Episode 3 Cowboy Trap

Today, I'm in Telford on the trail of more cowboy builders,

who have no regard for your property, your safety

or your circumstances. And they'll stop at nothing

to con you out of your cash.

They had the 5,000 and I had nothing to show for it,

that was the trouble.

I'm going to give you loads of hints

and tips on how to stop these cowboy builders getting into your home.

Me and me wife done some investigation

to see where this builder lived. And I found out where he was.

Then we done some more digging with the Trading Standards

and they said, "Not him again."

With the help of the good guys,

we'll put right the mess those cowboy builders leave behind.

We'll just have to rip it up. Start from scratch.

Don't really want to put my work on top of that.

I think it's time we showed these bodging builders the door,

and you how to avoid falling into the Cowboy Trap.

I get loads of correspondence from people telling me

how cowboy builders ruin people's lives.

And this next story is a total rip-off!

'74-year-old Donald Pearce and his younger brother William

'live here in the small village

'of Trench in Telford.

'They've happily shared this small bungalow since 1966,

'but now there's a problem.'

Don has long had a passion for collecting scale model vehicles.

He has 1,000 in his collection so far,

and he's running out of space to keep them.

That is me pride and joy, that is.

Took a few years to collect them. Took quite a bit of money

to get them. Like I said, very expensive, some of them things are.

'Donald has hundreds of boxes stuffed with lorries and trucks,

'piled high in his wardrobe and attic.

'There's literally no room to move.

'His passion for transport memorabilia all started

'when he worked as a driver for the council.'

I was there 27 years. Like I said, I've drove different wagons.

The little pick-ups, the big refuse wagons,

and the tankers. It's quite interesting, really,

how the mechanical side of them works, and that's how I got interested,

so I thought I'd start collecting them about 14 years ago,

14, 15 years ago.

'With his collection outgrowing the house,

'Donald drew up plans to display them properly.

'He wanted a simple glass-roofed extension on his bedroom.

'After hunting through the local paper,

'he and his brother found a builder.'

The next part makes me angrier. The builder asked for £5,000 up front.

The whole job was a quote of £7,000 in the first place.

And when the builder stopped turning up, the job was left unfinished,

and that left the brothers in a building nightmare.

'Not only that, the building turned out to be unfit and unsafe.'

It seemed all right and then you could stand away from it

and you could see the walls wasn't level.

We went and leaned against it and you could just feel it give.

There was no wall ties or nothing at all in it.

Felt really bad-tempered about that for a week or two.

I was getting despondent over it, then.

'Disappointed, Donald lost himself in another hobby.

'But neighbours Dave and Wendy Carpenter could see the effect

'this cowboy builder had had on him.'

Don is very trusting.

Although he had an inkling that things weren't right,

he probably thought, "Maybe I'll give him a chance."

And this builder's just took advantage of him.

He'll trust anyone with the last fiver, sort of thing, or penny.

But I think it's really hurt him.

'This is a heartbreaking story of two retired gents

'who were taken in by a cowboy builder.

'And how a man with a simple passion for trucks

'and lorries was cruelly robbed of his dream.'

Let's see if we can find out more

and put things right for Don and William.

-Hello!

-Good morning.

-You must be Don.

-Yes.

-How are you, Don? All right?

I'm loving that smile, first of all.

Usually where cowboy builders are concerned, we see sadness.

-I know.

-Can you point me in the direction of where the problems are?

-In the corner, round the back.

-Round the back.

While I go and have a look, you stick the kettle on.

-All right.

-Cheers, Don.

'What have we got here? No extension?

'Just a pile of bricks.

'This is like a jigsaw puzzle.'

This looks pretty weird...

'I'm going to have to work out what the builder was up to.'

..to say the least.

Right, got to get my head round this somehow. Um...

I can't quite get round why it's in this condition,

because it almost certainly looks like

these bricks have been laid, but have, uh...

But have been knocked down.

So, whether that's the builder or whether that's the homeowners,

I'll have to find out.

This looks like it's the boundary.

And it looks like they've exceeded the boundary, which they can't do.

If this was the damp course level, it's not high enough.

You need at least six inches from the base to your damp course.

And that is too low.

So remember: If you're having a building constructed,

make sure a damp course is installed.

A damp course is a barrier in a wall

designed to stop moisture rising through the brickwork.

And it should be at least six inches above ground level.

Another thing that's confused me about this build

is that I can see that we've got the inner leaf and the outer leaf -

that's the inner wall, as you know by now, and the outer wall -

and they need tying together, so it gives them strength, but I can't see any ties anywhere.

So I'm going to guess there's no ties in this, either.

So that means those two walls have been independent,

that they've built, and, obviously, could fall down at any time.

'And except for a few mortar marks,

'there is no evidence that it's even been securely fixed

'to the exterior wall of the house. And that's not all.'

Look at this.

I mean, this, again, really, is bonkers.

The mortar is directly...

That is fixed, that mortar, so they have laid bricks here,

and they've laid it over this waste pipe.

What were they going to do when it came to the rainwater pipe?

I haven't got a clue.

So, what did the brothers get for their five grand?

Well, they got the beginning of an extension

that wasn't even tied into the existing building.

They got...two piers of brick, the internal leaf and the external leaf,

that weren't actually tied together with ties.

They got a building that was going over a waste pipe.

It was totally unbelievable

and there's still mortar marking the spot right now.

The damp course, in the wrong place.

The actual concrete slab, no insulation or very little.

Or at least not the proper stuff that should be in there.

In total, what they got was...

a wreck.

I'm still puzzled as to what this builder was up to

and why we now have a pile of bricks and not an extension.

The only man with the answers is Don.

Hi, Clive. How's it looking?

Well, I tell you what, it's looking Don-Don-Don-Don...

-Don-Don-Don-Don-DON...dangerous.

-Dangerous, then?

-Look out for that,

because inspection hole's been dug

to check for footings there, of course,

but it is pretty dangerous around here, joking aside.

Wh...What I want to know is, what has actually gone on, Don?

-Why is it all rubble?

-He just dug the footings out and built it.

-I knocked it down.

-You knocked it down?

-I knocked it down.

And when I knocked it, you could feel the give.

So there was no strength with the ties...?

-There were no ties at all.

-No ties in the cavity?

-No.

How was he bonding it to the property, though?

-To the existing property?

-Just mortar, I suppose.

So those mortar lines are just purely...

Cementing.

That's just purely mortar

he's hoping will bond to the existing building?

HE SIGHS

'I can't believe what I'm hearing.

'This 74-year-old pensioner had to demolish his own extension

'because it moved when he touched it.

'Without ties between the inner and outer walls,

'or anything securing it to the house,

'it's a miracle this extension stayed up at all.

'And what's going on with that rainwater pipe?'

Right, so this is where I'm sort of getting confused.

Because you've got a rainwater pipe, here.

-Yeah.

-He couldn't have built round the rainwater pipe

-cos I can see he's built round the waste.

-That's right.

I put all that round after I knocked the wall down to go into the drain

cos he put the rainwater gutter across the top of the wall.

Flat. It was going on ours and next door.

Donald's got the right idea, here. Without proper guttering,

you could cause water damage to your property, which can be costly.

The most common reason for this is blocked guttering,

but it's simple to sort out.

I'm off to Warrington to a specialist building college

where they teach up-and-coming building professionals

the skills they need to do work the way it should be done.

So, here I am with John. Now, John, your role here is as a tutor

-for level two and level three plumbing.

-That's correct, yeah.

Something that happens to a lot of gutters

when you're standing looking at properties,

you see grass spouting up, you've got leaf mulch

and whatever else in there and the water seems to be tipping over.

That's right, yeah.

Now, it's important to realise

that you can't put a ladder up against plastic guttering

cos it'll just crush it.

What you can buy from virtually all the DIY sheds these days

are stand-off brackets.

They attach themselves to your aluminium ladder

and then they sit against the wall, so it means you can go up

and above the guttering. Easier to work from, as well.

Brilliant. You can take your bucket.

Thank you. Can I ask you to foot the ladder?

Indeed. I'll be happy to do that, sir.

Now, always remember, when you're footing the ladder,

don't nip off for a cup of tea. Could be lethal.

-So, it's a matter of scooping it out.

-Look at that.

-I reckon there's even a carrot in there.

-Possibly.

OK. So, once that's all scooped out,

you'd then just move your ladder along.

So, to test that guttering, would you take a watering can up

and maybe just pour it into the gutter

to see if you've got the flow of water down to the downspout?

You've got two purposes.

One that shows that the gutter's on a fall, but also,

any silt or small debris that's left in the gutter

should actually come along the gutter with the fall

and down the downspout and away,

so it'd clear the gutter out more or less completely.

Now, the one thing you CAN get from the DIY store is a bird's nest.

It's like a crosshatch

and that sits at the top of the downspout inside the guttering

and it stops any leaf mulch gathering and going down.

It's a great little item and really, it's quite cheap, as well.

All right, let's see.

So, there's the water.

We have got a little bit of silt coming out, but it's perfect.

Back in Telford, Donald is counting the cost

of falling into the Cowboy Trap.

He's spent £5,000 of his life savings

on an extension, only to have to demolish it.

And what's more, he's had to do a DIY plumbing job

on the guttering to stop water flooding his neighbour's garden.

The other problem I've got here - is this his original damp course?

-Yeah.

-It's not high enough.

-No, it's got to go level with that.

So, that's wrong. In real terms, then, this is now just a bomb site.

-In the meantime, how did you get on with that kettle?

-All right.

-Come on, then. Let's go and have a cuppa, son.

-It boiled right.

-After you.

This is a classic cowboy job.

I'm not surprised Donald had to knock his extension down,

but to get my head around this,

I need to take a look at Donald's truck collection myself.

Wow!

I'm nosey, but I tell you what,

this is definitely a boy's dream.

That is amazing. They're everywhere.

Now I'm beginning to understand Donald's passion.

That is an amazing collection, Donald.

-Yeah, I've got some more in the bedroom you can have a look at.

-What, more than that?

-Yeah.

-Let's have a look. Cor blimey, I can't believe it!

Ooh, I see. Right above the bed.

-Have you built cabinets, as well?

-Yeah.

You see, the thing is, you look like a real good craftsman.

So, what are we doing looking in the old...? Oh, come on! Look at that lot!

It's like a motor vehicle version of Narnia.

There's got to be another at least hundred boxes in there or more.

-Probably about 300-400.

-I tell you what,

I'm really chuffed, now. I understand.

What an amazing collection. But this is tragic.

All Donald wanted in his retirement

was a home for his lorries and trucks.

But after the botched job of a heartless builder,

his cherished collection remains boxed up.

It's time to find out how Donald fell into this Cowboy Trap.

-How did you go about finding that builder?

-In the journal.

-Local paper?

-Yeah.

-And you found a builder?

-Yes.

-And...what happened next?

I just wanted somebody to come and give me a quote to do it.

And what was your first impression of him

when he came through the door?

Well, the first time he came, he seemed all right

and then he gave me the price,

so I said no, that was too dear.

I said, "I'll leave it and get another quote,"

and then, I saw it in the paper again.

-The same guy?

-The same guy, but he'd got a different advert.

-Not a different company name, though?

-He had a different company to what it was the first time.

Now, I have to say that if you found that this is the same number...

-I would imagine same telephone number, was it?

-Yes.

-..but a different name all of a sudden?

-That's right.

I've got to just say to everybody at home, now,

that if that's occurring and it's a different name...

-Yeah.

-..be wary.

Oh, I see.

Remember, if you have a builder's number

and discover he's trading under several different company names,

then stay away.

-So, was it a shock to you when he came the second time?

-It was a bit.

When I saw him get here, I said to my brother,

"It's the same bloke as come the first time."

-So, he'd have known it's the same job. You were asking for the same job, weren't you?

-Yeah.

-So, he knew that before he quoted, what was it, ten grand?

-Yeah.

-And he knew that that was too expensive, obviously.

-Yeah.

-So, now, he's come in, sharpening his pencil.

-That's right.

Comes through the door, you say, "You were the guy from before.

"Why have you changed your company name?"

He came down all smiles and that, put his hand up

and I asked him then and he sat there, he said,

"I'll give you a quote in two or three days."

Next morning, my brother said, "There's a letter in the box."

That bloke, he'd gone home and quoted it,

then brought it back the same night.

-You opened it up, you had a look, what was the quote?

-7,000.

-So, three grand less, all of a sudden?

-Yeah.

-How did he want paying?

-I told him I'd pay in cash, when he asked.

He said I'd pay for when he did each job.

-So, stages? Pay in stages.

-Yeah.

-So, did he ask for money up front?

-Yes, he did.

This guy was taking money for what reason?

-What was he taking the money for?

-I don't know.

Did he not say what he wanted it for?

-He'd got it on the list, all the...

-Materials and things?

-Yeah.

-But is he saying...?

-He never brought none.

Like I said, he got the bricks...

..and then I had the damp course.

Them blocks were mine and he used 75 of them

and the membrane was mine because I was,

like I said, going to have a go myself and I thought

I didn't want to cos of getting up in the roof.

-So, he's now using your blocks, he's using your damp course.

-Yeah.

-Is he using your membrane, as well?

-Yeah.

-The damp-proof membrane?

-That's all yours?

-Yeah, that was all mine.

-Was that set out

in the original deal, that he would use your materials?

No. Like I told him, "Use the blocks to get them out of my road."

But you're saving him money.

He should have said to you or you - you're shrewd enough,

you should have said to him, "Well, that'll bring my bill down."

-I ought to have done.

-You've missed a trick there. I'm surprised.

-I wasn't sharp enough.

-You weren't!

The critical thing is here that we have to point out is that

-he is taking advantage.

-That's right.

There's no doubt in my mind. That's my personal opinion.

When was the big first alarm bell for you when he started to build?

When he started to go up and he had no ties on. He said, "I'm going home.

"I'll bring some back with me." But he didn't do that.

Can't believe it. There's no way in this world and you know this,

-that this guy should have been building without ties.

-No. I knew that.

Here's another lesson for you.

Wall ties are metal rods

that keep the inner and outer walls of a building together.

Without them, it could fall down.

If you're worried your builder is not using them,

consult your local building control department.

He came back with some of them bits of twisty wires.

Well, like I said, in the top two course of them blocks,

he put some of them long screws like you screw the windows to the wall.

That's all he put, about three of them in the last couple of courses.

-That's not going to meet regs.

-No.

No way in the world is that going to do that.

So, majority of it, we're saying, has got nothing to tie it?

-Nothing to tie it at all.

-To tie them together.

Were you saying to him, "This doesn't look right"?

I never said nothing.

I thought, "Why tell him?"

-But even though you could see with your eyes?

-I should have done.

-Looking back in hindsight,

you should have said, "Stop this build.

-"You don't know what you're doing."

-I should have.

By now, it was two weeks into the build

and Donald had handed over 5,000 of the £7,000 quoted.

He had foundations, a damp course and a half-completed extension.

But he didn't have a contract of work

or any of those essential wall ties between the inner and outer brickwork

that could stop the building from falling down.

It was then that the builder upped and left.

-Why did the builder not come back again?

-He never said.

Like I said, I rang him once to see if he was coming to do it

or will I get somebody else?

He never even picked the phone up or nothing.

HE SIGHS

-I just don't get it.

-He'd either put the phone down

or switch the phone off or he wouldn't answer.

-It must have made you feel pretty sad, though.

-Oh, it did.

When you've got all that money and then to find out that it's...

He never came back again. He never had no tools.

He had my barrow to work with.

He never had a barrow or nothing.

Do you think this guy's got any conscience at all about it?

No, I don't think he has. I don't think he has.

Donald's dream project was in ruins.

Not only was the extension unfinished,

it was also unsafe so he demolished it - brick by brick.

I did it myself.

I took me...

about three parts of a day to knock it down.

Like I said... Like I said, knocking every brick out and block.

And then piling it up.

So I said that was the end of it then,

after I'd knocked it down, I said I'd never bother.

I can see exactly what the brothers had in mind.

It should have been a simple job to do.

What's more, it would have made a fantastic space.

Donald hesitated about reporting his builder to Trading Standards,

until his neighbours intervened.

We went on holiday. We came back

and Don said he's had the builders in and he hasn't seen them since.

We come round and I thought, "What a load of...dodgy building going on."

We started enquiries as to who the builder was, where he lived.

I wrote a letter and it was delivered by hand

asking him please would he come and finish the job

and if not, could we have some money back that had been paid?

I don't think he answered that letter.

He might have rang Don and said he would come back but then he didn't.

We then wrote another letter on the advice of Citizens Advice,

recorded it and sent it to him.

Again, no reply from that letter.

We did some more digging with the Trading Standards,

and they said, "Not him again."

Trading Standards discovered there are ten County Court Judgments

against Donald's builder so it's unlikely he'll get his money back.

According to fair trading officer Kathryn Wood,

his case is worse than many.

Looking round here today, I would say

that this is quite a bad case,

for the amount of money that they have paid

and for the amount of work they have done, it's not very nice.

Here's her advice if you've had a similar experience.

If you've got a problem with a cowboy builder,

you need to try and contact

the builder themselves to see if he can resolve it.

If that doesn't work,

contact the national helpline, which is Consumer Direct.

Consumer Direct send all their details of complaints

out to local Trading Standards.

A local Trading Standards officer will monitor those calls.

They will make sure to see whether or not there have been

a number of calls against a particular builder.

That will be investigated and appropriate action taken.

In the meantime, Donald's extension lies in tatters.

But I still want him to fulfil his dream.

What would make you happy? What can we do?

I'd like it done.

That's what I'd like to happen.

I think if you could finish the job off,

give him something that he's paid for,

so that he can extend his bedroom

so he can get his vehicles out on display,

that would make his day and bring the smile back on his face.

It's time to do something about Donald's pile of bricks.

There's just one small problem.

He'd wanted his extension to have a glass roof.

The cowboy builder failed to consult building regulations.

If he had, he'd have found that

glass roofs are only allowed on conservatories

where doors separating them from the main dwelling

keep the heat in.

But extensions don't have partitioned doors

so the roof must be solid and insulated to avoid heat loss.

Make sure your builder checks the latest regs

before starting work.

To meet building regulations,

Donald's extension will now have to have an insulated flat roof.

Normally at this stage, I'd say it's time to bring on

the independent expert to assess the work,

but as you can see, there is no building.

It is just a pile of rubble

but I'm still going to declare this a no-go zone,

and say it is time to bring on the good guys.

Leading the local builders today

are Steve and his building partner Luke.

Hey, Steve. Is one sheet of paper big enough?!

There is a lot to be done here.

It is a total mess.

Give us a general overall view of your opinion.

To be honest, a bit shoddy, not very good.

He hasn't got a clue what he's doing, to be honest.

The footings are pretty OK.

We're going to strip it all off. Strip the base out,

brick it up and put a new solid roof on it, a new flat roof.

We're definitely saying that that glass roof is not allowed?

It's definitely a no. It's classified as an extension now

so it's got to be a solid flat roof.

One thing that has raised its head,

is the actual pad itself, the concrete.

We're not sure that the correct insulation has been put in place.

What's the remedial action if they've put ordinary insulation?

We'll just have to rip it up and start from scratch.

I don't want to put my work on top of that.

Rip it all off. Proper insulation in the slab.

Listen, it's great to have the good guys on board, as usual.

I'll leave you to it. Copious notes and I'll catch up with you later.

-Pleasure.

-All right, Steve. Thank you.

When Donald wanted an extension on his bedroom,

he wasn't interested in views of the fish pond,

he wanted more space to house his enormous model truck collection.

Now we've got Steve and his team in to make that happen.

The only thing salvageable from the original build are the footings.

We're going to take up the old concrete slab, put down a new one

with a proper thermal barrier,

build the walls, put a thermal flat roof on,

take down the interior wall and give Don that space he's longed for.

As the builders get started, Donald's keen to show me

another one of his hobbies.

I tell you what, this looks like Fort Knox.

There must be something pretty special going on in here.

Turns out he's a joiner.

This is the workshop.

This workshop is where he makes the cabinets

showing off his collection.

This really excites me!

Now he's ready to start work on the new cabinets

for his extension.

It's one of them places a boy could live!

Just the start, this is!

I'd been collecting most of this since I come here in '66.

This is the place where you can create.

It just makes you want to do stuff, you know!

Ah! It's incredible!

Thanks for showing me but this has been a respite.

What we've got to get on with is your building

and get that sorted.

As I leave Donald to get on with those cabinets,

back at the bungalow, Steve and his team are steaming ahead,

building the walls of the new extension.

But getting this far hasn't been plain sailing.

Even the foundations left by the cowboy builder

turned out to be substandard.

We've knocked down what was originally here.

We've found a couple of problems with the footings.

We had to rectify the situation. A bit of a setback,

a couple of days extra but we're getting there now on target.

Me and my partner Luke's going to get the roof on today.

Hopefully, get it all under cover by the weekend, with a bit of luck,

as long as the weather keeps off.

Thanks to Steve and Luke,

there's now light at the end of a dark tunnel for Donald.

After finding a builder in the paper and handing over £5,000

of his life savings,

his dream of an extension for his beloved truck collection

ended with this...

..a pile of rubble.

Now, Steve and his team are rebuilding his shattered dream

and putting a smile back on his face.

I've got nothing to complain about. It's going well now.

Like I said, it's been hanging about too long.

I thought I would never get it done.

I've got none of that rubble to look at.

Like I said, you can't grumble about that.

Donald's new home for his trucks is beginning to take shape.

But there's still one more thing to do

and that's to give Donald the opportunity to confront

the cowboy builder on the phone.

This is the bit that is usually not so nice.

It's the time when we need to get answers

from the cowboy builder.

If you had an opportunity to speak to him,

what would you like to say to him?

Why he didn't finish it.

Why he took your money. Why he didn't finish it.

What about his broken promises?

Yeah. I could say that as well.

He promised to keep coming back.

Though I said I never want to speak to him again, anyhow.

You never want to speak to him again,

which answers my next question,

which is I was going to give you the opportunity

to speak to him on the phone,

but if you don't want to take that opportunity,

I certainly will.

-No, I don't want to speak to him.

-OK.

I never want to see him here.

Well, let's see how we go.

RINGING TONE

The answerphone should kick in.

ANSWERPHONE: 'When you've left your message,

'just hang up or for more options, press one at any time.'

This is Clive, the presenter of Cowboy Trap on BBC One.

I'm at the home of Donald Pearce in Trench, Telford.

Erm, there were a few questions that we'd got for you,

that we'd like you to answer. First of all,

how could you leave two of the most fantastic people on the planet

in such a mess,

take their money and leave them with a substandard building?

It is a real disgrace.

I've got to be honest, I don't know how you guys sleep at night,

I really don't.

But it's your right of reply to come back to us

and talk to us about things like the footings not being big enough,

not being deep enough, not being wide enough.

Why you didn't, when you built the extension

or attempted to build the extension,

didn't even tie it in to the existing building.

It was a real danger.

I'm sorry, but if you're still running around classing yourself

as a builder, that's what concerns me.

So I'd like you to get back in touch with our office as soon as possible,

so that you can answer some of the allegations that we've got.

They'll listen to that answerphone message,

but the chances of them doing anything

are a lot slimmer than me.

-I have to tell you that.

-Yeah.

What pleases me now is the fact that we have had the good guys in

to do the work on your property and put a smile back on your face,

and I think that's the important thing.

Despite repeated calls to the builder,

there's been no response from him to our questions.

The cowboy builder may have ripped Donald off

and destroyed his longed-for dream, but now Steve and his team are here,

and they've been working round-the-clock to finish the job.

As Steve and Luke put the finishing touches to the extension,

Donald's handiwork is also complete.

I've made a cabinet to put me models in.

To put 'em on the wall.

Took me about three days to make it.

I shall have some room now. The walls will be covered in cabinets.

Whether it'll have enough, I don't know!

Would like to see that.

If I don't get enough room, I'll have to stop buying on that.

That cabinet will look great in the new extension.

That's now finished,

but it hasn't been straightforward for Steve and Luke.

-Steve, Luke, how are you?

-I'm not bad, how are you?

-Hello, Clive.

-I'm very well.

Much better now!

-This seems totally different!

-Definitely looks the part.

What am I talking about, "Seems different?" It is totally different!

It's looking absolutely brilliant! Lovin' it.

Just talk us through any problems that you've found,

and how things have been going since we last saw you.

The only problems we had was definitely in the ground,

the footings.

We did testing at the front to see if the footings were good enough,

and they were, but not on the inside.

We had to do a lot more work, did set us back a few days.

It's always the case. I say this time and again with cowboys -

it's not what you CAN see, it's what you can't see behind the layers,

So obviously, from the front section, they were thinking,

"We'll fool 'em with having the right-size footings there,

-"but towards the back, virtually nothing."

-Nothing carrying the blockwork at the back at all,

so we had to dig down again, another two foot, concrete foundation.

-That was a headache.

-Any problems you found other than that?

-Are we able to crack on?

-Nothing at all.

As soon as we solved the problem out in the floor,

everything else has flowed quite nicely.

And so we got the walls up.

Now, the ceiling's obviously different to...

The roof is different to what the original plan was but, of course,

-what the original plan was wouldn't have passed building regs anyway.

-It's not allowed.

So now we've got a solid roof on.

-It's going to be nice and toast in here.

-And then, nice floor,

carpet down, radiator in and to top it all, my building friends,

a bit of the old decorating thrown in as well.

We chucked it in just to try and finish it off nicely.

Well, it matches now! I don't know where you found this paper from, I'll be honest with you.

Donald's had it a while. I think he's had it about five years.

-Oh, OK, so he saved a few rolls. He was planning ahead.

-He was.

Well, I can safely say, I'm sure he's going to be well chuffed,

the boys are going to be well chuffed with what you've done.

I'm certainly chuffed with it, that's for sure,

but the important people, of course, are Don and William.

So for now, boys, great to meet you, fantastic job,

and I hope to see you sometime soon.

And we do.

I'm loving this job, and with Don being a craftsman,

he's really going to appreciate the quality that's gone into this build.

But we're now going to take down the tape,

because it's no longer a no-go zone, it's a happy home.

Donald now has an extension that's guaranteed to stay up.

The walls have been properly tied together.

There's a new timber-framed window and new fascias and guttering.

I'm really chuffed with what these guys have done.

If you remember before, this was just a pile of rubble, and now it's just amazing.

I'm sure Don will love it.

And the other thing about good guys is this.

These are little extras they do.

This wasn't on their remit, wasn't on their list,

but they have built up this dividing wall here, and put on

the coping stones at the top,

just to finish it off, just as an extra touch.

And I'm telling you, you won't find cowboy builders doing that.

Retired lorry driver Donald Pearce and his brother William

have lived happily in this bungalow for more than 40 years.

During that time, Donald's passion for collecting lorries grew

and grew and grew.

When he finally ran out of wall space,

he had to store them in the wardrobe and in the attic.

And when that space ran out,

the only answer was an extension on his bedroom.

But after paying out £5,000 of his hard-earned savings,

a heartless cowboy builder left Donald with an unstable,

half-built shell of a room.

In fact, it was so dangerous,

Donald had to knock it down himself.

Now all that has changed.

It's time to show Donald and William what Steve and the team have done.

Right, well, I tell you what, shall we go in and take a look, yeah?

Come on in, boys!

Come on!

Come and have a look.

Oh, that's smashing now, innit? Great, now.

-Come in, Don.

-Yeah.

-Come in, William.

It's nice now, innit?

-It's lovely!

-It is all right.

What do you think? I mean, you've now got...

-What I wanted!

-..what you wanted!

-That's the key, now.

-Oh, yeah.

Looking round, you got new carpet down.

The boys have done a fantastic job.

Of course, as far as the ceiling's concerned,

that's now a flat roof that's gone on there.

It is fantastic.

-You're loving it? You're loving that!

-Aye!

Now, what about your workmanship?

That's great, now!

That's great!

What Donald didn't know,

is Steve and Luke sneaked into his workshop earlier on

and put the cabinet up for him.

What a great surprise!

From one set of craftspeople...

-To another.

-..to another.

-And that's what it's all about.

-It is, yeah.

So how are you feeling?

All right, now. Smashing.

-Are you chuffed?

-I am, yeah.

Oh, I cannot go wrong with that!

No.

Turned out all right!

-It turned out all right, William. You're not joking!

-Yeah.

It's turned out fantastic!

So what's your plans now for in here?

So this is the space you wanted. Obviously, the cabinet's up,

so do you reckon your first plan will be to stock it?

I shall, just now, yeah! With a bit of luck, I will!

Stock it with your wagons and everything that's been hiding in the cupboard?

Oh, I'll get that all up as well.

And eventually, put stuff on this wall, too?

Yeah, from floor to ceiling.

Get another bed in 'ere, now!

-"Get another bed in!" What's he trying to say?

-I don't know!

What's he trying to say?

-Happy?

-Oh, I am!

-Listen, boys, do you know what?

It's been lovely to meet you.

I'm so pleased that you've got what you wanted.

Well chuffed with that, Don.

And seriously, seriously, mate...

Hey, the whole point was we're looking after you, yeah?

There's people out there to look out for you,

and it proves that there are good guys out there.

Now, we normally like to see a smile on your chops.

That's what we usually have, Don, innit?

'While Donald dries his eyes, I've got one more surprise for him.'

Now this is your building control officer's sign off.

This is the certificate of completion,

to say that now, this building has passed building control inspection,

and that is important.

-That needs to be kept with the deeds of the property.

-Oh, aye, yeah.

-It really is such an important piece of paper.

-Yeah.

All right. OK, boys, look after yourselves!

-OK, thanks, Clive!

-No problem!

That's from Wrekin council, that is.

Certificate of completion.

He's satisfied with it, so am I!

Thanks to Steve and Luke, Donald's dream has come true.

His beloved trucks and lorries now have a new home he can be proud of.

Couldn't wish for nothing better!

It's certainly a cause for celebration,

and loyal neighbours Dave and Wendy are here to join in the party.

You've got that smile, see!

Fantastic! He's done a good job an' all.

This is one happy and deserving customer.

So, I've put together all the evidence

that we've gathered on Don's builder,

so all cowboy builders out there, beware!

Cowboy trapper on your trail. You can run, you certainly can't hide!

If you've had a problem with builders and you would like to

tell your story on Cowboy Trap, then please call us.

Or you can send us an e-mail.

Help us round up the cowboys!

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