Episode 12 Cowboy Trap

We're travelling all over Britain

unearthing a grim account of the country's worst builder blunders.

It was tough. We were newly married and we were arguing

about we should have done this, it's your fault, it's my fault.

Cowboy builders don't mess up on the job,

they mess with people's lives, too.

-Tell me how much it's cost you.

-£50,000 now.

-£50,000?

-Yes.

I've got the good guys in my posse.

Top tradespeople, too, who will help right all those wrongs.

Skirting's on, doors on, all the electrics in.

Bravo!

Remember, there are simple rules to follow

that could keep you out of the Cowboy Trap.

Today's Cowboy Trap is set in London,

one of the world's greatest cities.

Tourists flock here for the famous landmarks,

the fabulous shopping and, of course, the handsome fellas.

Who are almost as good looking as us Midlands hunks! Hee-hee!

We're in Osterley, in the London Borough of Hounslow

on the outskirts of the city.

It's prime commuter-belt territory,

but only half an hour by Tube to the London city centre.

And as you can hear, we're also very close to Heathrow.

But I'm not here to find a highflier.

Our cowboy builder is more like a fly-by-night.

His unlucky victims have lived here

in this two-bedroomed flat for a year.

Daniel and Carsten Hansen Wood work in sales and marketing.

They tied the knot at a civil partnership a year ago,

with a ceremony at the magnificent Kew Gardens.

Our wedding day was exactly as I had imagined it

and as we were hoping it to be.

The wedding took 18 months to plan.

And with that out of the way,

Daniel and Carsten could now look to their future as a married couple.

It's our chance to have a fresh start together.

Carsten's finished university

and we thought this is a great time

to really get both our careers on track and to really make a home.

Daniel and Carsten couldn't wait to embark upon their new life together.

And it wasn't long before they found the place of their dreams.

But, of course, this being Cowboy Trap,

it was the beginning of their nightmare.

Daniel and Carsten had decided to focus their search in Osterley.

It was an easy commute and they loved the leafy, rural feel.

The flat they found in a 1930s apartment block

was just what they were after.

This flat, we always used to come and look at the building.

It's right next to the Tube station.

So when we actually scraped enough money together for a deposit,

we could actually afford to buy somewhere here.

Somewhere came up on the top floor, we thought it was great.

It seemed like fate.

The outside was perfect, but the inside needed work.

We wanted it to be modern, but we also wanted it to be quite...

not traditional, but we wanted to have some of the features,

so we have the covings and fireplace

and those things that were nice from the old 1930s, the building,

but we wanted it to be a bit more modern, a bit more fresh and young.

Daniel and Carsten drew up plans for a new bathroom and a new kitchen.

Internal doors were to be replaced,

new plumbing put in and the electrics rewired.

It was an ambitious project.

When we took over the flat, it was very, very, very dated.

-There was lots of dodgy electrics.

-Everything needed a good update.

To transform their antiquated apartment,

Daniel and Carsten had to find a builder.

They were recommended one by a sales rep who'd sold them some windows.

We met the guy and he seemed to understand what we were looking for.

He said, "It's a fairly basic job, it's cosmetics, it's not massive.

"So it's something I can easily do."

Daniel and Carsten hired the builder on the spot.

Oh, dear.

The boys failed to take up any references, which was a big mistake.

Alarm bells should have been ringing when it came to paying the money.

On this job, it was...I can only describe it as highly irregular.

The builder quoted just under £28,000 for the full renovation,

stipulating that two payments of over £7,000 must be paid upfront -

one into his girlfriend's bank account,

and the other into his friend's account.

Take my advice. Avoid paying huge chunks of money upfront.

A decent builder has an account with a supplier, so shouldn't need it.

And if you're asked to pay a third party, run for the hills.

Your builder might be trying to avoid paying taxes or VAT.

A gilt-edged clue that he's a cowboy.

It wasn't just the dodgy accounting that should have rung alarm bells.

There were other warning signs that things were amiss.

When he started, I asked him for some of the receipts

because I said I need to see where the money has gone to.

But when he actually sent me the receipt, it was for drill bits,

it was for his tools that he was supposed to have bought.

It was expensive equipment

that we expected he had with him already,

not something that we had to pay for.

Luckily, the boys had their wits about them

to insist on a new payment plan of two instalments -

one on completion of the works.

However, as it turned out,

this guy was demanding money from them willy-nilly.

He actually told us after halfway through the job,

he said to us, that initial payment you made to me,

I think in total for the materials and to secure him,

he'd used about £2,500 of that towards his divorce lawyer.

The situation went from bad to worse.

The builder told Daniel and Carsten that his mother had recently died.

Obviously, that was a cue for another financial demand.

He did ask me for more money to pay towards his mother's headstone,

or towards, I think, not necessarily the headstone,

but towards the funeral costs.

Which we felt... We didn't pay,

but we felt emotional blackmail to be put in that position.

And it wasn't just the bizarre finances that were an issue.

The project was way behind schedule.

We moved into a studio at our own expense

to give him the chance to really go to town and get things in quickly.

But in that first week, we would come to the house

and came off the Tube in the evening and came, nothing had been done.

Nothing had been touched.

And then we're saying, "Where are you?" We couldn't get hold.

It would be sometimes two or three days, we couldn't get hold of him.

And we're thinking, we're paying a lot of money to be in a studio flat,

squished into this small space and nothing is happening.

Feeling they could no longer trust the builder, the boys decided

that they were going to supply all the materials from now on.

On the face of it, that seems like a great idea,

but all it did was turn an already complicated money situation

into a right old mess.

Take my advice.

This kind of arrangement can lead to major disputes over money.

Especially if there's no proper documentation.

It can give the contractor an opportunity to blame materials

and their delivery times to hike up the costs.

Leave material purchases to the builder,

but keep track of their receipts.

When Daniel and Carsten's builder did turn up,

the quality of his work was poor.

The tiles were badly fitted,

the flooring was unfinished

and his plumbing efforts were a disaster.

There was water leaking from the bathroom into the neighbour's downstairs flat.

We'd not lived here that long

and for our neighbour to call us up at 5:00am, saying,

"There's water coming through my ceiling, you need to get here,"

and we're worried because we can't get hold of the builder, we don't know what to do,

and it's like, you know, it's upsetting because you think,

what am I putting the person below through? What must they think of us?

This has all the classic ingredients of a cowboy builder story.

Murky arrangements over the money, shoddy workmanship

and a catalogue of excuses.

But this is no ordinary builder bodge.

Because things were about to take a sinister turn.

He was going to be going away on holiday -

for someone who had no money -

and he wanted some money before he left.

Wanting to keep the peace,

Daniel agreed to give the builder a few hundred quid.

But the builder had a very different idea.

He delivered an ultimatum.

"I want 70% of the money that's outstanding."

I was, like, "70%?"

There's nothing really for him to come back after his holiday.

Um...so, I was, like, "No."

He actually threatened us

to say if we don't pay him the outstanding money,

and what he's saying that we owe him extra for extra work,

he will literally come and, um...

break down the door and come and smash everything up.

Not surprisingly, Daniel and Carsten were terrified.

They called the police, who asked to be kept informed.

And just days later, the builder showed up again.

He was swearing, saying he was going to kick in the door, in no uncertain terms

and that he wanted his tools back.

They returned his equipment,

but three months on, they still live in fear he might come back.

The whole experience has placed the couple under enormous strain.

With materials, they've forked out 50 grand

and been left in such a mess,

they have to live in one room with their cats.

And to add insult to injury,

they were menaced by the man they trusted with their money.

To feel so threatened in your own home that you've put so much into,

it is upsetting for both of us.

What a shocking story.

This flat was much more than a first home to these guys,

it was the start of their new life together.

If ever there was a need for good guys to be on hand, it's now.

Let's see if we can help Daniel and Carsten out of the Cowboy Trap.

No lifts. This is the top floor, and it's the 21st century.

I know you think I need the exercise, you cheeky devils.

OK. So, right, I think this must be it.

-OK, you guys are Daniel and Carsten, but which one's which?

-I'm Daniel.

Nice to meet you, Daniel. Hi, Carsten.

-Now, I hear you've had problems with cowboy builders.

-Yes.

It's been a long walk up. Let's have a look at the problems.

While they put the kettle on, I'm going to have a quick look around.

The first thing that strikes me is the lack of doors.

I do like a room with a door, me.

OK. So this is the shower area.

You'll see here tiles not been completed, on the threshold there.

The closer I look, the worse it gets.

All the studwork here for this panel is actually untreated timber.

Now, there's moisture in the air,

there's a lot of humidity, steam, that sort of thing.

An extractor will only take so much out.

That really needed to be weatherboard.

But you only need waterproofing if the shower works.

And guess what?

With this blocked up in here, there's every chance

that there's probably been a post-leak in there.

So that's why there's been invasive work to have a look at it.

That plumbing is such a mess,

I reckon it's got more leaks than a Welsh allotment.

And look at this sink. I've seen jelly that's more stable.

Onto the kitchen. Two words. Not good.

Looking at it, you can see it, if these are fitted properly,

you see you've got a gap there that's nice and even

and a gap there that's too close together.

That's all in the setup of the carcasses and the way the doors have been hung.

The kitchen is shoddy and incomplete.

Nothing like the high-end finish Daniel and Carsten were after.

And the hall is hardly high spec, either.

Check out this door trim, for a start.

I'd have liked to have seen that as a nice architrave,

instead, it's just flat-panelled MDF.

It's sort of all over the place. Nothing's level.

Potentially, this is a great property.

It's just a shame it's been abused, in a way, really.

This is obviously the guys' bedroom. They've got a mattress on the floor.

This is how it affects your life

when you get cowboy builders in your property. See these cables?

These have actually been pulled through the brickwork.

Now, the problem with that is,

particularly if you're not going to run it in a bit of conduit to protect it,

when you're pulling the cables, it's rough against that brickwork

and can damage the outer PVC.

And if it breaks down through to the main core,

that can cause you loads of problems.

What a shame. Let's go and check out the living room.

Look at this. You've got a nogging of wood there

with a nail sticking out of it and it just about misses my bonce.

A close shave for my big baldy head.

Not the first, and these dodgy electrics

could be pretty hair-raising, if I had any.

I've seen enough.

It's time for a powwow about this cowboy with Daniel and Carsten.

The problem I have with this sort of thing is

it's not the actual finance, money that you've lost,

how does that affect you emotionally?

It's a real test of your relationship and your emotions.

You end up being at each other's throats

and then you try and blame each other.

-Did that happen?

-It was tough.

We were newly married and arguing about we should've done this different,

"It's your fault. No, it's my fault."

And it's hard because we're living in one room,

we've got no space and we've got nowhere to turn,

money's running out.

Tell me how much it's cost you.

It's adding towards the £50,000 now.

-£5-0,0000.

-Yes.

OK. £50,000.

Imagine, we're looking at 50 grand on the floor now

and imagine what we could do with that 50 grand.

-More than what he's done.

-Correct. And the rest. And more.

-What have you got for that 50 grand?

-Nothing is finished.

We're not even sure that it's been properly done.

And how long will it last?

So, what would you like us to do?

Just to make it liveable, really.

To be able to get our things back in our home.

Our own possessions, to have them back here.

To be able to use our kitchen properly,

to be able to have a shower properly without leaks,

without all the other issues.

To be able to sleep on a mattress that's not on the floor

that you can raise up because the room is actually finished.

So you don't have to see wires hanging around

because he's not done it properly,

so you know that you can actually flick a switch,

not having to worry about, is it safe or is it not safe?

Flicking a switch without fear of electrocution.

Well, that's not too much to ask, is it?

And nor is the rest of Daniel and Carsten's wish list.

But before I call the good guys in,

I want a second opinion about the task in hand

from independent building surveyor Andrew Mather.

Tell us what you've seen that's not to your liking.

Well, there's very little that I've seen to my liking.

The tiling is of a very poor quality,

the architrave and joinery is substandard in the kitchen, etc,

and also the plaster finishing is substandard and bulging

and not to the liking of the occupier.

I think it's one of those things where he's touched a lot of items

around this house and done none well.

Looking back on the work that's been carried out,

I always ask surveyors for a mark out of ten for what you've seen.

-What sort of mark would you give?

-I'd give it a very low two.

A very low two for this low-down, doggone cowboy.

I reckon he's lucky to get that.

There's lots of reparation work needs taking place here.

It's not a place where I'd like these guys to be living,

so I've got to say I'm going to cordon off the area

and now it's a no-go zone.

Only myself and the good guys are allowed past this tape.

And talk of the devil, here they are.

My knights in shining armour.

I can't wait to pick the brains of head honcho Paul Shanaghan.

Tell us what you're going to do.

We've got to address the door frames. A few of them have been hacked about.

We've got to try and fit the doors into them.

The architraves need some attention

and the skirtings have got to come off and be renewed

or just replaced, really. It's just a bad workmanship.

What I'd like to be able to do is deliver the whole job to them

and go, "This is your living space, live in it."

-Yes. I'm sure we'll get that. I'm sure we will.

-Brilliant.

I like the cut of Paul's jib. Here's to you, Mr Shanaghan.

So much needs doing, the Hansen Woods are chipping in.

Paul and his team blitz the bathroom.

Leap into the lounge.

Crack on with the kitchen.

And hit the hallway.

But can they create the crib of Carsten and Daniel's dreams?

Only time will tell.

I'm back in west London,

where newlyweds Daniel and Carsten Hansen Wood

dreamed of starting their new life together

in their apartment here in Osterley.

But sadly, they employed a builder of the cowboy persuasion.

Our good guys have now finished their work

and I'm here to find out if they've saved the day.

Before I talk it through with Daniel and Carsten,

I can't resist taking a sneaky peek.

I can't wait to see what's behind this door,

but first of all, the door itself - really nice, it's got great style.

The actual door furniture itself. I'm loving that chrome finish.

It's got an American sort of feel to it.

But the actual quality of the paintwork, phenomenal.

There's a real art to painting a panelled door like that.

If that's a sign of things to come, I can't wait to have a look inside.

Shall we go? Come on.

Oh, wow!

I mean, straightaway, the first thing I'd recognise, doors.

We've actually got doors. These shaker-style doors.

Again, I'm loving that.

This has got Carsten written all over it with the Danish feel to it.

And the way that these upstands are done on the architrave,

normally butt jointed, you can't tell.

It really is, the paintwork is as smooth as silk.

That's a craftsman who's done this job.

You can hardly even see any brush strokes.

What a difference it's made to this entrance hallway.

Just seeing the doors on is incredible. It looks great.

In this room, if you remember last time we were here,

there was a mattress on the floor, boxes everywhere, no skirting,

sockets weren't on properly. Let's have a look.

Wow! And even the cat's here!

Hello. Hello, you.

Aw, look! The cat is enjoying this bed.

And the bed is there.

Not just a mattress, it's now a bed, as well.

And these units, these wardrobes and these fitments,

they'd got these ready, the boys had, and now they're installed.

It just looks a million dollars, it really does.

What a difference from what the cowboy left behind.

Onto the lounge.

And I'm sure you don't need reminding that was a mess.

Now, this is another area where they really couldn't live at all.

Here you've got a great lounge for them just to chill out and relax in.

Skirting's on, doors on, all the electrics in.

Bravo! Carpet down.

This is a place to live.

The next room to receive some good-guy magic, the kitchen.

Remember, it looked like this before.

Now it looks like this. Flooring, skirting done.

I noticed on these fitments, as well, they've all been realigned.

Before, they were all over the place. What a difference!

It's something to get excited about, I can tell you that.

And finally, the bathroom.

The scene of a real building bodge before.

What does it look like after?

Now, before, that was just a stud wall.

I like it. I'm liking that.

That's hidden the tumble dryer and the washing machine.

But you wouldn't know it.

It's just so...it's just so wonderful.

Now, inside there, we had a problem with the blocks

where the blocks are for the hot and cold and the water flow,

there was a hole to the side. That's all been done now.

Obviously, the water leak has been dealt with.

It's all been finished off and grouted nicely. Same as the floor.

The floor looks amazing.

And now, there's a solid sink rather than a wonky waste of space.

What a result!

Before I do the grand tour with Daniel and Carsten,

I'm going to chat to them about their cowboy builder.

I wanted to find out his side of the story

and I can't wait to hear their responses to his version of events.

He said that the costs spiralled out of control

because you insisted on having stuff

that was simply too expensive.

For instance, he found an £800 shower,

you wanted a £4,000 shower. What is your response to that?

That was nothing to do with him because we were buying that.

It was nothing to do with his costs at all.

Now, in terms of money, he said that you owe him

about £2,000, in fact, is what he said.

Well, he left the job unfinished

after threatening us and trying to kick the door in.

And the amount it's cost, it would have cost to fix all that

far outweighs...and also the materials he didn't supply.

The front door, the wood for the cupboard in the living room.

-That money...

-The skirting.

-The skirting.

All that, we had to buy extra what we'd already given him money for.

We had all the breakdown for that.

Finally, he's saying that

all that was left in terms of the work was just pure snagging.

Everything else was fine.

Well, what can we say to that? You've seen it for yourself.

There were so many things that needed doing and it was not even liveable.

And he's just left us.

So if he calls that snagging, then...yeah.

Well, I don't think this needed snagging.

I think it needed the love and attention the boys wanted all along.

They paid for a tiptop job, but clearly didn't get it

until our good guys came along.

Daniel and Carsten have been living with the work as it's been happening,

but this is their first chance to see the transformation

in all its glory.

-Shall we go see?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Let's rock and roll.

Let's go through that lovely painted door. Here we go. After you.

Oh! I tell you what... What do you think?

-Brilliant!

-It's amazing. Oh, my God!

What a difference. Let me just shut this door.

Because that's also been painted, as well.

-Beautiful, eh?

-It is.

What a difference it makes to this beautiful hallway.

I was saying before,

with the architrave and everything else being butt jointed,

the way it's been painted is just magical.

That is amazing. It looks like a show apartment.

It does! It does. You're not wrong.

Can't wait to see their reaction to the new bathroom.

In you go.

-Look at it!

-Oh, my God!

That's done!

Remember there, by your blocks, there was a big hole.

-A big hole and it leaked and...

-And there was no plate.

And we couldn't use the shower. And now we'll be able to use the shower.

The sink's fixed.

The mirror's up. The grout. And the cupboard!

Onto the master bedroom.

The good guys have certainly been busy.

In you go.

The interesting thing is, when you walk in,

the one thing that happens is a smile comes to your face.

And I think that speaks volumes.

It just seems so big, as well. And there's no wires.

And we have a bed that's off the floor.

It was a mattress last time.

And finally, the piece de resistance,

The Hansen Woods' new kitchen.

Hey-hey, hey-hey-hey! What about that?

That is amazing!

-Fantastic!

-Very green!

There's no two ways about that, it's very green.

The other thing is, for me, I look at the more serious aspects

of what was going wrong in this kitchen, skirting board.

All those wires and bricks.

Exactly. All gone.

Beautifully finished now.

Really nicely decorated, too.

And again, it looks like one of those show kitchens.

Everything we had in our head is now here.

And I can't tell you how grateful we are for this.

I'm happy that we could help. That's the main thing.

And help we did.

Time to leave these lucky fellas to enjoy their new home.

How fantastic is that?

Finally, Daniel and Carsten have got the apartment of their dreams.

And I think the cats are enjoying it, too.

And as far as our good guys go, they've done a cracking job.

But as ever, I'm livid with cowboy builders in this country

because they give the building industry a bad name.

And what I'm going to say to them right now is this.

Look out, because we're on your trail.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd