Episode 6 Cowboy Trap

I'm back on the road once again

and on the trail of those cowboy builders, who blight people's lives.

The kitchen floor is so uneven,

it goes into a dip, then it mounds towards the middle.

-The electrics are hanging off the wall.

-It's all stuff too big for us to be able to handle ourselves.

Today, I'm hoping to lend a helping hand to a family

who want to turn their house back into a home again.

You can't get away from it, you can't escape. I haven't slept very well for a while.

-Listen...

-Sorry.

-Listen, I don't want you to worry about it.

Now along the way, I'm going to give you some top tips,

in the hope it will help prevent you from falling into the cowboy trap.

Today, I'm in Tyersall, a little village on the outskirts of Bradford

in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

This place, in the boom time of the Industrial Revolution,

was once classed as the wool capital of the world.

Sadly, that industry is now long gone,

except for one couple I'm about to meet who've had the wool

well and truly pulled over their eyes.

Nine years ago, credit manager Corinne Sanderson

and her husband, car company administrator Andy,

bought this three-bedroom semi in the village.

They're a couple very much in love

and have worked as hard at making this a family home

as they have their 22-year-long relationship.

Now I'm a real sucker for a good old-fashioned love story,

and Corinne and Andy have been married for 18 years.

They were childhood sweethearts.

In fact, they met when Andy decided to ask his mate

if he could chat up his little sister.

When I left school, I started an apprenticeship as a technician

and I went to the same college as her brother.

-So it sort of started from there, didn't it?

-It did.

-Yes.

Life has moved on a bit since those first dates.

The couple are married and now have two daughters,

17 year-old Abi and 14-year-old Kim, who is off at school.

The girls are everything to us, family's everything to us.

-Everything we've done has been around them, hasn't it?

-Yes.

But eventually, as their daughters were growing up,

the family realised they needed more room.

Andy was keen on cooking and wanted a larger kitchen.

And of course, as for the girls, they wanted more space

so they could entertain their friends

and of course, do some serious chilling.

The house was small, we needed a bigger space, more space for us,

so friends could come around.

We decided to look at having the extension built,

with a view to having a bigger room initially

and when they gave us a price,

it wasn't that much more to put the extra storey on,

so it would give them a room to get out of our way, I suppose!

We were looking forward to it,

just so I did not have to come to my bedroom all the time to get away from everything.

The family decided to go ahead with their grand plan

and re-mortgaged their home to create a £30,000 pot.

Next, they needed a builder.

We decided, we can't have one quote, we'll get a few.

We had another builder in that gave us a quote that was just out of our reach altogether

and then we started to think, why are they so different?

Let's get another builder in, so I Googled the local area,

found the builder that we've used.

We argued with him a little bit and got him down and we agreed,

for the two storeys, that he would finish all the work

and it was going to come in at 25,500. That's what we agreed.

Look, I don't want to sound like a broken record,

that is for those of you who can remember records, black circular vinyl things,

but Corinne and Andy missed out one of the golden rules

and that is to always take up the references and check the builder's previous work.

It will save you such a lot of misery in the end.

Blinkered by the price, Corinne and Andy rushed ahead.

They verbally agreed to pay in three instalments

and were promised their dream double storey extension, with a chill out room upstairs

and a kitchen downstairs.

The build was to take six weeks and with some added extras,

the final cost came in at £26,500.

Things got off to a flying start.

'They dug the foundations really quickly.'

'They were here seven days a week.'

-We were getting giddy, weren't we?

-Yes.

-The lasses were looking in, seeing where the telly would go

and it were a very exciting time.

With their extension taking shape,

they were only too happy to pay the first two instalments.

So far, they'd shelled out a total of £21,000.

Then, alarm bells started to ring.

'We'd had no receipts from them at this point.'

They were supposed to have given us a contract to say

when it will be finished and the instalment plan, everything.

The only receipt we'd had off him was for the initial £1,000.

Increasingly worried, the couple requested

their promised contract and receipts,

but they didn't receive either.

Instead, their cheeky cowboy

demanded the final payment of £6,000.

It didn't seem right and it wasn't, but I paid it anyway, stupidly.

-When we sat and thought about it, we'd paid £500 too much.

-We'd overpaid, hadn't we?

The couple had forked out a massive 27 grand,

but they were still living in a building site.

Corinne and Andy fell for the classic cowboy trap.

They handed over all of the money before the work was completed,

so when the builder got the final payment,

the excuses came thick and fast.

A job the Sandersons were told would only take six weeks was now running way over schedule

and to top it all, Corinne had no receipts

for any of the work that had been carried out, so therefore, no proof.

Take my advice, you must have a contract in place

before you let your builder do any work on your property.

Ensure your contract includes a schedule of work and a payment plan.

Then you know not to pay

if the work's behind schedule or not up to standard.

Pay by cheque or bank transfer

and always get receipts for any payment made.

As soon as Corinne and Andy made the final payment,

their cash-crazy cowboy lost interest in the project.

'When they started to not be here every day,

'we give them the benefit of the doubt, but that got more often,'

then they suddenly stopped coming.

With their callous cowboy gone,

the family were left to deal with the catastrophe.

The kitchen floor is so uneven it goes into a dip,

then it mounds up towards the middle.

The front of the house hasn't got a drain at all.

We've got big ditch where they dug it out and left it.

Upstairs, the electrics are hanging off the wall.

It's all stuff that's too big for us to handle ourselves, we just can't do it.

This family has been living like this for six months

and has no way of making things better.

They have no funds left,

not even to decorate those rooms that are unfinished,

and they're surrounded by constant reminders of what's gone wrong.

'When you wake up, it's there in your mind,

'you're coming out of your bedroom, looking at the mess

'and it's a bad start to the day.'

You go to work thinking about it, you go home, come in the house,

it's there again, you can't get away from it, you can't escape at all.

Everything this family has gone through

has been witnessed by Corinne's mum.

'It put a lot of strain on them',

getting upset with each other and arguments, as you do.

It caused a lot of worry and upset for both of them.

And if it hadn't been for the fact that they're both such strong people

and so committed to each other and to their two daughters,

it might have damaged their marriage,

you know, beyond repair.

'Corinne and Andy really need my help.'

It's time for me to meet them, to see if I can put an end

to this cowboy calamity.

-You must be Corinne.

-I am, pleased to meet you.

-I'm Clive.

-You're Andy?

-Yes, sir.

You've had problems with cowboy builders, I hear.

-We have, yes.

-If you don't mind letting me in, as I'm a stranger?

-No, come in.

-I'll take a look.

-OK, thank you.

'Downstairs in the main extension, things aren't hot in this kitchen.'

The first thing that jumps out at me is the floor...

..that's terrible.

What's underneath that? Look at this.

It's up and down like a fiddler's elbow.

In actual fact, here, I'm now two inches taller.

-This has just gone...

-MAKES WHOOSHING SOUND

I'm going to give this floor the golf ball test.

There's no way when I put this ball down

it's going to stay still, which it should do because it should be flat.

It will help you with your putting stroke

if you've got an uneven green, but that's about your lot.

It's terrible. Looking around...

..these are the things to feel for.

Finish there on the plasterwork, it's not good. It's quite rough.

Normally you get it like glass.

A good plasterer will get that spot on.

One thing I can't see and that is a wired smoke detector.

Its regulations, you've got to have a wired smoke alarm.

Not in here, it ain't.

So far, so bad. But what about the upstairs?

Is the build in this chill-out room going to leave me cold?

I have to say, this is our cavity.

That insulation board shouldn't have come out as easily as it has done.

The big problem you've got is plaster debris,

like this, that's bridging the two walls.

When that bridges and gets stuck, if moisture did break through those bricks,

they will potentially cause damp on the inner wall.

So, that's no good.

And with this plaster, I mean from the surface

and where you can see, it might look good, but honestly,

it's up and down, it's rough, it's got edges on it and of course,

when it's time to paint this sort of thing, you're going to see it.

You're going to see those waves. It just hasn't been finished right.

These are tell-tale signs

that there's possibly moisture ingress coming from the roof

and you've got a big stain there, that's a moisture stain.

That would worry me, I'd need to inspect the roof.

And here, I mean, this is just not supported right at all.

You've got tripping hazards. They just haven't thought it out.

It's quite dangerous, particularly right at the top of the stairs.

'Out here, the cowboy calamities continue.'

I hate it when it's windy, it plays havoc with my hair. Look at this.

That is a mix that went wrong. Why would you leave that like that?

Awful.

'And it doesn't take long to discover proof

'of the rotten work on the roof.

'The all-important end cap that seals this roof is missing.

'No wonder the Sandersons have leaks.'

That's all open and exposed.

Wind and rain... and all of a sudden, it's in.

'And do I not like this shoddy brickwork?'

It's fairly obvious we're dealing with cowboy builders, but this should not happen.

We've got different colours of mortar,

so you've got a far lighter shade there,

which is more sand in the mix and as you come down,

it goes darker and you find this to greater degrees around the property.

For all you amateur builders out there, here's how to get it right.

If you're thinking about building a wall in the garden,

or fancy yourself as a DIY bricklayer, I've got a simple top tip

for you to keep those mortar colours absolutely even.

Now for the ingredients.

Now imagine you want to get the perfect cake mix.

So what you need is two buckets,

one to fill with the builder's sand and one to fill with the cement.

In this case I'm saying that I would be doing it as a four and one mix.

That's four parts builder's sand, you can use four full buckets, and one part cement.

Tip it out on to your spot board or your bath, mix it with a shovel

and then gently apply water,

mixing it until you get the consistency just right.

Stick to these tips and unlike this wall, you'll have a great build.

Keeps it nice and even and you won't have all these different colours going on,

with either too much sand or too much cement.

So much has been started, but left unfinished on this job.

Maybe Andy can shed more light

on what this half-hearted cowboy's been playing at.

Come and talk this through all this, Andy, I've had a look around myself,

but you'll give me a proper, probably a better insight into what's been going on.

What other problems do you know of out here?

Well, first thing to notice is that we don't have a fall pipe,

-so when it rains, it's got nowhere to go.

-No.

We don't have a drain at all in there.

It's just a ditch they've dug out and left it hollow,

-so when it rains, it just fills up.

-OK.

The actual end cap is actually on site somewhere.

I think they've left all the bits here to do it,

They just haven't been here to do it.

-If rain goes in there, it's totally exposed.

-Yes.

So it's going to cause damage in the property, somewhere along the line.

Now then, what can Andy tell me about upstairs?

So what was the plan for in here, Andy?

Well, they were supposed to finish all the plastering,

put us a radiator on and pipe it up and everything,

because we haven't got any heating up to the point where they left.

But as you can see, none of that has been finished.

We've got two walls and a ceiling plastered, but that's it.

'Back downstairs, the evidence of bodged work continues

'in the old kitchen, where the builder has removed the Sandersons' boiler.'

What were you doing for heating?

We had to get oil-filled radiators and use electric for months.

Especially in the winter, because it was freezing.

-So add on to that the cost of running those things...

-That's cost us a fortune to run them.

And we had no hot water.

We were relying on the electric shower for hot water.

What, for things like washing up?

We use the kettle for that, we had to struggle with a kettle.

'I want Andy to give me the low-down on the new kitchen extension.'

-There's one obvious flaw in the floor.

-Yes.

-After you.

-OK.

-Now this is interesting, this floor, I've got to say.

-You like the lino?

-Well, yes.

But it's all of this sort of up and down motion,

makes you feel a bit seasick.

But what does it look like under this linoleum?

It's got a mound in the middle and a dip at this side

and it's made of a sandy sort of screed, I suppose you'd call it.

So they didn't actually put any top screed on it?

-No self-levelling, no nothing?

-No.

'By not challenging his builder more forcibly about this floor,

'Andy made a mistake.

'Don't let this happen to you.'

'With an uneven floor in the extension, and the old kitchen

'out of order, Andy was forced to install the new units himself.'

Was that purely in desperation, you wanted to get the kitchen sorted?

We had to have some way of cooking, because we had nothing.

-Cooking and washing facilities...

-There's only so many takeaways you can eat.

But of course, you built it on an uneven surface.

I did it as best as I could, working, just marking a level

and working to the line and ignoring the floor.

You didn't take your measurement from the floor though?

No. One thing after another.

Coming up, I call in an independent chartered surveyor

to cast his expert eye over this house of horrors...

They've just thought, we've extracted the money

from these people we need to, let's get on to the next job.

..and Corinne and Andy share the tearful truth

about their darkest hour.

-Listen...

-Sorry.

-Listen, I don't want you to worry about it.

'Tyersall, West Yorkshire is home to Corinne and Andy Sanderson.

'They had a dream to extend their home by adding a large family kitchen

'and an upstairs room for their daughters to hang out in.

'But after shelling out £27,000 to their builder,

'their hopes and dreams and not to mention their home,

'were left in tatters.

'Their callous cowboy's skedaddled, leaving them with uneven floors,

'dodgy electrics and ceiling stains from a leaky roof.'

The builder is only as good as the worst jobs he's carried out,

and that's what makes him a cowboy.

But I want to find out from Corinne and Andy

just how he gained their trust in the first place.

'I want to know more about how they found themselves in such a state.'

First of all, what was the dream, what did you want?

You'd sat down, thought about it, what was the dream?

A bigger kitchen.

A bigger kitchen was the goal to start with

and then the girls needing their extra spaces.

All this, they were getting older, more independent, more friends,

wanting more room, away from mum and dad.

How did you know how much it was going to cost, rough idea?

We had an idea in our minds of what we would be willing to spend.

And you were willing to spend?

-Probably about 30,000 or somewhere near that.

-OK.

'The couple re-mortgaged their house

'and with £30,000 to spend, set about choosing a builder.'

We'd seen a few builders, we'd had three around, a few quotes.

His quote was very similar to another quote that we'd had

but we liked this builder better.

-We felt more comfortable with him.

-Why?

He was the right bloke. He was our, sort of down-to-earth, sort of guy.

-You then come to an agreement with a contract, you got a contract?

-No.

-Just remind me a little of what job you do.

-I know!

-Spill the beans.

-I'm an assistant credit manager,

um, looking after credit. I know, I'm bad.

Was the heart leading the head that you couldn't really think straight?

It was trust, I think and the dream.

If I knock on your door,

and I said to you, Corinne...

SHE LAUGHS

"Give us 50 quid,

"I'll go and buy you something nice and I'll be back in half an hour."

-It wouldn't happen.

-It wouldn't.

-No, I've tried it.

LAUGHS

You're giving this guy 30 grand!

'I can't believe my ears!

'Surely you don't hand over that sort of money

'without doing homework on your builder.'

Have we done any research on him?

-Have we seen any of his previous work at all?

-Only on his website.

Do you know on my website, I'm slim?

I've put my head on, I'm real slim, six pack, all the rest of it,

giving it all that, giving it all that.

It's not real though.

We took it on trust because he had the Federation of Master Builders

accreditation on his website and his letterheads.

Did you find out that he was a member, genuinely?

-Did you phone up the federation?

-No, we never checked it.

We took it on face value.

We took it as trust that if he used their logo,

-then it must be right, mustn't it?

-Subsequently?

-He isn't.

-No.

'Take my advice.

'ANYONE can build a website, so be wary.

'Remember, reviews, testimonials and photos of work can all be made up.

'Search for builders and websites

'run by organisations offering assured trader schemes.

'If you find your builder on a trusted site,

'still do your research.

'Speak to previous clients

'and look at examples of work similar to your plans.

'Sadly, Corinne and Andy's lack of research

'was about to land them in trouble.'

-From the moment you start the build, how's it going?

-Very well.

-Really?

Absolutely. Very, very well.

They dug all the foundations out,

probably within a day, that flew up within weeks.

They got the roof on and it was tiled really quickly.

-Probably within a week.

-So you'd paid what 20 grand so far?

20 grand to get the shell without the windows, yes. And doors.

-And the thousand for the building regs and planning permission.

-Yes.

'They had paid £21,000 in total

'and there was still a lot of work to be done.

'But that didn't stop their cheeky cowboy

'asking for the final payment.'

He rung Andy up and said, "We need the remaining 6,000".

-Twenty-seven thousand pounds?

-Yes.

-He's got it.

-Yes.

The job's not complete.

Your windows haven't even arrived yet

and yet we've paid him all the dosh.

'But hang on, wasn't the initial quote less than that?'

The original quote was for £26,500 but you paid him?

-We actually transferred 27.

-27.

-Did you know you'd transferred 27 or was it an accident?

-We knew.

It just seemed easier, to be honest.

-Seemed easier to give him an extra 500 quid?

-I know.

-Yeah.

To me, you seem very savvy and switched on. I don't get it.

We're just easy-going, aren't we? We don't like confrontation.

You're easy giving as well as going.

'With the full amount paid and a little extra on top,

'the callous cowboys stopped coming.'

It were clawing up to Christmas fast, wasn't it, at that point?

-We had no heating.

-No heating, nothing to cook with, no hot water.

We might as well have lived in a caravan.

'But that was nothing compared to a potentially lethal discovery.'

They put us in danger as well by the fact that they built the house

over a live gas main.

Oh no.

Had it been a metal pipe, they said it's fine

but because it's a plastic one, if there's a fire in the house then

you've just got live gas streaming into your house when the pipe bursts.

'By this time, all the money they had set aside for the job had gone.

'They had to borrow more to get the pipe moved.

'They had no cash, a building site for a home

'and were at the end of their emotional tether.'

When you realise that, all of a sudden,

your builder's not coming back,

you've paid out 27 grand...

All our money, yeah.

What sort of impact does that have on the family?

It was really hard.

It was very, very hard for everybody, cos we were short-tempered

and arguing between ourselves.

They copped for it just because of the wrong place at the wrong time.

-We really struggled.

-Yeah.

If we weren't as strong as we are, I don't think we'd be together.

-We'd have just jacked it in and gone.

-Jacked it in and separated?

-Yeah.

-We went away for the weekend.

-Yeah, just to get away.

Just the two of us away for the weekend and sorted ourselves out.

Seriously, you went to decide your future together?

The future for us and the house and the girls, yeah.

That must have been bad.

Where are you now in terms of how you feel?

Angry.

Yeah.

We, um...

-Just stop a minute.

-Is there any way, listen, listen, listen.

Is there any way that...

Did you stop and realise...

-Listen.

-Sorry.

I don't want you to worry about it.

'With such a burden hanging over Corinne and Andy,

'I really want to turn this heartbreak house

'back into a happy home,

'and I've got a good idea about what we can do for them.'

Certainly the job is unfinished and there are lots of things wrong.

In fact, it's hard to know what's been done right.

That's why I've asked independent chartered surveyor Colin Harrop

to come along to see what he makes of the Sandersons' extension.

-Mr Harrop, you be careful on these boards.

-I will do.

-How are you?

-Not bad.

You've had a look around. What have you found that's not to your liking?

Basically, some of the work they've done is pretty shoddy actually

and doesn't conform to standards of good workmanship we'd expect to see.

Secondly, the big issue, it's simply not finished.

-Why would they do that?

-They've got bored, fed up, or thought,

"We've extracted the money we need to. Let's get on to the next job."

Something along those lines.

What sort of mark out of ten would you give for the builder

that's carried out the work?

I'd give it a two out of ten.

The fact it's unfinished, I'm sure the homeowners think zero out of ten.

-Colin, thanks for coming along. See you again soon.

-Thank you, Clive.

I agree with Colin.

This job is shoddy at best so I'm going to cordon off the area.

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

and I think it's now time for me to go get those good guys.

'Head builder Darren and I need to come up with a plan of action

'to make this family safe and put them back on the right track.'

Now, Darren, I've had a chance to look around the property

and I know you have.

There's pockets of bad build all over the place.

What have you picked up that you don't like?

The main issue in the kitchen is the flooring.

Clearly there's no screed gone down. Floor's uneven.

Unfinished work upstairs, window boards.

The plastering work's incomplete.

They've left the poor owners with holes outside in the yard

which is unsafe.

I think it's going to take a week to ten days to rectify.

Darren, good to see you. Thank you very much, sir.

I'll catch up with you later.

Always the worry for me is,

it's not what you can see where cowboy builders have been,

but where you can't.

Coming up, Andy tells it like it is when he calls his cowboy builder.

On face value, we've been ripped off. You've taken all the money.

'I can't wait to show this lovely couple what the good guys can do.'

What an amazing difference.

Wow!

The Sanderson family set up home nine years ago

on the outskirts of Bradford in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

They dreamed of a two-storey extension to create a bigger kitchen

and a chill-out room for their teenage daughters,

but the family fell into the cowboy trap

when they hired a bungling builder to take on the job.

After milking them of £27,000 he bolted,

leaving them distraught and living in a bodge-job building site.

But we brought in the good guys who are pulling out all the stops

to transform this slapdash disaster into a dream home.

Their hard work means everything to Corinne and Andy.

We've been through the mill with it a bit, but we're through that now.

It's nice to see that there's proper people out there

that are willing to do a first-rate job for you.

It's been really exciting, hasn't it?

'17-year-old daughter Abi is excited too.'

I've seen a room that can be really well decorated.

It gives me high aspirations for the rest of the house.

I can't wait for it to be finished.

'Well, we're doing our best, Abi.

'The fabulously flat kitchen floor is already in place.

'We're fitting new doors, a working drainage system and sturdy steps.

'Not forgetting the girls' chill-out room that's been plastered

'and painted to perfection.

'In fact, the only worry Andy has now

'is whether his decorating skills will let the side down.'

-I've just got to live up to the same standards they've done.

-You have.

'The whole family is desperate to move on but before they do,

'I want to help Corinne and Andy

'get some answers from their terrible tradesmen.'

-When was the last time you spoke to your builder?

-End of February.

We have to give him that opportunity of a right to reply.

What would be the most important questions you'd have for him?

To us, it looks like you've tried to rip us off by taking the money

knowing full well you weren't going to come back.

-Let's call him now, mate.

-Thank you.

'For legal reasons, we can't broadcast the builder's voice.'

Hello, it's Mr Sanderson from Tyersall.

The last conversation we had in February was you were

going to come back and finish it and we heard nothing since.

On face value to us, it looks like we've been ripped off.

You've taken all the money and not finished the job

and left it in a state and made no effort to come up and see us.

You know we work all day. You could have come up after hours.

We've got a list as long as our arm to finish. OK, mate, cheers. Bye.

-Well, I'm shocked.

-What was he saying?

He said he's never done this before.

He's never taken anybody's money and run off. Always finished the job.

-Well, we don't have any proof of that, do we?

-No.

We are living proof that that isn't the case.

He said it's only bits and bats left to finish. We know that's not true.

Bits and bats? You've got to be having a laugh!

He's been back a couple of times in the last three months,

-trying to get hold of us because he lost our phone number.

-OK.

Did you notice when you came through the door one day there was a note,

-"Please get in touch?"

-No.

He doesn't live so far away.

Why couldn't he come back after he knows when we're going to be in?

'Our team also spoke to the builder

'who claimed that, apart from the guttering,

'he'd left the Sandersons with a beautifully finished extension.

'I'm not convinced that cowardly cowboy was ever coming back.'

'Thank goodness for Darren and his team.

'They add the finishing touches before packing up and heading off.'

'At last it's job done and I can't wait to take a sneaky peek.'

Straight away, this looks different.

I seem to remember there was just rubbish and rubble here.

I didn't ask the builders to do this.

If our builders have done this.

Hey, hey, hey.

Now, if you remember here before, we just had boards.

There was obviously a hole underneath there ready for drainage.

Looks like drainage has gone in.

We've got a nice step up to the door.

Down spout.

OK, ridge end cap that was missing,

we could have had a problem with water getting in there.

That's all on and sealed. That's what we want.

That's more like it.

Critically, we've got the guttering on,

the down spouts down into the bottom gully,

drainage system done.

That's really important.

That just makes such a big difference. Painted out.

We've got a new door. We've got a new frame.

We've got new flooring.

Oh, they're going to love this kitchen, I tell you now.

They are going to love it.

'And there's a whole lot more to love upstairs.'

# What a difference seven days make

# 168 little hours. #

It's amazing!

This was all plasterboard, rough edges.

No skirting, architrave.

Window boards are in now.

They've even put a loft hatch in.

That's what good guys can do.

I love it.

'Before I reveal this beauty of a build to Corinne and Andy,

'there are some good guys I want to thank.'

Now, boys, first of all, the moment I arrived at the property,

what a difference on the outside.

-It does look so much better.

-It's tidy, yeah. Very tidy.

But amazing on the inside.

The kitchen is quite a change.

The fundamental problem there was the screeding of the floor.

It was very uneven, poorly done

and there were pockets, believe it or not, of plaster filled in holes.

So we broke all that out, re-screeded it, put new vinyl down,

adjusted the plinths and then redecorated the kitchen.

Some new window boards, and finished it off.

The window boards look great.

But the real drama comes when you go into that bedroom.

What did you do?

Well, first off, we put the floorboard in right.

As you walked into the bedroom there was a hole in the floor.

Fitted new door and casing. Redecorated throughout.

Skirtings, architraves and I threw the carpets in as well.

-You've absolutely done us proud.

-Thank you.

-Top job, fellas. Cheers.

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

'I'm so impressed by this transformation

'but it's not about me.

'It's time to find out what Corinne and Andy think.'

OK, guys, follow me, cos this is the bit I really love.

Before we go outside, just remind me what it was like outside and inside.

What were the main problems?

What about inside? Talk me through that kitchen of yours.

The biggest thing in the kitchen were the floor. Unbelievable.

Uneven, terrible. Really bad, wasn't it?

What about the bedroom?

The bedroom, again, was a disaster.

Walls not plastered. No sills on the window.

You could see right down through the build.

The roof was leaking

so we had marks on the ceiling from the roof.

-So it was all a bit of a mess?

-Just a bit.

OK, so, we've had the good guys in.

I can't wait to show you the work that they've carried out.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-We're ready.

-Looking forward to it.

Let's rock and roll.

'Although they've been living at home,

'this is the first time the Sandersons have seen everything

'in its full glory.'

Come on. We're going on a bit of a journey.

First of all, looking at the driveway,

what did you think because you weren't expecting this to be done.

-No.

-Complete surprise.

-It's brilliant.

-It's so much bigger.

It does look bigger. The impact on the house is brilliant.

-It's the first view of the house as you come in.

-Really good.

-But the interesting thing about good guys is it wasn't on the remit.

-No?

-I didn't ask him to do this.

-Absolutely.

-All the mess has gone, the skip's gone. It's just tidy.

-Brilliant.

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

-Yeah, it does.

OK, so we've seen the driveway.

What I want to now show you is round here. Come take a look at this.

As we stand here now, what jumps out at you that's different?

-That.

-Definitely there.

The filled-in hole and we have a step.

I know, and it's so tidy. The edges before were all jiggedy and jaggedy.

They've broken it up.

Are they real words, jiggedy and jaggedy,

cos if they're not, I think they should be?

Great words they are. Jiggedy jaggedy.

-They were very jiggedy jaggedy, yeah.

-Dodgy.

-It was over a hole.

To say the least. But now it looks a whole heap better.

It looks so much better.

-A lot more space.

-Yeah, absolutely definitely.

Come on, guys. Come on.

We need pace now cos I want to get inside.

These are important things, of course they are.

First of all, looking outside, what do you recognise that's changed?

-The guttering.

-Yeah.

-That was hanging off.

-We didn't have any guttering on the old part of the house.

-You didn't.

'And remember those missing down pipes?'

That's all the way down.

-Notice anything else, Andy?

-An end cap.

'Before, this was a gaping hole on the side of the roof.'

I know it's only a bit of plastic,

but it was an important bit of plastic.

We're made sure that it's watertight. That was the key factor.

Now all the drainage has been done properly,

I just think it looks a whole heap different.

It was a mess before and I didn't like the idea of the guttering

missing off the old section of the property

cos so much water gushing down there and gathering at the bottom.

Now that's all been sorted and done. So, onward to the kitchen, Andy.

Come on. After you, son. Let's go.

'I really hope budding chef Andy thinks this tasty kitchen makeover

'has all the right ingredients.'

HE SINGS A FANFARE

So?

-Wow!

-It is a bit of a wow factor, isn't it?

-How great's that?

-We've got a flat floor. Wow.

-Brilliant.

-Flat floor.

-And new lino as well.

-Kick boards sorted.

-Anything else you notice from last time?

-Windowsills.

-Windowsills.

-They look really shiny.

-They're very deep as well. They're great.

-I love the depth of them.

-Yeah.

-They look fantastic.

So what do you reckon the first meal's going to be, Andy?

-Fish and chips.

-From the chippy!

Yeah, fish and chips from the chippy.

A man after my own heart, simple as that.

I couldn't agree more, but I tell you what,

it is a whole heap different,

and you're not climbing up and down hills.

You feel steady on your feet, stable. Brilliant.

-So, are you happy?

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

And finally, we've still got the bedroom to go.

This time, before we go in,

I think Corinne should be the first one through the door.

All right? Let's go.

'Before the good guys got to work,

'Andy and Corinne's home, dream and marriage were in a mess

'courtesy of a cowboy builder.'

You can't get away from it or escape at all.

You look round, something hasn't been finished.

-Listen.

-Sorry.

Listen, I don't want you to worry about it.

'But we brought in the good guys to put things right.'

'We've given them a step in the right direction

'with a fabulous new driveway,

'a watertight roof, two beautiful rooms

'and that flat kitchen floor.

'It's lifted a whole pile of pressure off the family.'

My parents will be much, much happier now.

I think there has been a lot of hardness upon them

and a lot of pressure on their shoulders.

Now the rooms are getting better they'll be happier in themselves.

Now it's finished,

I'm thrilled for everyone with this life-changing result.

But there's still one area left to look at. The chill-out room.

Wow!

-What a difference. Wow.

-It's amazing.

You wouldn't think it were the same room, would you? The same house even.

It's fab.

We've got a loft hatch as well that we didn't have before.

You've got a loft hatch where the damp spot was.

We've converted it into a loft hatch

but, in general, what an amazing difference.

We've got our builder again, the good guys,

going just that bit further for us putting a carpet down as well.

-We didn't expect a carpet, did we?

-No.

-Such a lovely colour as well.

-Wow.

-Makes it look a bit bigger.

-Yeah.

Again, shiny paint.

What's the plan for this room? What is the plan now?

-Telly in the corner.

-Yeah.

Beanbags and a couch. Nice curtains.

-You might have your drum kit in the corner?

-Maybe.

I need somewhere to put my guitars.

-The lasses are going to really, really enjoy it. Brilliant.

-Lovely.

-So this is going to be what you call your chill-out room?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-How pleased are you, on a scale of one to ten?

-Ten's not enough, is it?

-I'm loving this room.

-It's amazing.

-I can't wait to see it when you've got all your accoutrements.

-Yeah.

All right. Lovely to meet you. Enjoy the room and enjoy the future.

-Well done, everyone. I'll leave you to it.

-Thank you.

-I'll see you soon.

-Cheers.

-Bye.

-Cheers, guys.

Wow, it looks brilliant, doesn't it?

'Aww, from heartbreak house to love nest.

'The perfect ending!'

There's no doubt about it, this job is fantastic

but, as ever, my job isn't over yet.

I've collected all the information on the cowboy builder

and I'll take it to a local Trading Standards office

to see what they want to do about it.

But remember, you have to do your research.

Otherwise you too could end up falling into the cowboy trap.

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

Give up!

'As mum and Abi get busy decorating their new rooms,

'I'm off on the cowboy trail once again.'

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