Episode 9 Cowboy Trap

I'm back on the road hunting down cases of dodgy builders

who promised the world,

but then leave honest homeowners in the lurch, with their bodged work.

The standard of workmanship that he worked to was shoddy.

I've come across enough cowboy builders to last me a lifetime.

But the nerve of them still shocks me.

They lack the skills to complete the works,

but they have no trouble in extracting cash from hard-working people.

He was rectifying work - what he classed as snagging -

and it was making them worse.

Today, I'm hoping to offer some help to a family have been let down by

a cowboy builder, who built up their hopes, and then left them deflated.

I've yet to feel like it's a home, which is quite sad.

You know, relating to what we had at the beginning to what

we have now is so different.

And it's quite sad.

I want to help these unfortunate homeowners get their life and their

build back on track, and along the way, I'll be offering you some hints

and tips in the hope that you won't go falling into the cowboy trap.

Today, I'm in Bedford, the county town of Bedfordshire,

located on the river Ouse.

It was here in 1675 that author John Bunyan wrote his seminal book,

Pilgrim's Progress, while in prison in Bedford jail.

Bedford has a great comedy heritage too,

with the likes of Ronnie Barker, and John Le Mesurier.

It was also the backdrop

for a classic 1976 sitcom comedy

called Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, and it's quite apt really,

because the cowboy builder in our story was

something of a Frank Spencer himself.

His unwitting victims, Kerry Nelson and her partner, Rob Henderson.

Kerry hails from Northern Ireland, and is an art and design teacher

at a local secondary school, while Rob works as an engineer.

Kerry moved to Bedford five years ago, with her daughter Cara.

She met Rob on a blind date set up by his brother, and their romance blossomed.

Two years ago, they all moved in together,

but Kerry's house wasn't big enough to accommodate their plans to extend the family,

so they decided to look for a new home.

In July 2011, Rob and Kerry viewed the 1960s four-bed detached property

on the northern side of town.

It was a bit of an ugly duckling, and required some TLC -

not unlike myself, I hear you cry!

But it was in a good residential area,

and it is close to the beautiful Bedford Park.

So they decided to buy it, and then they hired an architect

to draw up plans to renovate, and extend over the front garage.

But they were in a bit of a hurry,

because I forgot to mention - Kerry was six months pregnant.

Kerry and Rob didn't want to move in until the renovator was finished,

so it was a race against time,

because they were desperate to be settled into their new home

by the time the baby was due in December.

They needed to get a builder pronto, and soon found one.

He was recommended, the builder that we eventually chose.

And it was a recommendation from a friend of Rob's,

and they had had recently had work done by this builder.

Now alarm bells are ringing in my head,

even if they weren't for Rob and Kerry.

Now finding your builder via Rob's golf club might be a fair way

to book a tradesperson, but I have to say,

because they were in such a hurry to move in before baby was born,

I believe they were just heading for the bunker.

Kerry and Rob invited the builder round to discuss the work

and he quoted them a total of £15,000.

That was to gut the kitchen, to knock a dividing wall

in from the kitchen into the dining.

The quote for downstairs also included removing some stud walls

and glass partitions, and fitting bespoke bifold doors.

And they also wanted work done elsewhere in the house.

Upstairs knocked through a brick wall from our bedroom,

into the fourth bedroom, to make one big bedroom with an en suite,

and also to refit the toilet into the bathroom.

Kerry and Rob were happy with the quote,

but crucially, got nothing in writing.

They gave the builder the green light,

and moved into rented accommodation while the work got underway.

Kerry and Rob decided that they would buy the materials.

That meant the bifold doors, the en suite, the basins,

and the toilets, the tiles - including wall and floor.

And the builder said he'd pick up the tab for the remaining items,

which to be honest, couldn't have been many at all.

The build started, but within days, alarm bells began to ring.

We noticed when I'd drive sometimes, I work from home,

and I'd drive past, and he wasn't on site.

Which was a bit alarming, in the first week.

It wasn't like he didn't have any work to do.

He had loads of work to do.

And when the builder did get down to work,

his efforts left a lot to be desired.

One of his first task was fitting the windows

and Rob's heart sank when he saw the botched job.

The standard of the installation of the windows... Is poor, at best.

The kitchen was poorly fitted, and the tiles were marked.

Internal doorways weren't symmetrical.

The plastering was pitiful. And the doorframes were filled with glue.

There were also question marks about the builder's attitude.

He never completed one room. He would go from one room to the next

and he would just leave a trail of debris.

There was just absolutely no consideration

for what equipment we had purchased.

The list of problems went on and on.

The bifold doors didn't fit.

There was no damp-proofing.

The window in the extension wasn't level and had gaps.

The electrics were not as requested. The en-suite shower leaked.

The tiling was uneven and poorly grouted.

And the stud walls had no support.

Ouch!

Every single job that has been done has been done poorly.

The tiling is poor.

The fitting of the toilet is poor.

The plumbing is poor.

The sink that is a freestanding sink

has been poorly attached to the wall.

You can see big holes where he's tried to have the plumbing come out.

Not surprisingly, the couple were tempted to stop paying the builder.

Kerry was saying, don't pay, and I was saying, just pay the guy,

just get the work done.

Kerry and Rob pointed out the problems they wanted rectifying.

But it didn't help.

It got to the stage where he was rectifying work,

what is classed as snagging, and it was making them worse.

But there was some good news to brighten the gloom.

And that was that Kelly and Rob's son, Cameron,

arrived safe and well on 28th December.

But, now back to the gloom.

They were still living in their rented accommodation

and the work had overrun and overrun and they'd had enough.

So, they decided they were going to phone the builder,

and arrange a meeting on site to fire him.

The builder's response was to submit a final invoice for over 18 grand.

The initial £15,800 plus extra costs.

Kerry and Rob had been made aware

that there were a few extra expenses.

But they had no idea it was going to cost so much.

We were living in rented accommodation.

It's a hungry mouth to feed when you're paying a mortgage

and you're paying rent as well.

We'd had Cameron, and then it came to the point

where there was no urgency in work getting done.

We had a meeting. We said, where do you go from here?

He said, well, if you're not happy with my work,

there's no point in me doing anything and we said, right, OK.

Let's just, that's it. We want nothing more to do with you.

Kerry and Rob sought advice from Trading Standards.

They also made the wise move

of inviting building control round to survey the property.

The resulting letter meant that there were many issues

and the house was blacklisted,

which meant they couldn't sell the house, even if they wanted to.

They were shocked.

And they took a look around,

and they could see straight away the windows were a problem.

No lintels in the windows.

We were so, so disappointed.

Not surprisingly, this cowboy chaos

affected Kerry and Rob's relationship.

I was very emotional anyway.

Very pregnant, very emotional. Everything had to be right.

It was my home, it was my children's home,

it was a haven where we would come and be safe.

It was putting terrible strain on us.

Fortunately, we are strong as you like,

and we will see it through, you know, through thick or thin,

you know, there's times when you wake up and you think, oh my God.

Take my advice.

It's never a good idea to undertake major building works

during times of family upheaval.

Be wary of making important decisions

when emotions are running high.

And, if you must go ahead, be sure to ask for

help and advice from family and friends.

But, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

I'm here to see if we can put Kerry and Rob's dream back on track.

-Ah, now, I'm guessing you're Kerry.

-Hello.

-I'm Clive.

-And you must be Rob.

-Hi, Clive.

-Now, I hear you have problems with cowboy builders.

-We have.

-Can I come in and look around?

-Please do.

Thank you. I'll follow you, then.

While they stick the kettle on,

I want to have a look round to assess their builder's efforts.

My first destination - those controversial windows.

And like the building control officers, I don't see no lintel.

First of all, they haven't been installed

by a FENSA-regulated installer,

so straight away, because they're self-certificating,

they wouldn't be able to issue on this.

So, all these windows are going to have to come out and be refitted.

Here, we've got a problem, because of the lintel above, or lack of.

You can see already that the header of bricks there is

pressing down on the opening light and it's bowing like that

and, eventually,

that could cause the glass just to shatter completely under the weight.

Or, at best, you would be able to open the opening light

for a while but eventually it would get stiffer and stiffer

because of the pressure above.

So, again, looking at all of the windows out here,

they would have to be taken out and re-sited.

Let's go inside.

The upstairs en suite is anything but sweet. Look at this.

These, well, how's that bit of trim, there, for a start?

What that's doing, I don't know.

This is a shallow, large, shallow tray.

Once that starts blocking up, I'll tell you now, the water is

out of there and all over the actual room - could go downstairs.

But this, is a real disgrace.

These tiles here are stone.

Now, where they've been grouted,

they've been rubbed across the stone,

and it should be wiped off straight away.

This sort of chalky residue - I'll try and get some of it off.

But, that sort of chalky residue there, you'll never get that off.

There are hundreds of pounds worth of tiles there

that are actually going to have to be thrown away.

Have a look at this for architrave.

I don't even know where to begin!

He has actually flushed that leg up,

so you've got the head, there,

and you got the leg of each leg of the architrave.

He's flushed that one up, look at that. There's a gap there.

He hasn't flushed that in at all.

And he's butted up to it with tiles

but, I'm telling you now, whether we like it or not,

this has got to be ripped out and started again.

I've seen quite enough upstairs.

I'm continuing my investigations outside.

First of all, over the head there, it's got no packers in it at all.

That needs a solid packing.

That's all open to the elements.

Looking at the way they finish this off, as well...

It's really quite poor.

It also looks like there isn't any damp course under this door.

I mean, that's mad, if that's the case.

It certainly doesn't look like it.

But the way they've masticked these up, I mean look at that.

A kid could do a better job than that.

There are lots of tell-tale signs for me,

that tell me this guy has not got a clue about building. Look at this.

Now, the vented stack at the top is below regulation.

That has got to be a minimum of 900 millimetres

above the opening of that window right at the top.

It's got to be 900 millimetres above that. Look how low it is.

It's about level with the opening light of the window.

He surely should have known that.

It's just like basic, schoolboy errors.

This must be the worst building since prehistoric times.

But it's more Barney Rubble than Fred Flintstone.

How have Kerry and Rob survived this mess?

It did put a wedge between us

and you know, there's certain things in life that you should be enjoying,

and that is Kerry's pregnancy and the like, and that wasn't the case.

When we look back, it's become quite clear that you would be

spoken to in a very different way by the builder, to me.

There were sometimes discussions that we had with the builder

where he would say you had said one thing and I'd said another thing.

Here's a tip for you.

It's a classic cowboy tactic to play people off against each other.

You don't let the kids get away with it, so don't let your builder!

Be on your guard, and, wherever possible,

talk to the builder together.

What would you like us to do for you?

We would like all the issues that building control have listed

to be rectified, so that we feel safe living in it.

My target is, therefore,

to get your sign-off certificate from building control.

But, before the good guys try to secure

Kerry and Rob's certificate, I want to get a second opinion

about the task in hand from independent surveyor, Jack Bradley.

Now, starting here,

you obviously had a good look around the property,

I'd like us to go and visit certain areas, inside and out,

but let's start with this soil stack, because we know

there's been problems with breaching building control and building regs.

Just talk us through what you think the problem could be.

Well, as you can see, a new soil stack's been put in,

but we just don't know what's underneath,

and building control want to know how this pipe

connects to the existing system.

Don't we all?

And no prizes for guessing what else is upsetting Jack.

My primary area of concern is the lintel holding the brickwork,

the walls, the windows, the floors, the roof above this set of doors.

We just don't know what that lintel's sitting on, at the minute.

I think these doors have got to come out,

because they've got no damp course at the bottom of there, either.

And I think it's inset by about five screws, the whole thing.

Having no damp course is going to let water up through,

and it will slowly rot the wooden sill.

The frame will move around, with not so many fixings.

There's already signs of stress at both ends of the brickwork

and the frame, and that's raising serious alarm bells for me.

OK. Up to the unsweet en suite next.

Now, in here, I have to say, is a complete shambles.

-Talk us through the problems you've seen.

-Where do I start?

Let's start with the floor. The flooring is all over the place.

There's trip hazards, the flooring's not level.

It shouldn't be a hard job to get this right.

I then moved straight on to the walls.

The wall tiles are on and they're staying there,

but I don't know for how long.

There's adhesive, there's grout stuck to the tiles.

These are expensive, high quality products

that the owners have bought and they've been ruined.

So, it's all got to come off, and be put back on again,

to get to that finish that they deserve, here.

And what about those stone tiles there with all the grout on them

and everything else? It's dire.

It's utter laziness.

It's nothing but bad and poor workmanship

that has ruined a good product.

Now, I think it's a rip-it-up-and-start-again job,

I've got to be honest with you.

But, taking into account everything that you've seen at this property,

what mark out of 10 would you give to this so-called tradesman?

If my suspicions about that lintel are right,

they'd be lucky to get 2/10, and that's only because the doors work.

So, 2/10. And Kerry and Rob have forked out over 15 grand.

Ouch, that hurts!

I think it's high time we gave this sorry story a happy ending.

And I've got to be honest with you. This really is a no-go zone.

And particularly these bifold doors.

It's high time we got the good guys in

and only myself and those guys can cross this line.

And yee-hah! Here they are! Arriving just in time.

Jon Fish and his compadre.

WESTERN-STYLE MUSIC

Tell me what your plan of action is to put it right.

Basically, the windows, the sliding folding doors just there, I'm going

to have to take them out, store them to one side and protect them.

We're going to have to try and clean back all the silicones,

because it's messy, all over the brickwork.

We need to uncovered a lintel above,

because building control are going to want to see

if it's a lintel that's big enough the load across the span.

Rob and Kerry are chipping in to get the job done,

so Jon and his team waste no time getting stuck in.

First job, removing those patio doors.

Next up, renewing the supporting lintel.

You can't afford to get lintels wrong.

It's good that these guys know what they're doing.

Building control want to know how this pipe connects

to the existing system.

There's only one way to find out. And it's backbreaking work.

Clearly, there's plenty to do,

before Jon and his team even set foot in doors.

Can the good guys turn this bodged build

into the stuff of dreams for Kerry and Rob?

Only time will tell.

I'm back in Bedford,

where Kerry and Rob's hopes

of turning their neglected 1960s property that they just purchased

into a dream family home was thwarted by a cowboy builder.

All the 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 Kerry and Rob,

I can't resist a sneaky peek.

OK. Let's see what the good guys have done.

First of all, this is a bit of a surprise.

I didn't know this was on the remit,

because this is definitely re-plastered.

And I tell you what - THAT is as smooth as glass. It's beautiful.

You rub your hand over that, normally,

this is a massive tell-tale sign

of whether you've got good builders or not,

because plastering is a skill, it's an art form.

And THAT, whoever has done it, is a plaster master.

No two ways about that.

Perfect plastering. What a good start.

But, what about those bodged bifold doors?

Have they been replaced properly by our good guys?

Well, what do you think?

Straight away, all of these edges, the beading's been put up,

nice plaster, again, very good.

So, let's have a look.

Let's have a feel of the door, first of all.

OK, straight away, the one thing I remember from last time,

is when you opened this door,

it never opened and closed as smoothly as that.

I tell you what, that step was really springy, and now it's not.

OK, so you can see the alteration work's been done

and obviously now, we've got a steel in there, too,

so that's good, we've got the weep holes, fantastic, looking great.

Certainly got no gaps.

I'm delighted with those doors.

Now, let's see what they've done about the wonky window.

That was on askew last time and it's far straighter.

All been finished off. And we've now got the lintel, too.

There was one other thing, and that was the soil stack.

Round this corner. Because we had loads of problems with the fitting.

Yeah, I mean, so much better, now.

This has obviously been dug out and filled in.

All the connections now, are all perfect.

Yeah, that looks so much better.

So far, so good. But what about the en suite indoors?

THIS is now a sweet en suite.

Something's changed, though, they've actually got a wall in here,

because remember, this was a whole glass cubicle.

I like the idea of that, and I certainly like the fact

that the selection of the mosaic looks fantastic.

that looks beautiful. New tray.

Flooring looks great.

I'm loving the clean lines in here.

I mean, it's like a bit of a showroom en suite, if you like.

Downlighters, fantastic.

Even to the splashback, there, following on from the mosaic,

looks really cool, and THIS is a Hollywood mirror - look at this.

Oh yeah! Bee-autiful!

Bee-autiful indeed! I'm referring to the bathroom, of course!

Now, before I do a grand tour with Kerry and Rob,

I'd like a pow-wow with them about their cowboy builder.

We've found out his side of the story,

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

First of all, your builder says that bottom line is,

you didn't allow him to finish the job

and he was prepared to go back and rectify the problem.

We were meant to finish before Christmas

and we were well into January.

So, there's sufficient time there,

knowing full well what the timescales were.

We highlighted some points, we called him in, said, this is the situation

we're in, do you want to have a look at the work that we're talking about?

And he turned round and said no.

OK, he said he wanted to get building control involved,

but you, Rob, refused to let him.

No.

Why would I not have building control involved when I know the consequences

of not getting sign-off, that I'm not going to be able to sell the house?

He says that the reason the work took so long

was that you guys kept changing your mind.

We may have, usually because something opened up

or there was a chance to do something

and we took that chance there and then.

There might have been a few changes of mind

because sometimes there was no schedule of works.

It says here that he also says you never told him

you were unhappy with any of the work until it had been finished,

and he reckons that you just didn't want to pay for it.

BOTH: We paid for it!

So that's that, we paid for it!

How can he say it's not? We paid for it!

Well, it's pretty hard to argue with that.

Anyway, it's time for the bit I've been waiting for, the grand tour.

Rob and Kerry have seen the work going on,

but I'm about to reveal the full results in all their glory.

First up, those transformed doors.

Originally, these bifold doors only had four screws holding them in.

Now, can you imagine that, on something as heavy as that,

and what the builders have done, is obviously taken it out,

they put in a new steel, but the problem was,

when they took the doors out, they noticed there was

an internal lintel and it was bowing about three quarters of an inch.

Now, the problem with that, of course,

is all of the masonry above that, there's a fair tonnage in that,

and if that had collapsed, that's danger to life and limb.

So, it's all been re-seated.

You've also got the damp course in underneath,

because you didn't have a damp course.

All fully sealed in, as well. And they've done a great job,

putting the new lintel in there, too.

And of course, you've got the weep holes as well,

so everything now has changed in terms of its security and safety.

Certainly looks more secure.

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

It's not only the potentially life-saving lintel.

Kerry and Rob are also delighted with their new windows.

We see a huge change. I mean, they're straight.

-There are no gaping gaps. They look beautiful.

-They are in line.

That's a big difference. There was a big gap. It's just so much better.

And it's the finish, as well, isn't it? They are finished off.

They look like new windows.

They looked like they were supposed to in the first place. Like that.

Now, the other thing as well, we had problems with the soil pipe.

So, that's all been put together.

And put together to the satisfaction of building control. Nice one!

Next, we're back indoors.

I can't wait to show them a bit of bathroom bling.

Come and check this out.

Wow!

What a difference!

Now, the first thing you notice, I think, there's a wall there, now.

-Yes, that's changed.

-So, it looks totally different.

It really does. It looks amazing.

It's a different en suite.

You've got the lighting in, now, the downlighting, which is fantastic.

You've got a new shower tray in there.

The tiles, I think, are magnificent.

-Different floor.

-Different floor, as well,

so the whole thing looks superb, now, doesn't it?

It really is stunning.

And of course, the electrics,

all the electrics were looked at and done as well.

And of course, the main thing for me, is that it's come up

to building regulations. So that's all been signed off,

so the important thing for me to do right now,

in your showpiece en suite, and that is to give you this -

this is the building control certificate that you needed.

Those documents are so important to you

if ever you want to sell the property in the future.

-It now meets building control. How does that make you feel?

-Fantastic.

Relieved, yes.

It's put a smile back on us. It has put a smile back on our faces.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

Really just, I'm gobsmacked.

"Gobsmacked"!

I couldn't put it better myself. What a result!

Now, that's great. All the major problems have been rectified.

And of course, the house is now legit

in the eyes of building control.

And what about that en suite? A real cracker.

Kerry and Rob can really enjoy their dream, now, with peace of mind,

and it's another one up for the good guys in our posse.

And as for those cowboy builders out there,

I've got one thing to say - look out, because we're on your trail.

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