Episode 17 Cowboy Trap

I'm hot on the trail of cowboy builders,

who have botched the jobs and ruined the dreams

of many households.

He said he could do absolutely everything,

and I really believed him.

Remember, cowboy builders know no boundaries.

They could be knocking on your door any time soon.

So, watch out.

This isn't a DIY man at work.

Because nobody would do that in their own home.

I want to help put right the wrongs

these dodgy builders have left behind.

This is life and death. No two ways about it.

That comes crashing down,

that is, "Good night".

So, stick with me,

and I'll reveal all my hints and tips,

in the hope it'll prevent you from falling into the cowboy trap.

Today, I'm in South Wales,

the home of the male voice choir,

Shirley Bassey, and Tom Jones, to name but a few.

They know a thing or two about building here in Cardiff.

They've got a medieval castle that's stood for thousands of years,

and a pier head building, known as "the Big Ben of Wales".

Of course, they've got the magnificent Millennium Stadium,

with its retractable roof.

Let's face it. There's no way any dodgy builder

would have been allowed anywhere near those iconic landmarks.

But for some of the unfortunate people in Cardiff,

they've fallen right into the cowboy trap.

Go, fetch!

'Felicity Jandrell is one of those people.

'Felicity lives in Penylan, an affluent district of Cardiff,

'with her dog, Poppy.

'When she bought this beautiful Edwardian property

'11 years ago,

'it was divided into apartments,

'but, since then, she's worked hard

'to turn it back into a real family home for her three sons.'

The good news for Felicity was, she lived in a plum property,

in a great part of town.

Better still, she was in love.

But the fairytale story wasn't to have a happy ending.

'Felicity suffered a series of personal

'and family setbacks,

'which left her dispirited, and vulnerable.'

I'd had a terrible year, previously.

My son had become very ill,

and had quite a battle with cancer.

My father had been diagnosed with cancer, unexpectedly,

and passed away.

My dog had died.

and my relationship broke up.

It had been a horrible two years, really.

Now nursing a broken heart,

Felicity felt ready for a change.

It was time for a new beginning.

So, after renting out her home for over a year,

Felicity set about getting quotes,

to transform this beautiful period property into her dream home.

I was so looking forward to a fresh start.

Moving back into my home again,

and I'd had a small amount of money.

I was really looking forward to coming in,

and having all the work done.

And, yeah, a fresh start.

'Felicity's wish list was simple.

'She wanted to swap her kitchen and breakfast room around.

'Which meant removing part of a chimney breast.

'She also wanted double doors out into the garden,

'and her old downstairs toilet relocated to under the stairs.

'There was to be a small extension,

'built for her washing machine and dryer.

'A troublesome damp problem, at the back of the property,

'needed sorting out fast.

'Felicity quickly found a builder

'who agreed to do the work in three weeks

'for £6,700.

'At first, all was well.

'But a week into the job, alarm bells started to ring.'

He didn't look after the place.

This property was empty,

but he just threw all his stuff around,

in the two reception rooms downstairs.

As time went on, it became clear he had no care.

There were marks on the walls in the two empty reception rooms.

There were tools everywhere. It was just a real mess.

'And things went from bad to worse.

'The work overran, and the builder was demanding additional money.

'When Felicity refused to pay him any more,

'he simply upped and left,

'leaving her home in a right old state.'

He left the place like an absolute building site.

He left me with no security on the French doors outside.

He even removed one of the doors

and took it with him,

which I'd already paid him for.

He took the unfitted skirting boards, that I paid for.

He took the paint.

He had left a half-fitted kitchen, which was fitted atrociously.

I'm really worried about the security,

because this was the beginning of November.

It was freezing cold and pouring with rain.

'This was a cruel blow for a woman who'd been through so much,

'It's time for me to meet her and put things right.'

DOG BARKS

Hiya. Hello!

-Accosted by a mad dog!

-Having trouble with cowboy builders?

Oh, terrible trouble.

You need Cowboy Trap, that's what you need. I'm Clive.

DOG BARKS

She'll jump all over you now for about five minutes.

I'll go and take a look around.

You've had two many problems for my liking.

-You take a rest and I'll go and check it out.

-OK. After you.

'Since her builder left, Felicity has had some remedial work done

'to get the kitchen units fitted.

'She's had the back door joinery finished by another tradesman.'

On the face of it, it all looks fine.

But there are one or two problems you can see straightaway.

You look at the pelmets,

and different things on the cabinets themselves.

The finish

is just horrible.

Great worktop, but look at how this has been jointed.

That needed a craftsman

to biscuit joint that in.

So it, at least, was completely flowing.

Of course, with an old property,

there's no cavity in this place.

I can see damp all over the place.

What I AM shocked about is,

this will almost certainly be a newer extension,

probably built over the last 20 years, or so.

It should have a cavity, and yet,

I'm spotting all over the place, it's still got damp in it.

Looking at the ceiling, if he's done work in here,

it seems to me like he's done inspection holes,

or tried to drop cables for the chandelier.

Just trying to find joists, if you like.

There's baton and joist finders on the market these days,

that takes all the guesswork out of it.

So you can spot and find them quite easily.

'Here's a tip for you.

'If you need to drill into your hidden joists,

'go to your DIY store,

'and pick up a baton and joist finder.

'It'll save you making unsightly holes in your walls and ceilings.'

Look at this. You have a socket down here.

This has been all boxed in.

But there's no way you'll get a plug to go in there neatly.

The cable will be so tight around that bend,

you won't get it in.

Doors, here, on this extension.

This is like a utility bit that he's done,

a utility extension.

But, you've also got damp marks on the ceiling.

There's obviously problems all over the place here.

These doors, look at that.

They've absolutely been butchered.

He's tried about three different positions for the hinges.

Just a typical example of somebody that doesn't take the time

to do what I call "the four measure rule".

Which is, measure, measure, measure, and, just for good measure,

measure again!

'From one set of doors, to another.

'Made of hardwood, the back door was finished and hung later,

'by another tradesman.

'But the frame was fitted by Felicity's builder.'

This is something that's going to make a carpenter,

a quality craftsman, cry.

Because, great timber. Fantastic hardwood.

But look at the joints!

They are awful!

Look at it. He's plastered over the timber.

The timber's porous, and took all that plaster in.

Honestly, it makes me want to cry, when I look at it.

Quality timber, gone to waste.

'Looking outside, into the garden,

'it's pretty clear why Felicity has so much damp

'at the back of this property.'

Look, we have a slope here.

We're in Great Britain.

Whether we like it or not, it rains.

Doesn't matter when it is. Middle of summer.

You get a good downpour flooding down there,

and it will come in, and over the threshold,

This needs an eco drain put in here.

'An eco drain is a simple drainage device,

'that sits flush with the ground,

'taking away excess rain water.

'Without it, there's nowhere for the water to go

'except into the house.

'I'm afraid the remedial joinery work on the back door

'isn't up to scratch, either.'

Look at the door furniture.

That's not even been rebated in properly.

That's in the wrong way!

Again, typical example there,

this is a would-be burglar's delight.

Crowbar in there, bang! That's open in no time.

There is no security.

We have to make sure she has deadlocks, top and bottom.

We need to protect.

'There's another horror lurking

'just above the door.'

The render on the outside,

and what he's done.

It's something you'd expect a child of four to do.

You wouldn't expect somebody who's supposed to have skills to do that.

'What I've seen so far is a real disgrace.

'And it's so sad.

'Just a glance around the rooms,

'and it's clear Felicity really cares about her home.

'It looks to me like she's had some make do and mend remedial work done.

'But I want to find exactly what's been going on here.'

It didn't look really nice, back in November.

It was a building site,

an absolute building site.

This kitchen was just partially fitted.

The bits that were fitted,

you couldn't open and close doors properly.

I had no flooring

down out there at all.

I just had a gaping hole where the patio doors were.

The frame was in place,

but I had no doors and no glazing.

Bits of my kitchen were just dumped in the garden

along with my flooring.

-Of the new kitchen?

-Yes, my new kitchen.

-Wow!

I mean, he's ruined my kitchen.

As we stand now, where ARE the problems?

I had a chimney breast removed

from here.

This is a bit of a worry, the whole support.

Because I don't think the support goes right the way across.

That was quite a major thing, to take that chimney breast down,

and it's a bit worrying it hasn't been done properly.

So, that needs further investigation.

Yes, because we don't know if it's safe, or not.

'This could be serious.

'If her builder has removed a chimney breast

'without putting in the correct steel beams,

'lives could be at risk here.'

Where else do we need to look at?

Well, the dishwasher, here, won't fit.

It won't fit because of this appalling mess.

-All the pipe work is boxed in.

-Which is all wrong.

I reckon you've around 50 mil to come back there.

We need to take a closer look at it.

The one thing we don't want to do

-is damage any of the original structure.

-No.

But certainly, I think that could come back.

So that can fit flush.

You have damp happening in here, haven't you?

I've been aware of a damp problem for a long time.

I was told, because this is a dark area here,

and the garden's on a slope,

the water drains down

and it just sits.

Look outside.

Straightaway there, you should have around a 150 mil step there, really.

-Yeah, to go down.

-To go down.

-So you've got proper drainage.

-Yes.

That isn't...

He was meant to have done this eco drain. Is that what it's called?

Yes, that's right.

To dig down, and inject it with damp,

or whatever they inject it with.

That's the walls.

He's meant to have done all these walls.

As you can see, all the damp's starting to come back through.

You can see this door, here.

He put these on?

He did, yes.

-The door handles fall off.

-No surprise.

-And, they're not even flush to the floor.

-OK.

They don't even close properly.

You've got lots of unfinished stuff in there.

The water's coming through.

These are like wardrobe panels you can buy off the shelf

at some of the big DIY sheds.

He's obviously tried to make them fit.

-But he's not done a very good job, has he?

-No.

Have a look outside.

This is just like a kiddie would do.

-I take it, he IS responsible for that?

-Yeah, all this.

A mess.

It's a mess. You're not wrong! There's no two ways about it.

He built that little external cupboard for me.

-Who built it?

-He did.

Ah, I didn't realise he built it.

I had nowhere to house my washing machine and tumble dryer.

He did that, with a fibreglass roof?

I did have power to my shed, which I no longer have.

I've got leaking pipes everywhere, if you go down the side.

He's having a laugh. Look at this.

That flashing, there, is made of... I don't know.

It looks like Flashband -

it's certainly not lead, which it should be.

-Right.

-That's Flashband.

And then he's used this resin compound over the top

and he's just coated it. He's coated it with the resin,

and that's no good.

That's got to be chopped in. That's got to be chopped into this coat.

I reckon I could have employed a six-year-old

to build this better out of plastic bricks.

Oh, dear. It's all very depressing, if you ask me.

'This is such a shoddy job

'that I'm getting a sinking feeling about another part of the build.

'I suspect there'll be no damp-proof course on this little extension,

'so the damp problem will continue here, too.'

'If you're considering a build,

'here's my top tip to prevent your own damp disaster.'

Now, if you're building, say for instance, a small extension,

if you feel... Or maybe a dwarf wall for a conservatory,

you're going to need to put the damp-proof course in.

It stops any moisture rising up the wall

and possibly getting inside the house.

Now, this is what it is. It's like a plastic membrane,

and what that does is it sits on the second layer of brick,

six inches from the ground level, and then you lay the DPC.

I'm of the kind to actually put it on mortar bed,

so I'll put it on a thin mortar bed, probably round about five mil',

seat it and then the next brick, the house brick, that goes on top,

I would also seat that on about five mil', too,

so it's trapped between mortar.

Beware that if your builder isn't putting that in...

If you've got a builder in that's doing any work like that

and you don't see this damp-proof course, ask questions.

'Later, we uncover the hidden horrors of this Cowboy Trap.'

You can't believe, can you, that somebody can do work like this

that could risk somebody's life.

'Felicity's dream was to turn her Edwardian house into a home,

'so in 2010, she embarked on a modernisation plan,

'which included sorting out the damp,

'swapping the kitchen and breakfast rooms,

'and installing doors out into the garden.'

'She quickly found a builder who'd do the work

'in three weeks for £6,700.

'But it was all to end in disaster.

'Where did things go so wrong?'

I asked a friend of a friend, who...

I think he'd done a little bit of bathroom work,

which they said he was very reasonable and he'd done a good job.

So I then, sort of, made the phone call and asked to meet up with him.

I wonder what he'd done in the bathroom?

Cos looking at the work that's been carried out here...

if he's done any work on the bathroom,

I would hope it was only to...

-Well, use it, really.

-SHE LAUGHS

I don't know. I should have checked, but I didn't.

'Here's a warning for you -

'don't just take recommendations at face value.

'Personally check out your builder's previous work

'before you employ them.'

'Felicity's builder started in October.

'The pressure was now on to finish the work quickly,

'as Felicity had to move out of her rented home within the month.'

Was there any alarm bells ringing at the time?

-Did you feel that things weren't right?

-Not straightaway, no.

He started off quite well, I thought,

seemed to be here and working quite quickly and I thought,

"Oh, gosh, this is going to be done in plenty of time,"

but then, as time went on, um...

It was difficult to keep track all the time,

because I wasn't physically living in the house,

but he kept disappearing and going off

and doing his service contracts, or whatever he was doing.

'If that wasn't bad enough,

'within days of starting the job, the builder was demanding money.

'Worse still, she didn't have a proper written contract.

'Bad news.'

It was about £2,000, I think. For materials, he said.

But I hadn't expected to be asked for that sort of money straightaway.

I thought that he might want, sort of,

halfway through the job, some money and the rest on completion,

and he also, sort of, started saying,

"Well, the doors aren't included in the price," and...

-That's because it wasn't written down.

-Yeah, I know.

So, it was... It became...

It started to become difficult.

I came in one day and saw that he was mixing his cement

on my Terrazzo-tiled floor in the breakfast room. Nothing...

Just on the tiling.

I was absolutely horrified.

'Things finally came to a head

'the day Felicity moved back into her house.

'The work was unfinished, behind schedule,

'and the house was in a total mess.'

At this stage, I had concrete on the floor in the breakfast room,

I had the framework put in for the patio doors,

the patio door was fitted, but there was no glazing either side.

No skirting boards, obviously, no floor laid,

a very badly fitted kitchen, or half-fitted kitchen,

all the external stuff outside was all left unfinished,

pipes, sort of, exposed,

rendering outside that's incomplete, building stuff...

I mean, the garden was just covered in goodness knows...

Just rubbish.

'The builder then demanded a further £400 for materials.

'By now, Felicity had had enough.'

-So, eventually you're moving back into the property.

-Yeah.

What's the relationship like with the builder at this stage,

by the time you've walked through your front door?

Well, we got into an argument.

This was the first row we'd had, but we did get into an argument,

cos he wanted the money, I wasn't going to give it to him,

he was threatening to walk out and leave,

I told him that I was very unhappy

with the, sort of, standard of work that he'd done.

I didn't trust him any more, I didn't believe anything he said,

because he'd make promises and nothing happened,

and when I came back with the final lot of furniture

with the removal people, he'd actually left.

I want people to realise what those dark times are actually like,

when you walk in and you see around you

all the absolute mess and destruction.

What does that feel like?

I was in a state of absolute shock.

I didn't know how to cope - that's how I felt inside,

I mean, I tried not to show it to my children, but I just thought,

"I don't know what we're going to do."

'But Felicity's children could see the distress

'it was causing their mother.

'Her 23-year-old son Alex, who'd not long recovered from cancer,

'was there that day.'

It was so unfair, what he did.

And he felt no remorse and, like,

he knew he was blagging my mum for a while,

knowing that the work wasn't going to be done,

like materials he'd said he bought that hadn't been purchased

and stuff like that. But you find all this stuff out after

when it's too late, but, you know,

he knew we were moving in to a house with no doors, basically.

There was a massive hole in our house in winter time.

It was bad. Bad living.

'Felicity and her family have had it tough.

'I think it's time to help them rebuild their shattered dreams

'and move on.'

What can we do on the physical aspects of the property

that will help you?

The damp. I mean, that was the main...

That was the most important reason I started this work in the first place,

and it's very clear that that damp problem

hasn't been sorted out at all.

One thing I will promise you is that we are going to put things right.

Well, I tell you what, if you did, it would be...

Well, I couldn't tell you how wonderful it would be.

'I've heard enough about this cowboy builder,

'but I'm worried that what I've seen of his botched work

'may only be the tip of the iceberg.'

I'm keen to get this work assessed

by an independent chartered surveyor,

so I've asked Roger North to take a look.

Now, you must be Roger. How are you?

-Hi.

-Hi, I'm Clive.

-Hi, Clive.

When you first walk into the property,

you think, "Wow, it's beautiful,"

but as you look closely... Hey, this is a cracker. Look at this.

On this door, I don't even have to turn the handle to open it.

Watch this - bit of magic, this. Look at that.

It's nuts. But that is just a typical example

of a lot of things that have gone wrong,

and what I'd like to know from you is,

what have you found that's not to your liking?

-Well, we've got... That's only a minor item.

-It is.

The major items are the structure...

Structural alterations have been carried out

without any building regulations,

the general workmanship is extremely poor,

the finishing is extremely poor,

and the building works have been left incomplete.

And looking at it overall,

what sort of a score would you give out of ten

for the work that's been carried out?

Well, I think I'd give them a very low score,

possibly two, simply for turning up.

Two for turning up sounds about right to me.

Roger, thank you very much for your input.

It's SO important to get an independent's view of it all,

but, just in general, it is such a poor job.

It is a very poor job, yes.

Well, what else did you expect?

2/10 is a pretty damning verdict on this so-called builder's work,

so I'm going to cordon this area off, class it as a no-go zone.

I'm going to get the Good Guys in, sort out all of this work

and maybe, just maybe, we can put a smile back on Felicity's face.

'John Sutton and his team are here to help us.'

'They've got one big mountain to climb,

'so let's get the plan of action.'

Now, John, it's great to have you on board.

Just list for me what we're going to do.

Well, starting with priorities,

one of the priorities is the rising damp

and to stop water penetrating the building.

So, around the perimeter of the extension here, the annexe,

we're going to excavate and put in a slotted drainage channel,

like you'd see on a garage forecourt,

with a galvanised grating.

And that will take water coming down the slope towards the property

away and into drainage. That will stop water penetrating the building.

We're then going to take the render off

and expose where a damp-proof course was apparently installed

-and inject a silicon damp-proof course...

-Fantastic.

..at low level, certainly behind the skirting board level.

We then have problems that the joinery of the back door, here,

is really cobbled together with very poor workmanship,

if any workmanship whatsoever,

so we're going to rework the back door until we've got it secure.

So, you're going to address that,

and dress the render up to the bell-cote?

The rendering, which has been hacked away badly,

we're going to put a saw cut through with a diamond blade,

get ourselves a neat edge to work back to,

and then re-render the back end, here.

We're going to re-dress the glass-fibre roof

and where the glass-fibre roof abuts the house wall -

with just an open joint at the moment -

we're going to seal that properly,

cut a lead flashing into the masonry wall,

and dress the lead flashing properly down to stop water coming in.

So, I'm leaving that down to you, I can't wait to see the end result,

but for now, as regards you and your team,

-well done, let's get cracking.

-Let's go.

'As the Good Guys set about injecting

'a silicon damp-proof course

'into the walls of the breakfast room,

'the full extent of the horrors left by the cowboy builder

'start to become apparent.

'The electrician has uncovered

'a catalogue of horrific mistakes in the wiring

'that could put lives at risk.'

Both of these cables should travel the entirety of the wall

and end up directly at the socket.

Here, they've just been jointed, pretty badly,

to be honest with you, pushed into the wall.

They're not covered or capped.

He's used trunking just to take it down,

which is, you know... It's unacceptable, really.

Potentially, you're looking at a hazard for the wall to become live

as there could be mechanical joints just exposed behind the tape.

'It's shocking that this cowboy builder

'could have taken risks like this,

'and that's not all.

'We could be facing an emergency in the kitchen.

'I'm worried there isn't a proper RSJ or steel beam

'supporting the wall where the chimney breast was removed.'

Tony, give us the verdict, son.

-Absolutely nothing.

-Nothing at all?

So we now have tons and tons of mortar,

tons and tons of brickwork, just floating in midair.

This is the sort of thing that cowboy builders do.

'So, no structural beam here, but what about at the other end?'

Looks to me as if he's returned it back into the wall, there.

-Right, OK.

-So it's coming in like an L-shape.

-Right.

-But nothing is...

-Is supporting it?

-Nothing is supporting her on this end.

-No.

That's not supported in any way, shape or form.

'It looks like the cowboy builder

'has tried to do something to support the house,

'but he's put in the wrong beam.

'It's L-shaped instead of straight.

'And there's more bad news.'

-There's a pile of brickwork.

-From the actual chimney?

From the actual chimney, which is inside,

which isn't resting on anything.

So it's not supported at all

-and could have crashed down at any time, really?

-Yes.

This is life and death, really. No two ways about it.

Anybody working around this area, that comes crashing down,

that is good night.

I feel sick, to be honest. Yeah.

I knew it was bad, but you can't believe, can you,

that somebody can do work like this that could risk somebody's life.

'While the Good Guys get on with putting in roof supports

'to make the kitchen area safe,

'I want to help Felicity confront her cowboy builder

'about the dangerous state of the work.'

If you had three questions, for instance,

you'd like to ask him, what would they be?

Why and how could you leave somebody in such a mess?

Why did he leave, clearly, things that were dangerous

that he knew, must have known, were dangerous?

The electrics, the chimney breast that was taken down,

the support he put in - he must have known that wasn't safe.

Um, normally, I would say you, as the homeowner,

to make the phone call, but on this occasion,

because a lot of the work was so dangerous,

I'm just going to pitch in a few questions.

-I'm going to ask you to sit tight.

-OK.

-OK?

And it's all right to be polite, at the end of the day. OK?

Hi, it's Clive from Cowboy Trap, BBC1.

I want to ask you a few questions.

-VOICE SHOUTS FROM PHONE

-Are you happy to answer dangerous questions

where you've left this lady in absolute danger,

with electrical work that's been carried out...?

-PHONE CLICKS

-There's no need to hang up.

Urgh!

-HE SIGHS

-'For legal reasons,

'we can't broadcast what the builder had to say,

'but what I can tell you is, he refused to accept any responsibility

'or listen to our concerns.'

'Back in the kitchen, the Good Guys are working round the clock

'to get the new steel beams in to stabilise the ceiling.'

'This is a huge job. It's going to take not one,

'but two steel beams to make this kitchen absolutely safe,

'and to do this, they're going to have to replace the kitchen window.'

'Felicity's troubles began

'when her builder pocketed nearly £7,000 of her money

'and left her home structurally unsound and unsecured.

'The Good Guys have had to install structural beams,

'tackle the damp and much, much more.'

'But thanks to them, this house is no longer a cowboy trap.'

We're back in Cardiff to see Felicity.

I'm really worried about this job, I've got to be honest,

cos there were so many bits to be put right

that were dangerous. Let's go and find out.

'And I can already smell the sweet scent of success.'

The last time I was in this kitchen, I left it with two Acrow props

supporting that beam, that, sort of, fashioned beam,

that had been done by the cowboy builder.

Now, that's all been covered over, I can't see what's underneath,

I'm going to ask John later, but I'm assuming that everything

is now fine and hunky-dory and we've got the proper RSJs in there.

This looks like new work surface to me,

because, you remember that ugly joint?

That needed a proper biscuit joint in there,

and that's exactly what they've done.

I mean, looking at the pelmet and the cornice as well,

on the actual doors on the actual units themselves,

they look like they've been mitred properly,

so the boys have had a go at that, too.

And they must have had to paint this ceiling,

cos it'd have been plaster-boarded,

plastered and painted, so there's just...

The whole thing looks fresh, it looks great, it looks like...

Well, professionals have been in and done the work.

The other thing was, remember where the dishwasher was?

There was a huge gap. Let's have a look where we are.

OK, so that's all been panelled out now, with an extra bit of end panel,

it actually sits flush - if you remember, it was butted out before.

Now that sits absolutely flush.

I'm so chuffed with the work that's gone on here,

but I'm just wondering what... Ah.

We had a socket that was down right by the boxing,

which meant you couldn't actually, physically put a plug in it.

That's been sorted, so that means the electrics

must have been solved as well, which is really crucial,

cos there was a load of nonsense going on over there.

Now, remember these doors? This led us into...

I said, if you remember, I opened the door and I said,

"I bet you these hinges are no good."

They were just awful, so let's have a look.

First of all, the door opens fantastic, the handle is brilliant,

and now all those hinges have got all the screws in.

Now that's all been sorted.

Just... It's so exciting, to me,

when I know that Good Guys have been in.

It just fills your heart with joy!

-HE LAUGHS

-Now, outside we've still got the Cowboy Trap tape.

We don't need that any more, that's for sure, so that can come down.

Take that off, because it's not a no-go zone any more,

this is a zone to go, go, go, I tell you.

This is something to be proud of. Oh, and outside...

I get so excited about a good job. The doors have been sorted.

You know, even where the escutcheon plate was for the door lock,

even there it was absolutely butchered, the timber was.

That's all been sorted and looks great,

the wood's been painted, but the drainage... We've now got drainage,

cos remember, you know, we're in the United Kingdom.

When it rains, it was going to be coming down this path

and straight into the property,

which was going to cause it loads of grief.

Now we've got this proper drainage in

and that water's going to wick away no problem at all.

And if you remember as well, we'd got bare brick here.

That's all been properly two-coat rendered

and, again, the finish, I've got to say, absolutely outstanding.

Outstanding.

And then on the extension bit, here, which, as I say,

was the utility room, that, again, had bits of bare brick,

the render was rubbish, the actual roof itself was awful.

That's all been sorted, and looking at that,

we've now got proper lead flashing,

it's been cut into the brickwork properly...

Incredible.

'Before I get Felicity's verdict on this amazing transformation,

'it's time to catch up with one of the Good Guys, John Sutton.'

-Hey, John! Here he is. How are you!

-Very good, thanks.

-Walking through the property, it looks amazing.

-Thanks, Clive.

-This guy has got every single card here...

-He has, yeah.

..and he's brought danger, imminent, to this property.

-Into the house.

-It's not just about cowboy building, this.

-No, it isn't.

This is about life and limb.

To knock out a chimney breast and leave all this masonry unsupported...

It's only really from the quality of the house that we're in

that there wasn't actually some structural damage

and signs of cracking upstairs.

What went on here is an absolute disgrace,

-there's no two ways about that.

-Yeah, it is.

However, the Good Guys have been in, cracking job,

and I can't wait to show Felicity,

and I'm so chuffed with it, I can't... I can't tell you.

It is 100/10 as far as I'm concerned.

-Thanks, Clive. Much appreciated.

-Brilliant.

-Thanks.

'So, we've gone from a score of 2/10

'to, well...100/10!

'Time to see what Felicity thinks.'

-So, it's been a bit of a nightmare time for you...

-It has.

..over these last few months, with your cowboy builder.

Just tell us what it was like living in such a state.

Oh, it was awful. Really awful.

Um, you know, it was a bomb site.

A real mess, and this is the story that I hear on a daily basis.

Now, I want to do a bit of a tour round with you.

Let's go and have a chat about everything that's changed

and really get a feeling of how you feel now that things have been done.

-So are you ready?

-I am, yes. Yes.

I think Poppy might follow us as well, which is fine.

I think Poppy probably will come along for the ride. OK.

Come on, Poppy. POPPY BARKS

So... What I see before me now is just incredible.

How do you feel, first of all, in this kitchen area?

Because, remember, you know,

we found out that you were in imminent danger, really.

-Now that's all been sorted out.

-Yeah.

That's got to be a peace of mind thing.

Oh, it's such peace of mind. I knew their work was really poor.

I mean, you only had to see the mess that they'd left

to know it was really shoddy workmanship.

But now, it feels so much better.

But it just all looks finished, doesn't it?

Instead of, sort of, a botched job

of everything, really, which is what it was.

So your overall feeling now, about the kitchen?

Well, it just feels like I imagined it would in the first place.

I got a bit more of a "wow" factor, which I didn't have before

and I'm thrilled to bits with it.

How are you feeling now about this particular room?

Well, I just think it looks fantastic.

I mean, it's just sharper, the woodwork,

the frame that had been put in was so poorly put together

we decided to paint the doors. The builder thought it would be better to paint the doors in the end

because you were never going to get that frame

looking nice in the hardwood,

so that's all been painted, all the paintwork everywhere...

Now, here, of course, the doors actually do open, which is a bonus.

-They do.

-The hinges now have got screws in.

-They have.

-And the doors open and close properly.

-They do, yes.

Yeah, that frame has been lowered slightly,

which is a really good idea, so that the doors fit flush to the floor

and we've got some little magnetic things on so when they...

Little magnetic catches so that they'll stay closed.

..so that they stay closed when they get closed.

You know, just looking down now,

towards the kitchen and everything else, it just looks...

It's ready for a dinner party.

It is. And that's so nice, cos it's been...

It feels like months since... I've been in chaos, really.

So, now I can just... Yeah, I'm thrilled to bits.

-Is it a great pressure lifted off you, in a way?

-Absolutely.

I can't tell you what a pressure it is, because all you do is sleep, eat,

dream "kitchen" and work that needs to be done and dangerous stuff and...

And will it ever GET done?

And... Well, I didn't think it ever would get done, in the end. But now look at it.

'That's the inside, and so far, we have a happy homeowner.

'But what about the outside?'

Now, for me, just looking outside

looks a whole lot heap different, but so much better.

-The problem was you'd got water coming in over the threshold.

-Yeah.

-Now the drainage system has been put in.

-It's fantastic, isn't it?

That's got to make you feel good.

I was thrilled to bits with that, with all of it.

-The render work that these guys have done...

-Yeah.

They've really gone to the nth degree.

The way they've done that roof as well, they've put on the lead flashing.

The whole thing is so good.

Well, it just looks 100% better.

-One hundred and...

-50 million per cent better.

It does. A huge difference.

Now, there is one final thing that I'd like to do,

and that is that the work that's been carried out here,

in terms of the gas, the electric

and getting sign-off from your local building control...

-Yes.

-..we now have all the relevant documentation.

-Now, I've got all the documents with me now.

-You have.

I just want to go through what you've actually got here.

You've got a certificate of completion

for your building regulations and your planning, that's in that one.

You've also got the structural calculations and the remedies

-for what happened in the kitchen.

-Really? For the chimney breast?

Yes, for the chimney breast and the RSJs.

You've also got the minor works, your electrical installation certificate as well,

-from a qualified NICEIC electrician.

-Oh, that's wonderful.

So you've got that as well, and also there's your gas safety record

from a Gas Safe engineer.

Oh, that's... That's great to have all that. Thank you.

So you've got all of these documents now, ready to keep in a file -

you must keep those in a file,

because if you ever sell the property in the future,

that's almost like an MOT certificate for a car.

You need to hand all those over to the next incumbent.

To show that any work that's been done has been done...

-By qualified people.

-Yeah. Lovely, thank you.

So now you can enjoy, you know, your life at this wonderful property.

-Yes. Yeah.

-And do you think you'll be able to move on?

-I think so now, yes. Definitely.

-No more cowboy builders?

No more cowboy builders ever, ever again.

-Agreed?

-Agreed.

-That's a deal.

Well, that's it. I'm off.

Ah, but wait a minute. There's still one job left to do.

I've got the information that I've collated

on Felicity's builder and I'll take it to the local Trading Standards office

and see what THEY'RE going to do about it,

and I've got a message for all cowboy builders out there -

watch out, we're on your trail.

If you've had a problem with builders

and would like to tell your story on Cowboy Trap, please call us on...

Help us round up the cowboys.

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