The Big Build - Ottery St Mary DIY SOS

Hello and welcome to DIY SOS, coming to you from Ottery St Mary in the Devonshire countryside.

We have just 10 days for me and these guys...and these guys

to turn a wreck of a house into a home for a family that really need it.

This is DIY SOS: The Big Build!

'And when I say big, I mean huge!'

To have these floors down tonight, that's not a five-minute job.

'Can this really be turned around in just nine days?'

Total structural change? You can't.

-'This family needs a miracle and a home.'

-We have to hold together

because if we fall apart and let the house fall apart, our lives are ruined.

We're here to help the Wright family - music teacher Ian, mum Morny, and their three kids,

Isaac, Alfie and Casper.

Four years ago, their eldest son Isaac was diagnosed with learning difficulties

and had to move to a school more suited to his needs.

He has an audio processing disorder which means he has had difficulties at school.

We moved to Ottery as we knew there were good schools

in terms of dealing with this type of difficulty.

All they could afford was this cramped two-bedroom bungalow.

With three growing lads crammed into one room, this was never going to work for long.

I sleep there, he sleeps there and he sleeps there.

I sleep here.

All the boys have is their beds. That's their personal space.

There's an awful lot of tension and aggro.

We don't get on in the same room.

Desperate for space, the family decided to extend.

Ian and Morny borrowed as much as they could to do the work themselves to keep costs down.

After we took out the loan, we thought we could get on with it,

but, as it happened,

family matters took over.

My mother became very ill with cancer.

Also, at the same time, my father died.

Morny took a year out to care for her mother,

but having battled with ME all of her adult life, her own health soon began to suffer.

Having ME is like having a very short battery life.

Because you have so little energy to deal with day to day things,

as soon as things start to go wrong, there's not much energy left.

So it sounds really stupid,

but I found myself on a downward spiral.

The stress it has put onto my wife has meant that Morny

can't work, hasn't worked for a while. She's felt very bad about it.

And that's put more strain on us.

With his family falling apart and the borrowed money draining away,

Ian's only choice was to continue with the build alone,

but on top of his hectic teaching job, it all became too much for him.

I've been under a lot of stress and it's shown at work and it's shown here.

I feel very wound up, really wound up.

The whole thing has taken its toll.

It's no small thing. It's there 24 hours a day.

24 hours a day. And it affects everything.

We've had terrible arguments about mistakes we've made,

but at the end of the day we know we have to pull together

because if we fall apart and let the house completely fall apart, our lives are ruined.

And that's the boys' lives ruined.

I can remember years ago we used to play football

and run around.

That never happens now. It hasn't happened for the last five years.

You see other children with their dads and it just makes you feel a bit depressed.

After it's all done, I can spend my time with my mum and dad.

The impact on the boys has been huge.

There are times you do feel you're letting your family down.

The thing that's most upsetting is you realise you'll run out of time. The priorities are all wrong here.

We've ended up with a house that's half-built, a family that's grown up

and you've lost those vital years.

It overwhelmed me. It really overwhelmed me, the thought of what these people are going to do for us.

And, um...

just how much it will change... everything. It really will.

It's, um...

Well, I... I'm lost for words, really.

I don't think words are adequate to describe the difference it will make to our lives.

Sometimes life can get the better of you and at these moments it's OK to ask for help

and hope that someone will answer your call. Today, that's us - DIY SOS.

-This isn't normal.

-No.

-But everybody that we ever go to see gets used to it.

There's a term, institutionalisation, if you spend time in prison or the army.

In any given circumstance, what you live in, you get used to. This isn't normal.

Every single aspect of our life has suffered in the last year or so

and you get used to living in a certain way. It would be different if I could work.

The plan had been when Casper started school, we hoped that I would be able to work in some respect,

but I'm just not able to do that.

The position we've got to now, Nick,

is that this has put so much pressure on the family, on Morny, and affected Morny's health,

the whole thing just... We're in a bit of a spiral, to be honest.

You have plainly carried the world on your shoulders and worked your backside off,

but if the result is another three years without time with your kids...

What's important? Family's important. My wife and the children.

-This is going to have such an impact on us. A massive impact.

-Time to hand it over to us for a while

-and let us play with it for 10 days and see what we can do.

-Absolutely.

-We'll do a really good job for you.

The Wrights have hit rock bottom and Ian's realised he needs help.

There's no point in being so proud that you let your family fall apart.

-Is that the sea?

-Where? I think it jolly well is, Matthew.

Ease up on the sightseeing and get to work, please.

Ian has placed his family's future in the hands of our team and the local Devon trades. Thankfully...

We've got plumbers, carpenters, plasterers, all in this area. In real life there would be a fight.

'A friendly fight. Pillows, maybe.'

-Shall we let the dog see the rabbit?

-Yeah, let's get in and get at it.

'Helping is architectural designer Charlie Luxton, with one eye on style, one on the environment.'

-I don't suppose there's much to talk about, environmental-wise.

-No, lots.

Oh.

'Charlie's career has been built on blending sustainable design with intelligent design

'that maximises space and light. With space here at a premium,

'his architectural expertise will be vital in turning this dreary, cramped 1960s bungalow

'into a beautiful home.'

-We're doing some good stuff.

-Right.

-A really interesting, innovative heating system with solar panels.

-Low-energy carpets...

-Low-energy carpets?!

-Yeah.

-What?! What?!

-Healthy carpets.

-You don't get worn out on them.

'So how do you turn a two-bedroom bungalow into a four-bedroom house? This is Charlie's vision.

'We'll start with a loft conversion, creating two bedrooms and a homework space for the boys.

'Downstairs, there's two rooms we're leaving alone - Mum and Dad's bedroom and the lounge.

'We have plenty to do already, like putting in stairs and a new kitchen.

'Then we'll finish off the extension and create a beautiful long dining room that extends into the garden.

'Finally, we'll transform the downstairs bedroom, leaving a warm and comfortable home

'with no holes or missing walls.' As lofts go, this is a big one.

-Really big.

-Lots of height, but by the time your insulation is in...

-It'll be tiny!

It's quite a good space. For a house that was way too small for the family,

-it suddenly has everything they need.

-Bungalows are great to buy.

You can do so much with them. They've often got big roof spaces,

really good space, and normally they have really good-sized gardens.

I couldn't help overhearing, because I was listening,

-that you're creating a vaulted atrium to get more light from the skylight into here.

-Yeah.

This is the real heart of the house.

We're pulling that back and putting a big skylight in here.

You'll get nice top light into that, the stair comes up and lands here.

It's been an utter nightmare working with this space to get the stairs working.

We're so constrained by that shape.

A normal job is like steering a car. I want to go this way, you go this way and can steer it.

This is more like a rocket that you sit on and lean a bit!

I'm slightly worried that you see working with us as being sat on a giant rocket.

-How do you see it?

-Out of control.

'I love the first day. Everywhere you look, somebody's doing something, bringing something in,

'taking something out, carrying something, climbing over each other.

'You need good backing music. It's about to get worse.'

PICKS OUT A FALTERING TUNE

Cliff Richard.

-# Got myself a walking, talking... #

-Don't encourage him! It's nothing like anything!

# Living doll... #

-It's in tune with my voice!

-That's like me going...

-That's good.

-Jazz.

-That's jazz!

-That's jazz.

-Let's get the piano out.

-Yeah.

'Do you know the piano's on my foot? "You him it, son, I'll play it."'

-You all right up there? You're allowed to speak and say hello.

-Hello.

There's quality entertainment on BBC1(!)

-Nobody knows who you are.

-If you need a cup of tea, ask me.

-Tea boy.

-No, I'll ask someone else.

# Oh-oh-oh

-# Oh-oh... #

-Would it be fair to say you're in a happy, singy mood because we're in...the county?

-It's pretty impressive, Devon.

-Despite what you've always said,

when I drove in past the Devon border sign, there weren't people with pitchforks waiting.

-They was there in the afternoon.

-Was they?

-When it was light. They don't stay out after dark.

As soon as it starts getting dark, get rumped upside the fire.

-Get what?

-Rumped upside the fire.

-Right. So a bit of music later on this week, perhaps?

-Yeah.

-I want an honest opinion whether I can play the guitar or not.

-Yeah.

'I could give you an honest opinion now, but let's wait and I'll lie.

'Shall we meet the builders?'

-What are you doing for us?

-To insulate.

-Working with my mate here.

-Why did you decide to help out?

I understand this family's got kids at school where I've got my kids.

Friends of friends have heard the story, so I've come down to help out, basically.

I put the roof on the extension over there with a mate months ago and we looked across at this

and it hadn't really moved since then, so we thought they could probably do with a hand.

They could, too. Thank you. Aren't they nice, eh?

'Got to be impressed, haven't you? As well as poaching most of Devon's tradesmen,

'Ian and Morny's friends have come. Neighbour Sue and family friend Chris.'

In the short time I've got to know the family, it looks like he's really at the end of his tether.

-Have you seen a change in him?

-I've seen him look more worn out and more stressed.

-Yeah.

-He's got a full-time job as well.

-And she's not been well, either. Morny's not been so well.

-No, no.

ME's been hitting her hard, especially through the winter months

with water pouring in through various rooms.

-It's been open to the elements.

-Since about April.

-There's a lot of rain coming in.

-Getting on for a year.

Yeah, I think she got that distraught one day that she didn't know what else to do

and she said she literally sobbed into her computer and wrote to you.

You get the impression he feels that somehow he's letting them down if he doesn't do it himself,

-but it's too much. It's huge.

-It's taken a lot longer than he thought

-plus other things have cropped up along the way...

-Family illnesses.

-Three kids in one room is not easy.

-No.

-No.

-So this will sort it?

-I think it will be a big therapy for them.

Once they can sit and enjoy it, rather than rushing around...

It'll be nice to come for a glass of wine without the roof coming down!

'It's always nice to enjoy a glass of wine without the fear of the roof falling on top of you.

'Hey, look, the stairs have arrived. They've been made off-site and can be slotted into place,

'but now they're here, Charlie's brain is whirring away. This can only mean trouble.'

The floors have to go in today. The walls have to be insulated tomorrow, skimmed on Thursday.

The problems are we've only, in the whole building, got this much space to put the stair in.

It's also the front hall where all these routes come in.

We've been absolutely constrained to put a stair in here.

It's not really where I'd put it if I had started from scratch.

I wouldn't put it there, so it's all a bit of a compromise, which is a bit frustrating.

It's lovely and open now, but not when it's finished. Disappointing.

Charlie, I think, is guilty of changing his mind a few times.

The golden rule for builders is, "Designers, don't change your mind. Have an idea and stick with it."

You've got to, especially in this environment when we're here for ten days with the whole community.

We can't turn around and say, "I don't like that." Can't do it.

In this game, plan it, do it and give it back.

You can't halfway through say, "I want a total structural change." You just can't do it.

-Good bunch of lads?

-There's two electricians and their apprentice.

They're very good. Lovely boys.

-There's one of them! I call him LA. His name's Laszlo.

-He has an LA look.

Like somebody out of The Breakfast Club in 1985.

'Time check, then. It's 7pm on Day One, and after a long 12-hour day

'Charlie wants to make some big changes.'

-You've thought about this, have you?

-Yeah.

-So you must know what you want, then.

'Basically, Mr Luxton wants to open up the space in the hall

'to allow light to come down from the skylight without being blocked by the current ceiling.

'Mark is concerned about the time and how it affects support beams,

'but Charlie won't be put off. He has a vision.'

-We can do it!

-What are you blethering on about?!

-If we pull these cables and pipes onto the back of this beam...

-So you can view all the way up?

-Yes.

So it would just rise up all the way up.

Your stairs come in 900 here,

so it's nice and open and light now. When you've got a stair, bang, that's gone. It's stairs coming up.

One of the great difficulties is that whole vaulted thing disappears and you don't have that light,

-whereas if you took that out...

-He might be right. That's not a five-minute job.

Ceilings out, restrengthen... We've got to have these floors down tonight and plasterers in on Day Three.

-Have a wee look around you.

-What?

-Look at the state of this house.

-Yeah.

-We're late in the evening of Day One.

-Yeah.

-All these gentlemen are sweating their doodahs off...

-Yeah.

You're just adding... That's not five... Oh! I tell you what,

I'd thump you! You're pushing it, mate.

-Have a vote on it.

-No!

-That's a fair way of doing it.

-Everybody in favour of ceiling out, hands up.

-I'll go with Charlie on that one.

-Everybody in favour...

-One, two, three, four...five.

-Six.

-Everybody in favour of leaving it as it is.

-One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

-Sorry, Charlie.

And to be honest, Chris had already voted on both sides.

LAUGHTER

-So we're just confused now.

-Can we carry on?

-Sorry, yeah.

'That's disappointing. I'm with Charlie on this. The payoff will be worth the extra graft.

'Local builder Mark Mann is onside, too, and he's happy to work into the night.'

-It's just the moment when they walk in. That's what I'm thinking about.

-I agree.

-And they go, "Wow!"

-I think you're absolutely right.

-The ceiling joists run all the way to the front.

-Yes.

-Take that out

and you must board underneath that.

But if you took this out, it's open, so you don't have to board it.

It's just open. You run straight up to the ceiling, which you have to make good anyway.

I agree that, architecturally, it would look fantastic.

I'm slightly worried about how long it's going to take to achieve this.

The only person standing in the way and being obtuse... Your camp is now down to you and Billy.

-Do you really want to be in that camp?

-Right, do it.

-Do it?

-Do it.

But there's two people doing this. Mark and Charlie.

So by tomorrow morning we'll be able to show you what we've been talking about.

I don't think it's clear to you. Tomorrow it will be, thanks to Charlie for staying up all night.

Ha! I'm off.

'I thought Charlie would go all designer and let someone else get their hands dirty,

'but he's actually doing it himself.

'And this means the hand-made stairs can now go in. They'll form the centrepiece to our new hall

'and will make getting into the loft a bit easier for the boys, too.

# I've got a brand new combine harvester... # 'It's a beautiful Devonian morning.

'We have the big boys' toys in today to tear up the garden. It's for a good reason, not just for fun.'

We're putting a new water main trench in. At the moment,

the lead pipe is completely furred up with a tiny hole in the middle.

We're putting a big poly pipe in with loads of flow, loads of pressure.

Everything will work lovely.

'The eco-boiler is coming later and can be hooked up when the new pipe is connected to the mains.

'Simple. Morning, Matt! Morning! All right.

'It's not good for builder/designer relations when we have last-minute changes, but Charlie was spot on.'

Well done, mate. You got it all cut out overnight.

-I think it was worth it.

-It WAS the right thing to do.

You need to speak to Billy to get an electrical contact on it

so when the door opens it goes... ba-ba-ra-bah!

It's taken until we do a bungalow to get a two-storey entrance.

-I've worked out how to get my way now. I get you on my side...

-Is that it?

-..and then I walked off!

It wasn't happening, but I could see you were like a dog with a bone.

I just left you. I came back and we were doing it.

-I owe you one, mate.

-The trick is, I got him onside.

-He didn't give up.

-Once he wanted to do it, and he's doing the work, our Mark couldn't say no.

'Thank you, Mark Mann. This vaulted entrance is ambitious and already making a massive difference.

'It's gone from cramped to spacious in just one day.

'The Wright family were pushed to the limit in this wreck of a house. The strain's affected everyone

-'and the family have been teetering on the edge.'

-We have had times

when we've just sat and said, "What the hell have we done?" We can't move,

we can't get this finished in time to stop more damage being done.

Just what can we do?

And you can't do anything but just carry on.

That's what we've done. We've each had our moments where we crumbled.

We're very fortunate that we have each other to support.

Even if you're not feeling good, you can be the strong one for the other person.

-It would be very easy to split apart.

-Yes.

-With this pressure.

When I was talking to him, he was very...

very outspoken about how grateful he was that you support him and stand by him.

I could say the same the other way. Partly because of my illness, the burden falls on him really.

A huge burden.

And I think he feels that he cannot stop, that if he stops it will fall apart.

Normally I don't tell anybody anything about the house,

-but it looks like a home.

-Oh...

-A real house to bring up the boys.

It looks like a house where you and Ian can remember why you got together in the first place.

-Oh, I can't wait.

-Your house.

-Oh, it'll be lovely.

Oh, thank you so much.

'Turning their unfinished house into a home will be the first step in getting them back on track.'

-What changes will happen? Maybe a date night?

-Lovely. You plant the seed with him.

-He probably won't think of it.

-You'll have the time now.

'There's an often-forgotten rule of building work - you're only one digger scoop from disaster.'

Well spotted, lads. Well spotted!

Thank God we didn't break into it. This is the main pumping main to the reservoir.

If that had burst, if we had... I shouldn't be laughing.

We'd have had a swimming pool here!

-Oh, dear.

-There's a water main here, so be careful.

-We just found it!

Oh! BEEP! Is that right enough?

'Yeah, that was a close call. Let's hope the new boiler is worth it.'

-Are you putting the boiler in?

-Yeah.

-Is it new, fandangled...?

-It's technology we developed here.

-You're involved?

-I'm the developer.

-I thought you were the plumber!

I'm working with the plumber.

-He's the man who designed it all!

-You designed it?

-Yeah.

Charlie's very excited. He says it saves an enormous amount of gas on your fuel bill.

-Probably about 40% over and above what an A rate boiler would give.

-Really?

Honestly and truly, how simple is this to fit?

Dead simple. Quite easy, yeah.

Do you need to say this works?

-I think it's a good idea.

-Really?

-It saves money, energy. It's fantastic.

'None of Charlie's enviro-projects ever runs totally to plan,

'but the new water main is going in so at least we're making progress.'

-How tall are you?

-6'11" in my socks, so 7 foot in my shoes.

-What height are you, Nick?

-Just under 6'2".

-Go on, you stand next to him.

-What's so funny about that?

NICK CACKLES

So are you happier to be doing a bit in Devon, as opposed to being off round the country?

I am. I do feel happy to be in Devon, yes.

-It was pasties for lunch.

-I didn't have a pasty.

I had several last week, so I'm trying to ease off of them.

-We found a lovely little shop that sells...

-Oh, sweet corn, cheese and broccoli.

-Pasties.

-Beef and Stilton.

-Did you have one?

-I ate three!

He had one on the way back from the shop before we had one.

I popped down the shop to get the pasties... Little bit peckish.

So I thought I'd pull a fast one. I bought three pasties. I ate one on the way back to the job.

I said, "Here's your pasty." I ate one, then he spotted the extra wrapper.

Yeah, still warm it was as well.

Couldn't get it past 'ee!

'Working on this house took over Ian's life and overwhelmed him,

'but it would have been far worse without the help of his friend, John.'

Hello, John. So, basically, you've sacrificed your weekends

-to come round and help him get this whole building finished.

-Tried to, yeah.

-Tried to.

It just... It's so much to be doing, to take on.

He just doesn't stop.

-The project will be the end of him on its own.

-Yeah?

How much does this mean to him?

It's just going to be such a relief for him to be able to come home

without having to start again when he gets home.

There's so much for him to be doing the whole time,

you know, a person can't keep going flat out all the time.

'You know, I think I'm proudest on these jobs of the community spirit that we see.

'The hard work of all these trades means Ian will have more freedom for his musical work with local kids,

'not just at school, but throughout the area with free music workshops.'

Hello!

-BLOWS WHISTLE

-Hello!

-Grab a seat. We'll go through the parts.

-Here? Is that all right?

-Thank you very much.

-Go through the parts, the sections.

Strike with the right hand. Very simple. Perfect.

# Give me a biscuit, cup of tea Give me a biscuit, cup of tea

-# Give me a biscuit... #

-When you're doing the music, you've got their full attention.

-Yeah.

It's music you can do that with. What I love about this is it's all about families, communities.

This is what music's about.

# Thunderbirds are go! One, two... # Yeah!

-We've got little ones here, one or two years old.

-It lets off some pressure.

You must feel a bit more refreshed after coming along.

I was just talking to the mums and they all say it's a release.

It blows the cobwebs away. It's a good, social thing to do.

What do you think of this drumming? Is this your third, fourth week?

-First.

-Your first, is it?

-My fourth, I think.

-Will you come back again?

-Yeah.

-So you guys, like, are going to form a band when...?

-I don't know.

-And become mega-famous and mega-rich?

-The Otter Rockers.

-The Otter Rockers?

-Yeah.

-Hi! Sorry.

-Who are you waving to?

-The camera.

-That'll be you at home watching this. You'll be waving to yourself now.

Hi, Will! LAUGHTER

WHISTLE BLOWS

OK, that's good. Well done, everyone. Brilliant.

'I like to think we got in amongst it and probably ruined it, but there you go.

'Bringing music into the community is Ian's way of saying thank you.

'He might be inspiring the next big thing.'

-Are there any famous musicians that have come from Devon or Cornwall?

-The Wurzels?

-No, Somerset.

James Blunt? He's from down this way, isn't he?

But you'll find all these superstars and musicians end up living in Devon because they know how cool it is.

What's matey called out of Coldplay?

-Chris Martin?

-Lives in Exmouth. John's just Artexed his flat.

-Artexed his flat?!

-He's just Artexed... This is THE Chris Martin?

-Yeah.

-I will take you there.

-He is having a flat in Exmouth...

-Artexed?

-Artexed?

No, no. Sorry, the coving.

Right... He probably didn't want anyone to know that.

But now they do!

But he's got two of 'em.

# Come on in

# I've got to tell you what a state I'm in... #

It's amazing how much you can get done in just a few days if you have the right people.

You can turn the whole of a loft into proper living space. Down here we can start a similar place up.

The window's already in the back, so it's not open to the elements,

apart from here which was a big yawning hole because there's a door going to cover it up. That's good.

It is amazing, but we have the right people and that's all you need.

A lot of love and a lot of attention to detail. Talking of which, where's my dinner?

It's busy today. There's, um...

..about 12 plasterers turned up this morning.

We've got the boys in. Army of plasterers.

Hopefully, there'll be some pink on the walls tonight.

You show these boys an empty ceiling, they're in there straight away.

Why is it always me that gets the wallpaper stripping?

Four jobs - four lots of wallpaper stripping.

We've got new windows and doors all the way round the ground floor here.

-That's nice. What's that?

-That's for the cat. Cat flap.

-No?

-Yeah.

-Is that for a cat, really?

-Have you seen the cat? It's just like a barrel.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-That's amazing.

I've never seen one of those before. The thing that people will take away from this programme is,

-"Did you know they can put cat flaps in double glazing?"

-We're going to put that up here though!

Imagine the cat at night.

-Very good.

-That is quite exciting, isn't it?

'There's our new-fangled boiler going in.

'But outside, we're having issues with our plumbing.'

He's been on his hands and knees or on his belly since this morning.

-Have you found anything yet?

-Have I heck!

"Have I heck!" Nothing down there at all?

Is this the only water main that's ever been, like, not connected to anything?

-I think so.

-How can it not go in there?

-Do you need longer arms?

-It's down there somewhere.

Normally, in this way, stopcock, meter, out that way and you connect on. It's not looking very good.

'Luckily, things are going better inside.'

Blimey, the boards are up already down here! They're over the ceiling already. That's very impressive.

-The boys have done a good job here.

-They're going to be dot and dabbing. They'll be eating this room up.

-They've already chucked the boards on.

-They're Devon boys, you see.

-They haven't come here to drink tea.

-They've had a few teas.

They've had to because they've been waiting for us, waiting for the electricians. Oh, look, they're here!

Just take that into the van and we'll cut that.

'Under our new stairs, we'll put in a toughened glass wall to let light flow through the house.

'Let's just hope he has his measurements right.'

We're cutting the template for the glass here, send it off to the glazier.

'The plasterers are going great guns and very soon we'll be ready to get some paint on those walls.

'The family's three boys have been stuck sharing a tiny room for the past four years,

'but finally, they'll have bedrooms of their own. What do they want them to look like?

'We've set the boys the task of designing their dream rooms

'and Gabrielle from our design team has gone to check out what they've come up with.'

-I'd quite like my drum kit by my bed.

-Yeah.

-A cupboard in which I can store my clothes.

Let's have a look at yours, Casper. Let's see what you've come up with.

You seem to have three drawings which I like.

That goes down and my bed tips up.

-Yeah.

-I go down the slide, which is really mental.

-So is that like a sort of plunge pool at the end of a wiggly slide?

-Yeah.

-Would it be quite nice for you to have a place to put your own stuff away from your brothers?

-Yeah.

I don't really get much room and privacy,

so I can't do stuff that I want to in it.

How do you think it will be different with your mum and dad when the house is a bit...?

I'll just get to spend some more time with them.

If I was them, I just couldn't cope because Dad's got his work and Mum, with her illness,

it's basically impossible. She probably couldn't do it for another year or so.

'If you ask children what they want, they'll tell you - space to be apart

'and time to be together with their parents as a family.

'That's what makes a house a home.'

Beep, beep! Coming through, glass, glass!

You're always slightly twitchy when you've cut the template and sent it off to the glazier to cut,

-whether you've got it right or not.

-On your head be it.

'Perfect fit. He must have got someone else to measure it.'

-Why have you decided to come in and join in with us?

-My kids go to school with the kids that live here.

They're friends anyway and my missus knows the woman that lives here, so I just thought I'd give a hand.

The spreads have been on fire and every wall is covered in glorious pink plaster.

This is my way of saying thank you, guys, because my shoulder after the last job is dead.

Personally, I couldn't do it without you. Honestly, it's phenomenal.

'There's a lot of love in the room, isn't there? And there's good news for our plumber too.'

Success at last!

'Now we can finally plumb the boiler in, let's find out how it works.'

What we've got here is an A-rate boiler.

We've got the flue gas heat recovery unit.

-So although the gases come out when the chimney on your boiler gets hot, you use that to re-warm water.

-Yeah.

And we've got the solar pre-heat, so in the summer we've got an element of pre-heat.

-That panel on the roof is helping to warm it.

-That will save 15 to 20% of your hot water for the summer,

but without the consequence of having to heat a big cylinder in the winter.

-That's more efficient than a combi?

-This is about 30% more efficient than an A-rate boiler on its own.

It uses any extra waste heat that you produce to pre-heat the water, so you don't use so much energy.

'The saving here in terms of cash is over £350 a year

'on the fuel bill of an average home.

'Although it's more expensive to fit than an A-rate boiler,

'you'll be able to cover the difference in only three years. At least that's what they say.'

-These boys are off.

-Are you off? Thanks very much.

-Nice to meet you.

Thank you ever so much. Couldn't have done it without you.

That's just really pushed it on. Excellent.

'The inside is shaping up nicely, but with only three days left, the outside is a different story.'

-This is their garden.

-Yeah.

-And it was very nice when we turned up.

But we've had to put in a new water main and we've had a digger and dumpers in here.

-We've completely thrashed it. To be honest with you, we don't really know how to sort it out.

-I've seen worse.

-You've seen worse?

-Yeah. It would be nice to separate it into different areas,

rather than having it all as one concrete mass, if you like.

Something like decking would be quite nice and the retaining wall could be sleepers, timber rounds.

-We could be quite creative.

-Do you know how much time you've got?

-I guess not a lot?

-Your artistic flair was flowing away there.

-Yeah.

-You've got three days.

-I've got a team of four.

Could you create all that for us in three days?

-I'm sure we could do something very close to it.

-The clock's ticking.

'I have a good feeling about our landscaper Lawrence.

'He sounds like the right man for an impossible task.

'All volunteers, mind. And Ian's loyal mate John has given up every weekend for the past two years

'to try and get this house in shape, but finally, his work is done.'

-What about your family time?

-Don't tell the wife I've finished cos I'll have to work at home now.

-You know what it's like.

-There isn't a builder in the country that doesn't recognise that!

'John's happy and so are the painters as they can finally get colour on the walls.

'The only person who isn't smiling is Billy. The boiler's plumbed in, but he still needs to wire it up.'

Bill, you're on the verge of retirement.

This stuff is never going to bother you, really.

-Step aside for the young man behind you. Literally.

-Tell him nothing.

It's a young and new generation. Their minds are so quick.

-It is though, innit, really?

-It is.

All this new system... Electrics have been the same for a long time.

-Now it's going from electrics into electronics.

-I've done circuit boards and that's electronics.

-But that's where it's going now.

-I don't mind. Bring it on.

For all of us old dinosaurs taking the mick out of it, that's where it's going.

-Look, he's loving it, chatting away to Charlie.

-I'm going to kill him!

This is the difference about the industry over the last 30 years.

-Jurassic Park...

-Don't volunteer for anything, don't tell 'em anything.

'This system is so cutting edge that the Wrights will be the first people in the world to have this set-up.

'Impressive, eh? And that's not the only revolutionary bit of technology on show.'

Johnny's actually here to fit the surround in the shower,

but he's making the inside of the shower down here in the living room.

It's happening down here because it needs to be bent into shape.

-It's a flat sheet and we bend it and cut it on site.

-You come along with sheets

-and form them to form the inside of a shower, so it can't leak.

-Exactly.

Tiles, the grout goes yellow, water can get in. Water cannot get in behind these sheets.

It's a lot faster than tiling.

It's bent on this thermoformer over here. It takes 30 seconds to bend it and about 20 seconds later, it's set.

-You only get one go at it?

-One go, yeah, and we've only got one sheet this colour.

-You're doing it on telly and you didn't bring a spare just in case?

-Exactly, yeah.

'But then, if you're good at something, stick to your guns. That's what Charlie Luxton did.'

If you step back a bit and look at it, then follow me in and look up as you go in.

This is what this whole process has been about.

It's beautiful, isn't it, really? It just gives the whole house a whole new aspect.

-Can you cast your mind back to our argument about whether we should open that up?

-Yes.

You said you shouldn't do it. Actually, it is beautiful.

This is a real piece of architecture. You've got angles, squares, lines, light and curves.

-It's a big disco on the eyes. It's lovely.

-A disco on the eyes.

Our friend's in there doing the... This is the other bit of it, the view all the way through.

Now, the great trick for him is to make sure that those boards which are a darker colour...

How are you going to make the end ones look like these ones?

With some stained hard wax oil.

-Can you match them or will they just be...?

-Similar.

-Similar.

-I hate this job. I get covered in filth.

-These machines I use are just fantastic.

-What are you listening to?

-The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

-Are you?

I thought it was music. In fact, he's listening to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Obviously, there's still a lot to do.

We've done a brilliant job of getting ahead with the wet trades, which is the most astounding job,

considering this was a wreck five, six days ago.

-But... There is a "but".

-There always is with you.

-You can never just keep the joy up.

-No, no. There's still a lot of work to do outside on the building.

Look at the state of this, look.

How to turn the Somme into a usable garden.

He's trying to move it around. You can't get it to do anything but lump up because of the weather.

These lads have worked so hard in the worst weather. They're digging the bank here, gravel over there.

Look at the huge, great sleepers.

It's wet and miserable and horrible. All we can do is provide tea.

Tea and coffee is much appreciated. It's nice to give something back and do a good job.

'It's late on day nine and everyone's still going strong. See, Devon boys!

'You know you're close to the end when the carpets go in, but these aren't just any carpets, are they?'

A few years ago, these guys who make these carpets were spending nearly a quarter of a million quid a year

sending their waste sort of wool to landfill. What they started doing is making an underlay with it.

This felt is made up of their waste products and in this is lorry tyres.

They only use local sheep around Devon,

then they work out all the emissions associated with manufacture and sale

and they offset it by investing in renewable energy technologies in China, India and places like that.

-So it's a completely carbon-neutral product and it's lovely. It's proper wool.

-It's lovely.

-It doesn't have any of those stinky chemicals.

-It smells beautiful.

-Doesn't it?

-Almost lanolin.

-Yeah.

-It smells nice, it feels nice.

-Yeah.

-Another step closer to closing the ozone layer.

LAUGHTER

It's been nice actually, refreshing,

-bringing your environmental slant to the thing which we've all embraced very enthusiastically.

-Yes, yes.

Generally, you're quite well respected when you turn up on shows.

I was!

-I think it's been quite educational myself.

-Yeah, yeah.

-I think that one day he is actually going to be outstanding in his field.

-Yeah.

With his digger. LAUGHTER

'We love Charlie. Whilst the design team put final touches on our new family home,

'I have a gift for Jules because I love Jules too.'

-What did you say to me the other day?

-I said that I would like to try and learn how to play the guitar.

-What did you need in order to achieve that goal?

-A guitar.

May I present to you, as a gift from me, your first guitar?

-Oh, thank you very much.

-For you to learn on.

Thank you. He's a lovely man, isn't he?

-Shall I give it a bash?

-Do you want to have a go?

Just simply, if you go... Play that one open,

then put your finger on there.

And then up to there.

Then do it again. Open... Then go with that one. Yeah.

Then that one.

And then open.

You just played Smoke On The Water very, very slowly.

-LAUGHTER Did I really?

-Yeah.

'Just ten days ago, the Wright family from Ottery St Mary were living in a shell of a house.

'It was cold, cramped and open to the elements.

'They moved to Ottery to allow their eldest son to attend a school to help with his learning difficulties,

'but could only afford this two-bedroom bungalow.

'With everyone squeezed in together, Dad Ian tried to convert the bungalow himself,

'but with a hectic teaching job and a big loan to repay,

'he was soon overwhelmed and the whole family began to suffer.'

The boys didn't take this on. I did. You realise you're running out of time and the priorities are wrong.

You've ended up with a house that's half-built and a family that's grown up

and you've lost those vital years.

'Mum Morny has struggled with ME all her adult life and her health was being severely affected,

'staying in this tiny, leaking house. To make matters worse,

'their three boys were constantly fighting.

'And living on top of each other was impacting on their behaviour.

'The family were falling apart and needed our help.

'We couldn't have managed such a big task on our own.

'Thankfully, a Devon horde of local trades came to our rescue

'and in just nine days helped us transform a tiny, dilapidated, two-bedroom bungalow

'into a beautiful four-bedroom home.

'With an average of 30 people a day turning up to help, we clocked up 3,600 man hours.

'If Ian had carried on working at the speed he was,

'it would have taken him over seven years to finish the house.

'When we first arrived, the central hallway was open to the loft

'and the loft was in turn open to the world.

'This is now the heart of the new home

'and our designer Charlie went all out, creating a truly magnificent vaulted entrance.

'Charlie fought to push the ceiling back and open up the space and the result speaks for itself.

'Light pours down from the new skylight on to the oak-capped staircase

'and into a now spacious and welcoming hall.

'From here, the light travels through our toughened glass door and into the extended dining room.

'This used to be where the family would sit and eat,

'but it was dark, dank and the ceiling leaked every time it rained.

'Now it's a truly fantastic space with sanded floorboards throughout and a calming decor.

'The room now extends to bi-folding doors that lead out on to a two-tier garden.

'The old dining table has been lengthened and is now the centre piece to the room,

'giving the Wrights a perfect place to sit, eat, relax and spend time together.

'The old kitchen has been completely refitted with brand-new units and a gas stove.

'Stunning Moroccan tiles add much needed colour to what was once a damp and dreary room.

'Add in our eco-boiler and the family will at last be warm and cosy through the winter months.

'The loft was our biggest challenge.

'We've created two extra bedrooms for the boys

'and a shower room.

'And there's a big landing where the kids can do their homework without getting on each other's nerves.

'The three boys have been sharing a tiny bedroom for four years and were desperate for their own space.

'13-year-old Emo fan Isaac has the rock'n'roll space he's always wanted.

'He can play his drums and hang out with the friends he's been embarrassed to ask over.

'Sensitive soul Alfie is the family's little artist

'and he suffered the most from sharing with his brothers.

'But he now has a room of his own too.

'It's colourful and bright

'with very cool wallpaper that he can colour in himself.

'And seven-year-old Casper might not have a water slide,

'but instead has a floating bed.

'He'll have the space to run riot in his own room with no-one telling him to quieten down.

'So this family house is complete.

'It's calming, light and spacious,

'the perfect place for a family to start enjoying life and each other once again.'

What's wrong with the house?

Where to begin? Missing part of the roof, missing an outside wall, a big hole in the hallway.

We need some plasterboard, some plastering, some insulation, some stairs and we're missing a wall.

-And a home, really.

-Essentially a home, yeah.

There were only three rooms that we didn't need to touch -

the living room, a downstairs bathroom and your bedroom.

-The rest of the house needed doing.

-Yes, that's true.

We really hope you like what we've done.

Open your eyes.

-GASPS

-Wow!

-Oh, my God!

Oh!

-Not in my wildest dreams...

-Oh!

Oh, that is stunning!

-It's quite something, isn't it?

-It really, really is just...

I could never have imagined this.

I could never have thought that it would end up like this.

-It's just, um...

-It is remarkable. You've done a fantastic job.

What an amazing group of people that have helped out this week!

The amount of construction work that's been done in the time is astounding.

-You've been embarrassed about inviting people round before.

-Just a bit.

How about now when people come through your front door?

I shall feel very, very proud. I can't wait to have people round.

-Would you like to have a stroll through and take a look?

-Yeah.

The whole thing is this glass you see takes the eye line all the way through the length of the house.

Oh!

This is where your home stopped and your sort of derelict bit started.

-This was it, this was my insulation, my wall here.

-Your wall only made of insulation!

-Yeah.

-Beautiful flow to it all.

-I think it's wonderful. It's a family home.

This is what we dreamt of, really.

It's such a good space, isn't it?

Would you like to have a little seat?

-The other great thing is, I don't know whether you've noticed...

-Wow!

-What do you think?

-Oh!

-Decking!

It's superb.

Absolutely superb. And the retaining wall.

-You were dreading doing that.

-I know. And the bedding, the plants.

Thanks to the hard work of the guys who volunteered and said, "Can we help out and do the garden?"

The local people who you'll meet.

-They've worked through monsoon conditions.

-Haven't they?

You now have probably twice the size of house you had before

because in the summer, this will all become part of your inside outside.

The bi-folding doors open right the way through.

Oh, yes!

Living rooms and gardens.

This is just unreal. It really is. I can't believe this is our home.

-I can see us sitting here at night.

-I can't believe it's our home.

-I really couldn't have dreamt this.

-It's wonderful.

-But there's more, as they say.

-Do you want to see the next bit?

-Yes, please.

-Yeah.

You'll need a kitchen to cook for all your new guests who'll be coming and sitting round the table.

Would you like to have a little stroll through?

Oh, they are beautiful!

-Do you like it?

-I love it, I love it.

New windows as well. This place will be wonderfully warm.

-Happy with the kitchen?

-I couldn't be happier.

I think it's the most beautiful kitchen I've ever seen. I'm absolutely overjoyed.

-The other thing you needed was bedrooms because the boys have been sleeping in one room.

-Yes.

It hasn't been ideal, with them growing up and they need a bit of space.

-We'll start downstairs, then we'll have a look at the upstairs space.

-That'd be great.

-Come on.

Whoa!

-This is your room.

-It's cool. It's awesome.

I've got my drums over there. It's cool.

-Marks out of ten?

-I'd say ten out of ten.

-Really? Very good.

-Yeah.

It's so good!

It's amazing.

What do you think?

-It's really good.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-You like the artwork?

-It's so cool.

-Do you know what the coolest thing about that is?

-What?

-You're allowed to colour it in.

It's black and white like that, so you can colour in. Your friends can come round and colour in.

-Each of your friends can colour in one of the monsters on there.

-Wow, it's so cool!

This is yours.

Yours and only yours.

It looks so...

I didn't imagine that it would be like this, but it just looks so good.

Do you want to try out the bed, see whether it's comfortable?

-That is really good.

-What we could do is get your two brothers in

and you can share this room together or you can have it all to yourself.

-What do you reckon?

-All to myself!

LAUGHTER

This is your own room, Casper.

-Look at this, mate. Look at your bed.

-SHOUTS EXCITEDLY

What do you think of the bedroom, compared to your other bedroom?

Extra-perfect.

Extra-perfect?

It's incredible. Perfect.

-I'll take that.

-Yeah.

The other day, you said you needed a family home.

-Hmm.

-And you've been trying for the last three years. Have you got it?

Oh, and more.

It is... I just find it... I do find it very, very hard...

..to put into words just what it's going to mean

because it's not just having this beautifully done,

it's how it's going to enable us to live, isn't it?

This is so much more than just a makeover. This is a full-on building project.

It's taken a huge amount of pressure off me and off us. A huge amount.

I mean, it's changed our lives.

It's given us our lives back,

but a quality of life that I think we haven't had for years.

APPLAUSE

I'm slightly overwhelmed, just the number of people here.

All of you are just absolutely amazing people.

It's just been a life-changing experience, so I can't thank all of you enough. Really, I can't.

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-John!

Hi, mate. This is my mate John who kept me going.

Pride is a funny thing, especially in a man. It drives you on when times get tough.

It's the thing that makes you stand up against adversity,

but it can sometimes be the thing that makes you so concentrated on what you're doing

that you forget to look at the world around you.

Ian was so determined to finish, he couldn't see what was happening to his kids and to his family.

He couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel.

It's all right sometimes to say, "I can't handle this. I don't know how to go any further."

Because when you do and you put your hand up, people turn up to help.

It's what makes this special.

Maybe you could help someone in your community.

Hi. Thank you so much.

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