the seat.

-Go one, have a sit down.

-What a super-shiny result.

-Goody, goody.

This beautiful bathroom will make Barbara's life much easier.

Job done.

In Aberdeenshire, Doris and Gordon Reid are waiting patiently to see if

their bodge-job wall has been transformed

from crumbling catastrophe into an upright result.

Before I reveal all,

I want to check in with head builder James to see how they're getting on.

Tell us what you've actually done so far.

After the foundations, obviously, we got the wall up.

That's the easy bit, to be honest.

Then we put the coping stone on.

So, block went up, Copers on. Scratch coat.

Scratch coat. We were careful to seal up underneath,

so the scratch coat actually seals to the stones,

so no water can get in the crack.

I reckon this is going to look cracking.

It already does look great as it is,

but we know first and foremost, it's been built correctly.

-I'm going to stand back and do what I do best and that's watch.

-Great.

James, brilliant job, sir.

Congratulations to you and all the boys. Keep it up. Fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Well done, James.

'While the good guys finish off this top job,

'I want to help Doris and Gordon put their cowboy builder

'and this whole sorry saga behind them.'

If you had an opportunity to speak to him now,

what questions would you like to ask him?

I would want to know why he hasn't lived up to his responsibilities.

So, with that in mind, what we want to do is to make a phone call

-and give him the opportunity of a right of reply.

-Yeah.

-Are we therefore ready to go for it?

-Yes.

-Here we go.

I'll hand that to you, Gordon.

'It's no surprise when Gordon's call goes straight to the builder's voicemail.'

It's Gordon Reid from Laurencekirk here, I would like to have a chat with you.

Is there any possibility you could give us a call back?

Thank you.

Obviously, he tends not to answer the phone.

In terms of the job he carried out,

that was a poor one, there's no two ways about that.

But I can't wait to show you later

exactly what quality workmen can do.

Our office also tried to contact the Reids' cowardly cowboy.

So far, we've had no response, either to our calls or letter.

But there are good guys out there.

And before I show the couple what they can do,

I want to sneak a quick look.

Do you know what? I think I'm well chuffed with that.

It's a top, top wall.

I think it's time to go and see what Doris and Gordon make of it.

Come on.

James and his team have done a super job and, at long last,

Doris and Gordon's wait for their dream home is over.

I'm looking forward to showing them the garden wall they've always wanted.

-Are you ready to go and take a look at it?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-Come on. Follow me.

-OK.

I can't wait to show you this.

When you look at the wall as it was before

and you look at it now, it is a wall!

-SHE LAUGHS

-It is a wall!

You know, really what we had wasn't a wall.

-You've actually got foundations.

-Yeah.

You've got pier supports, which you didn't have before

and you've also got expansion units, as well,

-on the actual roughcast itself.

-Mm.

They've done a fantastic job.

-It was a real pain, that wall was before.

-I know. I know.

It caused us a lot of heartache, that did.

-I really hope this is the dream wall you wanted.

-Yeah.

-It finishes off the garden.

-It complements that view.

A nice glass of wine to toast it.

I think that's a great idea.

-But I can see you're happy.

-Oh, just so pleased!

-And that's the most important thing.

-So, so happy now.

Just brilliant. Thank you so, so much.

-Absolute pleasure. I'll give you a little hug and a squeeze.

-Ah, thank you.

It's great to see you. I really wish you the best of luck.

I'll just shake hands with you! LAUGHTER

-And I wanted a hug from you, Gordon!

-No chance.

You won't get that.

I'm going to love you and leave you, best of luck to you

and enjoy this fantastic garden and beautiful view.

Doris and Gordon now have a garden wall to be proud of.

It's fine, upstanding and built to last, just like me!

They certainly seem pleased with the work, so I'll toast to that.

Doris and Gordon have now got a cracking wall

that finishes off their garden nicely.

But my job isn't over yet.

I've got all the information we've collated on their cowboy builder.

I've got that right here in my file and I will take it to the Trading Standards office.

And, remember, all you cowboy builders out there,

we're on your trail.

If you've had a problem with builders

and you'd like to tell your story on Cowboy Trap,

then please call us on...

Or send us an e-mail...

Help us round up the cowboys.

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