Episode 16 Cowboy Trap

I'm on a mission to root out Britain's cowboy builders.

He'd not put proper joists in all the way across.

He'd put pieces in, joining it to the existing ceiling rafters.

It's impossible to overestimate the damage these guys do,

with their shoddy workmanship and their lame excuses.

This builder had no clue about building regulations,

and that is a fact.

I'm riding with the good guys in my posse,

hoping to turn these botched builds into ideal homes.

When we got in the kitchen, it was just horrendous.

He'd tiled over a light.

So be sure to learn the lessons of another cautionary tale,

that could keep you out of the cowboy trap.

Today, Cowboy Trap is in Greater Manchester, in Salford,

a city with a long industrial and manufacturing history,

which dates back to the 18th century.

Salford is so synonymous with physical toil

that one Britain's most famous painters

was magnetically drawn here to capture it on canvas.

Behind me here at Salford Quays is the Lowry, a huge art gallery,

dedicated to the celebrated British painter, LS Lowry,

who's famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial north.

He lived in Salford for many years

and much of his work also depicts the life around here.

Sadly, the subject of today's Cowboy Trap,

has none of Lowry's skills as a draftsman.

In fact, what you could say,

is he's got shoddy workmanship down to a fine art.

The unlucky victims of this cowboy builder

live in this three-bedroom mid-terrace...

and their lovely daughter, Eva Jane.

Tricia and Rob have been married for ten years.

As well has Eva Jane, they have a 20-year-old son, John.

Tricia and Rob met when Tricia worked in accounting,

and needed some help with IT.

We really enjoy each other.

You know, we have a really good relationship and we're friends,

you know and that's not changed from the day we met, to, kind of today.

'The O'Donnells is a happy home,

'but one that's not without its pressures. John has severe autism.'

'He spends a lot of time in his room.'

Sometimes you don't see him for days,

you have to pass food through the door. He won't open the door to you.

It's like a little tiny crack like that you have to peep through.

'It's not only John who has problems.

'Tricia also has health issues and for eight years,

'Rob has been her full-time carer.

'Tricia is registered disabled,'

and suffering from deterioration of the spine.

She's in constant pain and taking a cocktail of painkillers,

just to see her through the day.

And when she goes out, because of her condition,

she's forced to use a wheelchair.

'When Eva Jane came along five years ago,

'Tricia and Rob were over the moon.

'But they soon realised changes were needed to their home.

'The new addition to the family needed her own room.

'Because of John's condition, it wasn't possible to share his.

'The O'Donnells devised a plan.'

We wanted to convert the top floor of the house

into a sort of a self-contained flat.

Not to go the whole hog but have enough room up there to...

put in a little kitchenette, little bathroom

and space for him to call his own.

'Rob and Tricia also wanted to use

'part of the converted attic for storage.

'They found several loft conversion companies on the internet

'and invited them to quote.'

Most of them were way beyond the budget we had available. Um...

Apart from the builder, one who came in at a price we could afford.

He had a nice flash website showing lots of work

that he'd already done, which it all looked very nice.

'The O'Donnells went for the cheap guy. No!

'Take my device, don't automatically go for the lowest quote.

'You could live to regret it.

'To make a profit, the builder might cut corners, add extras,

'or never finish the job.

'Sure, there may be bon fide bargain builders out there,

'but check out references.

'And go and see previous projects before you commit,

'or you might fall into the cowboy trap.'

The O'Donnell's builder quoted £11,080

to install a staircase and carry out the loft conversion.

Their dream was to create another bedroom

and turn the rest of the loft into some usable storage space.

The builder said he could fit a new kitchen

and replace some windows for an additional £6,000,

bringing the grand total to £17,080.

The O'Donnells gave him the green light and work began.

But no-one contacted Building Control. No way!

You know, it still amazes me

how few homeowners know anything about Building Control.

They're your local council inspectors,

whose job it is to make sure that any significant construction work

that's going on in your home is not only safe,

but abides by the building regulations.

Now, Tricia was none the wiser,

that was, until she was watching a building programme

that revealed all.

So she decided to ask her builder some questions.

But I'm afraid the answers she got

were conclusive proof that she was dealing with a cowboy.

Tricia asked her builder in no uncertain terms

whether Building Control should be involved.

He said, "You know, you don't need it." I said, "But I've seen it."

"I've seen it on there."

He said, "I'll speak to Building Control."

So he went out and he sat in the van and spoke to Building Control.

'The builder didn't reveal what was said in the van,

'but one can only presume he didn't like what he heard.

'He started disappearing for days on end and when he did turn up,

'he barricaded himself in the kitchen.

'Progress slowed to a snail's pace

'and the O'Donnell's quality of life nosedived.'

We lived on microwave meals and pot noodles and...

what we could manage to cook on a George Foreman grill.

It was... very, er, hard going.

Tricia and Rob decided to have a sneaky peak in the kitchen

to see how things were coming along.

But they were horrified by what they saw.

'It's just horrendous.'

He'd tiled over a light... switch.

He'd tiled halfway over the light switch up the wall.

It was all pushed in and pulled out, there was grout all over it.

'And that's not all.

'The builder had used gutter sealant to feel gaps in dodgy plastering.

'The floor tiling was a fiasco.

'And there was no hole in the ceiling

'for the vent from the cooker hood.

'Where was the steam supposed to go?

'This cowboy seemed to be on a one-man mission

'to stop the O'Donnells from eating.'

'While he was working in the kitchen,

'we'd had everything piled up in the back room,'

including on top of the chest freezer we had in there.

Somewhere along the line, he managed to unplug the chest freezer.

Obviously we didn't notice it for several days, because of,

getting access to it was such a problem. And...

when we got to it...

Everything was ruined inside.

'Just when the O'Donnells thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

'The builder revealed he was in financial difficulties

'and work slowed to a virtual halt,

'despite Rob and Tricia offering to pay for materials themselves.

'Matters came to an abrupt end when the builder's father-in-law

'turned on Trisha, after she'd pointed out some faults.'

"How dare you, I've been doing this for so many years,

"who do you think you are?

"You're just trying to have one over us,

"you don't say all these things are wrong."

I said, "We didn't have access to it before to say anything."

"Don't start with me."

"I'm telling you, right, you're are trying to, we're not doing it."

I said, "Fine, don't do it then. Because I'll take you to court."

So he's stood right in my face by this stage,

and I just, my legs just went.

'Rob and Tricia took the builder to court

'and managed to obtain a county court judgement against him.

'However, they still haven't got any money back

'because the builder is pleading poverty.

'Four years on, and the O'Donnells are still living

'with the consequences of the botched build.'

We got Building Control in, and they...

went through everything and said, "This is wrong, that's wrong,

"you need a vent in here, you need an access hatch."

He'd not put proper joists in all the way across.

He'd put pieces in, joining it to the existing ceiling rafters.

The floor in the little bedroom, he just would not go on.

It was just, there was too much movement

and he wasn't happy in going on it.

And when we eventually stripped back from below,

then it was apparent why, because it was just all... patched together.

Tricia and Rob already had enough on their plates

without a cowboy builder kyboshing their dream

of turning their home into a more suitable place

for their family's special needs.

But there is light at the end of the O'Donnell's tunnel.

The good guys are in town.

-Hello there, you must be Rob.

-I am, hi.

-I'm Clive from Cowboy Trap.

-How are you?

-OK.

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

-Just a bit!

-Do you mind if I come in and have a look around?

-No, come in, come in.

-Thank you, sir.

'Trish is not feeling so well today,

'and I suspect I'll be in the same position,

'by the time I've finished inspecting the scene of this cowboy crime.

'Check out the kitchen!

'Bodges here, bodges there, bodges everywhere!'

This is the thing that hits me straight away.

The plastering work looks poor.

Under here are aluminium or galv skim beads.

They are already falling apart and there has got to be a reason for that.

Let's see what that reason may be.

OK. Now watch. This door has not been hung correctly.

So you will hear that knocking noise.

What is happening here is every time someone is shutting that door,

they are giving it large.

And it shouldn't be coming apart like that anyway,

simply because it hasn't been fixed right, but that won't help.

Yep, I like my doors like I like my pheasant, well hung.

And I like my plastering like I like my stout, smooth.

And this ain't.

That is awful. It is so rough, it is untrue. Pretty bad. In fact...

..I'm just looking at it. They have actually joined this worktop.

I mean...

You see where the joint is there? It is already starting to lift.

That should have a biscuit joint to joint the two pieces together.

Ideally, it should be one long piece.

But where you have got to join it, you'd use what they call biscuit joints.

That hasn't been done. I can feel under there.

Yeah, we've got brackets there,

metal brackets holding that together. It is not brilliant.

It looks like it's sloping away, just like this flooring.

Check this flooring out.

The tiles are up-and-down like a fiddler's elbow.

They're all over the place.

You've got little valleys going on, little gullies now.

If you've got water... You're in a kitchen,

it's going to splash in there. That's going to pool.

And these cabinets have been fitted abysmally.

The carcasses, the doors, the pelmet, you've got great big gaps

where the mitre join should fit nice and snug.

You've got gaps through it, which will mean

light comes through and it just doesn't look right at all.

Tiling looks a mess. And look, check this out. This is the duct in here.

Where was it going? Now, how about that from the cooker hood.

That was going absolutely nowhere.

I reckon, if they had ever got round to it, and that is a big if,

they would have ducted the steam into the floor void above.

Bad idea.

Straight away, you'll have problems there

because you're going to get massive moisture build up.

That can affect the timbers, it can affect any of the electrics.

There are loads of problems with doing that.

That has got to be vented. That in fact is the outside wall.

So that could have gone straight through the wall really easy.

Core drill, bosh, straight through, vented on the outside, perfect.

But what is not perfect is the electrics. Look at this.

Sockets not on the wall properly. How about that?

They haven't put the long socket pins on so they can sit in correctly.

Again, they all over the place them little mosaics.

I don't think any section of the work carried out in this kitchen...

Doesn't look right.

Time to check out the loft conversion upstairs.

Ooh, I'm dreading this.

Straight away, looking at these stairs, it is a definite no-no.

Too narrow, too steep, you only get a 42 degree climb on that

and that is way higher than that.

In the case of a fire, in an emergency, if you are trying to

get out of there in a panic, you are going to be tripping and falling.

The stairs, for me, are definitely wrong.

Cripes! Talk about a narrow staircase.

I know I am not Twiggy but is this guy having a giraffe?

Straight away, as you come again round this kite section

of the stairs, you have got to have at least two metre headroom.

No way have you got that here.

You stand up, when you get in on top,

you are going to bang your head.

The other thing you will notice, is for insulation,

they've used polystyrene battens. That is a definite N-O.

And then inside here,

we've actually got the joists hanging from the purlins.

Now, the problem with that is,

if you're taking extra weight up here, or you're actually

going to use it as a bedroom, you have got no chance.

They are not designed for that. It is just ridiculous.

This builder had no clue about building regulations

and that is a fact.

This is a building regs bungle-fest.

It is not just the loft and staircase,

the downstairs toilet has no ventilation.

No wonder it has got damp areas on the walls.

And the drainage outside isn't right either. Where's the manhole cover?

It is time for me to talk through this almighty mess

with the unlucky O'Donnells.

How tough was that, to all of a sudden realise

what this guy has done under your roof?

It was just horrendous.

Emotionally, it must have been crazy, absolutely...

It wasn't just the fact that he'd done it to us,

it was the fact that...

he'd done it to Eva-Jane,

and then ultimately to John. So...

..now we've got no bedroom for her,

we've got ceilings to repair,

walls to repair...

-A kitchen that is barely usable.

-Yes.

John won't go in because it's dirty,

because it's plastered all over the place.

So in his mind, it's not clean, so rather than...

Rather than it be part of the solution, it's now become more of a problem.

So now I don't know... if I'm ever going to get him in now.

We want to address the problems you've had with the cowboy builder.

What can we do for you that would make you feel a lot better?

Top attic storage is...

-still got an unsafe floor.

-OK, so we need to sort the floor out.

-Yes.

-What else would you like us to do there?

The access he put in there was a staircase,

-but Building Control say we can't have it because it's not a habitable room.

-Yes.

-That has to come back out again.

-OK.

And a standard hatch and loft ladder put in.

OK, what else? Down in the kitchen, get that sorted for you?

The kitchen needs sorting - wall tiles, floor tiles, need redoing properly.

Downstairs toilet, extract fan, get that sorted out.

Lots for us to get on with.

We're going to bring the good guys in to sort it for you. All right?

Leave it with us and we'll see if we can de-stress you a little bit.

OK.

Before we start on our mission to de-stress the O'Donnells,

I want to get a second opinion about the task in hand

from independent surveyor Euan Elliott.

First of all, let's start with outside before we talk about what's gone on so inside.

Out here, there should be...

There should be a manhole there for the drains from the downstairs toilet.

-The window isn't in square.

-That window is like...that.

That's it. And also the lintel isn't in correctly,

it isn't supporting the brickwork above and that's going to move.

And you've got a few ton of masonry above that.

Yes, and it's going to move, it could fail dramatically.

And with kids around, that's the last thing you want.

Let's see what Euan reckons when we go inside.

The plasterwork is cracking. It's going to fail.

The walls aren't level. They are all over the place.

The floors are out of level, a trip hazard.

It's all over the place. The water collects as well.

The guy doesn't appear to know what he's doing.

When you think about the poor workmanship that's gone on here

and the fact that they are £20,000 light, the homeowners, taking

into consideration the quality of work, give me a score out of 10.

-Struggle to get over three.

-So shall we leave it at three?

Yes, I think so.

And I think so too. I also think I know just the fellows

to put this right.

Our good guys, led by head honcho Stewart Cuddy.

Talk us through the whole plan. What do you intend to do?

-First of all, we need to take the rest of the tiles off.

-Yes.

We need to take the cornice off, it needs ducting through the extractor.

And also there is a downstairs loo that needs ducting straight outside.

So we need to box that in so we can do a full skin, new beads,

resite the door, resite the windows,

-get everything fenced and registered, get everything to the right spec.

-Yeah.

And get it to the way it should be.

So that's the kitchen, downstairs toilet.

What about up in that the loft?

What's the plan there, cos them stairs are hideous.

-I'm guessing them stairs have got to come out.

-Yes,

because they have disregarded all the building regulations up there.

There is not one you can name. It's ridiculous.

Yep, one word sums it up - ridiculous.

I'm not sure we can turn this loft into the bedroom the O'Donnells want,

but at least we can give them the extra storage space they so badly need.

So much needs doing, the O'Donnells are chipping in.

Stuart's squad's swings into action.

They crack on with the kitchen.

Steam into the staircase.

And dive into the downstairs toilet. Well, not literally.

Can they bring the O'Donnells' dream back to life? Only time will tell.

I'm back in Salford where Trish and Rob O'Donnell were hoping

that by bringing the builders in, they could make their home

more suitable for their family's special needs.

But what they didn't realise was the total amateur they'd employed

massively under-quoted for the work and eventually

washed his hands of it, leaving the family to live on a building site.

Our good guys have now finished their work

and I'm here to find out if they've done the biz.

Before I talk it through with the O'Donnells,

I can't resist taking a sneaky peak.

OK, I'm keeping my eyes closed.

I remember this was a right mess before. Here we go.

Ah, it's fresher, it looks great.

The floor before was awful - uneven, up-and-down, tiles not good,

great tiled finish now.

The whole thing looks so nice as well. Nice tiling.

If you remember before, around the windows,

we had that horrible plastic extrusion in sills that were awful.

Now that's all been tiled and beaded up properly,

it looks loads better.

It looks like a proper kitchen should do.

The cooker hood is different. I don't know what's gone on there.

That is definitely not the same hood as before.

That's definitely different, so somebody has supplied a new one of those.

Nice new tiled splashback as well.

Yes, it's a definite thumbs up from me. This looks so different.

So different, and of course nice worktop, all in situ.

Electrics have been sorted as well,

there's a new boxed section at the back.

That's because they fitted a fan in the downstairs toilet for building regulations.

So that's all been sorted.

It is a very nice job indeed and I'm sure Trish and Rob will love it.

So, the kitchen is cushty. But what about upstairs in the loft zone?

OK, so if you remember last time, we had the stairs here,

a fixed set of stairs. But the problem was, it wasn't wide enough,

didn't meet building regulations for safety.

Now, we've got this set of folding ladders

that actually go up into the loft space

and you can see that the structure of the loft is totally different.

Before, I remember it was just hanging from the purlins.

That's where the support was for the floor, which is just now good.

OK, it needs a lick of paint, that's for sure, but in real terms now,

they've got safety, and above all else, they've got sign-off from building control.

And without that, you know, you are sunk in the water without trace.

This loft now meets building regulations for use as a storage space,

and if Tricia and Rob want to turn it into a bedroom,

they can make a new planning application.

Now, before I do the grand tour with the O'Donnells,

I want a conflab 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.

His first point is a bit of a departure from the norm.

He admits that his work was substandard

-and that it should never have been done like that.

-Yes.

I've only ever come across this twice before in the whole time

I've been doing Cowboy Trap. What is your response to that?

Well, he admitted it very much when we said we were going

to take him to court.

He also says that he took the job on in the first place

because he was desperate for work.

And he said you wanted the job done on the cheap

and he tried hard to do it on the budget that was available.

He give us a quote, we accepted the quote.

We paid him what he asked for.

If he priced himself too cheaply, then we didn't push him into that.

He talks a good game.

But it's just not how it went.

OK, he also says that since the court case,

he's tied to pay you back in instalments

and a lump sum that he'd already saved up.

But you are refusing to accept this money.

The instalments he offered were minimal.

They started at 20 quid a month, but managed to work up to £200 a month.

But his justification for that figure was flawed.

There was no way his figures added up that showed he could afford it.

Well, whatever the whys and wherefores, one thing is for sure.

Our good guys have been, they've seen and they've conquered.

The O'Donnells have been living with the build as it's been going on,

and I'm now about to show them their transformed kitchen in all its glory.

Now then. You're in.

It's so difficult, isn't it?

But of course, from before,

there's such a massive change now in the kitchen.

And it's something that can be worked on and enjoyed.

Because the kitchen really is the hub of the home, isn't it?

-Absolutely. It really is.

-It's where everything happens.

Do you remember we had that horrible plastic extrusion

-all over the place here?

-Yes.

-It was a mess, wasn't it?

-It really was.

And now of course, all nicely tiled.

The guys have also put in a new cooker hood as well,

which looks spot on, lovely in his kitchen.

And with the tiled splash back.

The whole thing now just looks like it's a proper kitchen to enjoy.

-This is what we wanted back, what, four years?

-Four years?!

-This was what it was.

-As long ago as that.

And when you think about the kitchen now,

-it's something you can walk into and be proud of.

-Yes.

That's the most important thing. What difference will it make to you?

I think it will make a huge difference because now it's done,

you know, it's clean and it makes it look so much bigger.

-Yes.

-You know, with it being done properly.

-The floor is straight for one thing.

-Exactly, the floor looks great.

There's no more tripping over and falling down.

Which is important, you've got a fantastic tiled floor now

and with the galley kitchen, trying to make it look that sort of...

it's almost smoke and mirrors to make it look wider.

It just needed finishing, as you rightly say,

and finished it has been.

And the downstairs loo now has an extractor, nicely boxed, like it!

The cooker electrics and ventilation have been sorted.

And the loft is now legal, hallelujah!

There's still some titivating to be done,

but after four years of living in a building bodge,

the O'Donnells have a happy ending at last.

The most important thing are these little babies,

these documents tell us everything.

It's so important that in the future, if you wanted to sell,

you wouldn't have been able to without these important documents.

You've got your regularisation certificate from your local council, the building regs.

So you've met all their needs, Building Control.

And here are your electrical test certificates.

These are the installation work certificates that you've got

for the work that's been carried out here. Again, crucial.

And your electrician is NICEIC approved.

-So they are important to keep nice and safe.

-Yes.

-Has it lifted a weight off your shoulders?

-It's certainly now...

-we know it's done properly. Yep.

-It's been good.

OK, it's been lovely to see you. All right?

I hope the future is nice and bright for you,

especially with this lovely kitchen now.

There's a lick of paint needed here and there,

-but I'm sure you'll get around to that sooner or later.

-I can cope with a paintbrush.

Yes, you see, handyman already.

All right. No?

OK. You're going to have to get the decorators in then.

Listen, lovely to see you. Look after yourselves.

I'm going to leave you and look around your kitchen.

-I'll see you again soon.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, guys.

Oh, I love it when a plan comes together.

L-L-L-Love it!

Now that's what I'm talking about. That kitchen looks fantastic!

And now Trish and Rob have got a loft space

they can use without any danger to life and limb.

And of course, after all these years,

they've now got Building Control sign-off too.

For me, that's a massive result

and it's been great to meet Trish, Rob and the family.

But I've got to get back on the trail.

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

I ain't gonna stop until every last one of you

is driven out of town.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd