The Big Build - Misterton DIY SOS

We didn't get a lot of time.

She just told me to make sure, no matter what,

I do my best for the kids.

Hope I don't let her down, really.

We're here to help a family who've suffered a devastating loss...

They've lost Mummy and they're worrying about Daddy.

They've had enough worry in their little lives.

You'd have swapped places with her, wouldn't you?

'..to build a brighter future

'for a family who desperately need our help.'

The house is just crazy, we just... we just can't move.

It hasn't done my relationship with the kids much good, to be fair.

Today, Shannon had to tidy up the bedroom and did you tidy it?

Don't think so, no.

She's been naughty!

I'm not saying Paul's bad off in the world of love

because he loves his kids.

But material things, he's got none.

But it's the biggest home we've ever built,

and it's going to test every single one of us.

C'mon!

-It's a two-way thought process.

-You just need to...

-I can't work out

what's in your head.

LAUGHTER

They've had a terrible time.

I want this house to be absolutely spot-on.

We've got a lot to do and not much time to do it in.

-How are you getting on?

-Don't have a go at me.

I'm just asking how you're getting on.

Not very well at the moment.

We'll have to call it a day. We can't carry on in these conditions.

Guys, we'll have to pull you off over there.

There's me, there's the usual suspects,

but how many people answered our call for help?

This many, because this is DIY SOS: The Big Build.

CHEERING AND CLAPPING

Misterton, near Doncaster, is home to the Makings family.

Dad Paul, step-son PJ,

then there's Jake, Shannon, Katie, Sophie

and little Emily.

Paul and his wife, Roxanne, had always wanted a big family.

I don't know if I had a say in all of them to be fair,

but that's what she wanted, Roxanne.

Just a big family, which is why we kept having more kids.

HE LAUGHS

With six kids, Paul and Roxanne desperately needed a large house.

In August 2011, they inherited a small two-bedroom property.

It was cramped, but Paul's truck business was doing well,

so they could afford to turn it into their dream home.

We'd saved a bit of money, so basically what we did,

we ploughed all of the money that we had into building an extension.

The day-to-day organisation of six young children

in a tiny cramped home was tough on everyone.

Guys, dinner time!

Come on, Emily. Dinner time!

But it was only meant to be temporary.

-Daddy!

-Nobody argue.

We were only in here about a month

and then it kind of all went wrong after that.

During her last pregnancy, Roxanne experienced severe back pain.

She ignored it, but shortly after giving birth to little Emily,

she woke one morning and couldn't feel her legs.

She was rushed into hospital

where doctors discovered a large cancerous tumour on her spine.

Initially, the operation was a success,

but, soon after, the cancer spread.

Roxanne told me not to tell the kids how ill she was,

but they knew she wasn't very well.

We got back into hospital and she had another operation on her spine,

but she didn't recover from that.

The doctor, he said to me, he says, "You need to tell the kids".

I lined them all up and said,

"Sorry, guys...

"..but we couldn't fix mummy any more".

And, erm, four hours later she died.

Paul gave up work

and devoted all of his time to looking after his grieving children.

Basically, I just had to take a deep breath and carry on really.

Kids were distraught and they still are.

Paul is now a stay-at-home dad, doing his best to cope

and keep a semblance of normality.

KIDS CHATTER

The house that was once his and Roxanne's dream

is now dragging him down.

'The house is just crazy. Every space just seemed to be cramped

'and stuff all over, and we just... We just can't move.'

Just leave her!

'It hasn't done my relationship with the kids much good, to be fair.'

-He's mean.

-Oh! He's not!

-Daddy is.

-No, he's not!

-Sometimes.

That's only cos you've been naughty.

Just the organisation of getting six children out of the house is a

military operation, and that's what I feel like at times,

like a sergeant major.

Right, boys, c'mon. Bedtime.

BOYS: AW!

It's just a nightmare getting all the teeth cleaned,

breakfasts, getting dressed, finding clothes,

keep on top of me ironing.

Oh, God! I hate the ironing.

Life is just... Yeah, it's a little bit difficult at the minute.

With only two bedrooms, Paul has spent the last year

sleeping on the sofa.

It's not very good. The front window leaks so it's really cold,

can't afford to have the fire on too much cos that costs money.

But, at the end of the day, the kids have got beds

and that's what's important.

Night-night, Daddy.

The two boys are in one room and all four girls share the other,

making bedtimes especially difficult.

I stay up all night cos I can't get to sleep.

In the morning I'm like, "Go away, I'm trying to have a sleep".

He says, "If you don't wake up, you don't get any breakfast".

So I go...

And today, she didn't get any breakfast.

We didn't get a lot of time, you now.

She just told me to make sure, no matter what,

I'd do my best for the kids, and that's all the asked from me.

I hope I don't let her down, really.

And that's why the family need our help.

We need to give them the space they need to heal

and move on with their lives.

-Thanks for inviting me into your bedroom.

-Yes!

Which is the bed and which is the sofa?

That's the bed and that's the sofa.

-Man, that's ridiculous!

-Yeah.

-Do you ever, like, wake up and think,

"What the hell happened?"

Yeah, I worked really hard all my life

to get to that perfect point.

And we was - me, Roxanne the kids, when we moved into here...

That was the start of our lives.

The rest of our lives were going to be here.

I was going to carry on with the building work

and get everything that Roxanne wanted, that I'd promised her.

And then it just all seemed to go wrong.

If we get this place sorted out, how does life change?

I've been thinking a lot about it.

It feels like now, I've... I've...

I've got Roxanne to rest, and you guys have come here.

It feels like my life now is starting to kind of start again,

if you know what I mean? We can kind of take this as a stepping stone

to move forward with our lives.

Well, we'll do our best.

You know, we'll do the best we possibly can to get that new start

for you and the kids.

They've had such a lot to deal with

and rebuilding a house will not bring back what they've lost.

No, this is about giving Paul and the children space, organisation

and a chance to concentrate on their relationships whilst they heal.

So, how do you get seven people comfortably

into a two-bedroom house?

By making it a lot bigger, that's how.

But it is the middle of winter.

It's a massive build. Just look at the space.

We're basically doubling the size of the house,

and that's a pretty big build even by DIY SOS: The Big Build standards.

It's not us, it's all these boys here.

We called upon local trades, suppliers and the community

and just take a look who turned up. Amazing!

We've done plenty of one-storey extensions,

but this is a two-storey extension, making a total of 10 rooms,

and a huge garden out back.

It means we're going to need every single one-and-a-half of them.

-Are you all the plasterers?

-Yes! Yes!

-Any gas plumbers?

-Yeah?

-They can do everything, this lot!

It might be the mammoth of jobs, but there's a lot of love going round.

Although some of us are getting a bit more loving than others.

Look, Bill! Somebody loves you.

Oh, isn't that beautiful?!

Look at that! That's going in the back wall.

You'll be forever built into the building,

something we've tried to do on several occasions!

Right, let's get the tea on. Shall we get the tea on?

Tea, Billy? Tea?! Really, with the whole house to do?

Actually, he's right.

Speaking of which, we need a plan. Cue our design diva.

It's an interesting one, isn't it? What's the main problem?

The house is too small.

This family are just living on top of each other.

And that, I suppose, causes stress.

Yeah, it's been really, really stressful.

Paul's trying to get the kids organised and to school every day

and there's just no room for anything.

Gabrielle's design for our biggest home build yet means we are

going to make this house twice as big with a two-storey extension.

The existing ground floor will have the living space downstairs

knocked through, so it's open plan with new patio doors to the back.

We'll also add a toilet and a utility area.

The extension will create space for two new bedrooms.

One for PJ, the other for Paul,

who will no longer have to sleep on the family couch.

He also gets his own bathroom, which is very nice.

Upstairs, we've kept the original layout.

The bedrooms up here will just need a lick of paint.

The bathroom, once spruced up, will look fine.

But the extension will make the real difference,

giving us the floor area for two more bedrooms,

making six - the magic number.

This is gigantic, but everything has been designed

so that Paul can be more organised,

and the house allows for more, what designers call "flow".

When you say, "We need to sort out the flow", what does it mean?

You get all nostril flary! I'm not talking about people wafting around

in kaftans, but six children not crashing into each other

and this space really working for them.

-OK, that kind of makes sense.

-Is that

-OK? Yeah, no, no. Yeah.

You're quite feisty this week!

No, I just feel really strongly about this build.

Paul's been sleeping on the sofa for a year,

and they've had a terrible time.

I just want this house to be absolutely spot-on the first time,

We've got a lot to do and not very much time to do it in.

That's right, we don't get it right second time round.

First time round every time.

The 90 people have attacked the old house.

I tell you, this lot do not hang around.

If you walk through, you'll see how ridiculous it is in there.

Within 15 minutes, we've practically stripped the place out.

-Let's get this outside.

-Tea?

With the scale of the task, it's just as well that everyone on-site

is young, fit and as lean as a butcher's dog.

What were you like?

Well, I was like a greyhound.

I was like a whippet when I was that age.

When I was 18, I found a pub and I've been obese ever since.

-Not obese.

-I am, I'm technically morbidly obese.

-No, you're not!

Judging by the Wii Fit, I'm morbidly obese. I'm about to die.

You know that, right, I haven't been on it for 1,136 days apparently,

-and it tells you your comparison to age?

-Yes.

My comparison age, 63.

I tell you, I can get this at home.

I don't need it from you two!

Bless! He doesn't look a day over 60, does he?

What's important here is brawn not beauty.

Unless you're a designer, like ours, of course, who's beautiful,

you know... I'm digging a hole!

Erm... In fact, that's what's going on outside - digging foundations.

They're using a super-fast system and it needs to be because

by the end of the day we need to have built a two-storey extension.

We came in yesterday and we put a few piles down

and sort of just made sure we had a head-start.

We've seen Harvey before, but unfortunately his creative

explanation of how it all works has gained him a reputation.

The difference between a conventional foundation,

which is sort of a spread load, which was sort of like a Dutch clog,

and our piles, which are sort of more of a point load, more of a stiletto.

Now, where that analogy came from...?

-I don't know, but it was about 2½ years ago?

-A while ago, yeah.

-How much stick have you had for that since?

-2½ years' worth.

And ongoing on a daily basis.

So, I don't put piles in any more.

-We put stilettos in on a regular basis.

-Nice!

# Hello, hello...#

It's not fair to give him jip, Stiletto boy!

You don't have to call him that!

Around the back is a 32m garden we're working on,

but you can't cut corners here and stilettos just aren't practical.

Well, you'd sink into the mud, wouldn't you?

The weather is on our side.

It's a beautiful day for pushing the guys to the edge.

Have you noticed the music?

Because, this bloke...there's something familiar about him.

-Justin, how are you doing?

-How are you?

There's a hint, with those glasses on, of the Bono about you.

-Can't sing, though!

-Can you not, nothing at all?

No, no. No, not a word.

The plan for this colossal garden from Bono and his mates

is pretty ambitious.

We'll split it into three separate parts -

decking, a play area and, to top it off,

a football pitch at the back. Ha-ha!

Heading up the team is the unfathomably optimistic Karl.

-Nice to meet you, Karl.

-And you.

-Big old garden!

-Very big, isn't it? Lots of work to do.

-And it will snow tomorrow.

-We don't mind snow, it's rain we don't want.

-Is that right, really?

Yes, we can move snow, we can't move rain.

-Man, how many people have you got on this job?

-We've got 10.

Of course, you could be somewhere else earning a living.

We could, but...good cause.

The story you told this morning about the guy,

if he can sit there and relax and know where his kids are,

and watch them having a bit of fun growing up, that's fine.

I'm happy with that.

Don't we get the most fabulous people on these jobs?

To give us a chance of keeping the schedule,

the two-storey extension is going to have to arrive as whole panels.

We need to get the assembled panels in by the end of the day,

so we're calling in the big boys.

And when I say big, I'm talking international rescue,

I'm talking Thunderbirds.

MUSIC: "Beautiful Day" by U2

Cuckoo!

It doesn't matter how old you get,

you see a crane and a piece of kit like this,

it's just the most wonderful thing.

Look at the size of it. Look!

For context, look at it.

Look at this giant thing happening behind me. Isn't that wonderful?

Get over it, it's a crane! I don't know why they get so excited.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-It's all right.

-It's better than a tractor.

-How can that be better than a tractor?

Look at it! It's a vast, massive, erect thing.

It's a man thing, isn't it?

-You wouldn't go inside, would you?

-No.

You'd need to find things to lift up all day.

What did you say earlier? I'll get myself one of them,

-get rid of the Mrs, it's probably cheaper.

-I didn't say that, no!

That's a man reversing at high speed if ever I've seen one.

No! Get off! No really, get off!

NICK LAUGHS

She's feisty! I just wanted to give her a better view

of the lovely foundations put up by John.

-That's us done.

-You done?

-Yes, all done.

Thank you, John, ready for the walls.

We need the extension up tonight

so it's ready to take the roof tomorrow.

Normally they'd spend a couple of days on this. They have to push on.

He is repeating himself! But then we are impressed with what's going on.

Explain how this works. I see plug sockets but no cabling.

-So what's the deal?

-We put a floor cassette on top.

It allows you to pop wires down through, conduits in,

saves on time and effort, it's all pre-insulated in the factory.

All he's got to do is pop his cables down through.

-Once that's done, we can plaster it up and job's done.

-Clever, innit?

With all this heavy lifting going on, we're often asked

if television has made us soft.

Well, no. But to prove it, well, here's an easy way to show.

One, two, three,

four, five,

six, seven!

They're going!

Seven, eight.

ALL: Nine, ten!

One, two...

LAUGHTER

22, 23...

Hang in there!

Dig in! Go on!

24!

That's very impressive!

He's a man mountain, isn't he? A man mountain.

Look at the view from up there.

This crane is wonderful and they're swinging panels in faster than...

a crane swinging panels in, really!

The speed of the build is phenomenal.

A few hours in but, thanks to fine weather and hard work,

the extension is already halfway up.

Inside the existing house,

the steel supports for the open plan kitchen are going in.

But it's not just the trades who have turned up to give us a hand,

friends are also keen to get involved,

including Paul's best friend, Joel, whose family wrote in on his behalf.

He's always put the kids first.

I know I couldn't be able to deal with the stuff he's gone through.

It's a... Yeah, it's surprising how well he's done.

He's dealt with it all.

Do you think this might give him a new start?

-Oh, definitely.

-What do you make of it all?

-Oh, fantastic.

It'll be brilliant!

Can't wait to see his face.

It's been tough for the whole family, dealing with their grief.

They need the time and space to remember Roxanne,

but at the same time move on with life.

Music is part of that process, something the family love

and that Paul is keen to encourage.

HE PLAYS DIY SOS THEME TUNE

-Where did you learn that?

-YouTube.

-And, learnt it yourself?

-Yeah.

That's very good! How long have you been playing?

-Er, how long have I been playing?

-I'd say about a year in total.

It's been on and off. It's started again recent.

He'd have a little bit of a go and then...

A little bit of a go and then stuff happened.

-So you just started up with it again?

-Yeah.

If you can learn something from YouTube like that,

you're pretty good.

They're all very talented.

They've all got their own talents.

That's the trick, finding what they want to do,

-and encouraging them in those areas as well.

-Yeah.

It will be nice to have them all back in one place with some space.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And for you to get off the sofa would be nice?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've been dying to get off there for a while, so...

Sometimes I sleep on the floor just to mix it up,

just to live life on the edge!

-Who does all the cooking? Do you do the cooking?

-Oh, yeah.

What's Dad's cooking like? Is it any good?

-It's OK.

-What's his best dish?

-Probably the macaroni cheese.

-What about sausage surprise?

-What's the surprise?

-There's sausages in it!

-What's your favourite meal then?

-Sunday dinner.

Do you do a roast, do you?

Oh, yeah. I've learnt, but, yeah, Sunday dinner is my special thing.

Christmas dinner, I like cooking that.

There's that thing about getting everybody around the table,

having Sunday lunch and things.

So, to give them the home that Roxanne wanted is just fantastic.

-What are you looking forward to most, PJ?

-Bedroom.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-What are you hoping for when you come back?

-Drums.

But, about the house, what do you want most in the house?

Drums.

LAUGHTER

Right. We'll start looking in the local press for a second-hand set!

MUSIC

Back on the build, it's like working in a close-knit pack,

so if one of the pride go down,

it's important we're on hand to support him.

What's happened?

I'm a bit embarrassed really. I've just popped down to the lavatory,

-and I went to get up and I couldn't.

-Your back's gone?

-My back is gone.

So, it's just taken me 20 minutes to walk, what, 500 yards.

-His back's gone.

-You're not looking too good, mate!

I'm not feeling too clever, mate.

No? Did you have a number one or a number two?

Look, what he did in the toilet has got no relevance all right.

Don't make me laugh!

You see, you can do yourself some damage if you strain too hard.

Anyway, the extension has started to take on a magnificent shape.

Even Gabby is suitably impressed.

So this is Paul's bedroom.

It's going to be the head of his bed here, lovely window,

walk-in wardrobe here, having had no-where to keep his clothes at all.

Very exciting. Here is going to be en suite shower room.

-Have you got the tiles for the bathroom?

-No.

They're ready to tile the bathroom.

I don't have any bath, I don't have any appliances, tiles or bathroom.

-Is this being wallpapered?

-No, just paint.

-Paint, what colour?

It might be very dark grey.

Oh!

How do you plead?

Not guilty, your honour.

One thing we're certainly not guilty of is standing around.

We're leaning on the edge.

We've had big builds before, but the scale here means

we need everything working in our favour.

So, whilst the weather is good, cold but good, the best thing to do

is chuck as many man hours in as we can possibly muster.

We've concentrated on this extension today because it's really

important to get it done.

Obviously we lose the crane so we need to get on with it.

But there's only 25 people working on this.

65 people have been making a huge difference to the inside

of the old house.

We can't ask any more of people, except we'll have to.

We'll have to ask them to stay on and keep working here

because we've got to get this finished.

Trust me, tomorrow we'll have a two-storey building here.

Morning, world! Last night I told you that we'd have a two-storey

extension by the end of the day, and lo and behold, there it is!

It took us until 10.15 last night,

but we got it done and look at this!

Fencing down the garden, fence posts in the bottom gone, the shed's gone.

They've been working like lunatics yesterday and this morning.

The inside's going mad. it's going to be another busy day.

But they forecast snow, which is not so good.

Day two is all about the roof.

If the forecast IS right and the weather turns bad,

we're going to need one up as soon as possible.

Will it go through the gate?

'But it's not an easy or quick job,

'and the temperature is making it worse.'

This is the weather for roofing, innit?

Lovely, isn't it?!

Middle of winter, bit of a gale blowing, snow in the air.

That's why it's important to get this covered today, if we can.

It's not a straightforward roof.

We've got two teams of chippies on it. Just got to get it in today.

The pressure is on.

A roof like this would usually take more than a day to construct,

but that's all we've got time for.

These boys are all poised. You just need a roof to put it on.

Like coiled springs.

You look like athletes. You can see, can't you?

We've given a lot of love and attention to the outside,

the roof especially,

but inside we've got teams working their fingers to the bone.

It's come on quite a bit inside - ceiling going in.

I tell you, the big interesting change is if you follow me,

we can now walk through into the extension.

They've knocked a hole through and this is a bedroom,

with a big window looking out onto the back garden.

It's all bundling along, isn't it?

And, of course, this is no happy accident. There's a plan,

and that's down to Gabby, who does a cracking job...most of the time.

But every now and again we have to have a little word.

Gabbers is having a look at the kitchen and she wanted to lose

that space in there.

I know exactly what you're going to say - that is a waste of space.

We spend the whole time talking about how space is important

and storage.

He's got six kids to look after, and then we block off an area

and lose a flipping great hole in the house.

-Gabrielle!

-Run, Gabbers. Run!

BOTH: Run!

What's the matter?

Right, can I just ask a question?

What do we think about losing this much space in a building this size?

Redonkilous!

You see there are... There must be, I would think,

getting on for about 150 years of building experience

stood there, saying it's ridiculous and that's just him!

LAUGHTER

No, Nick, we've got a huge lovely opening here.

The line of the kitchen unit will flow right the way down

-so it's a fantastic opening.

-Like a corridor!

It's supposed to look like a lovely big open space.

I want it to look like there's nothing in the way.

The kids can just run round...

The only thing that will get in the way is a lovely big table.

I know where you're coming from, and I know what Gabby's trying to say

about line and flow.

Never mind that! Who's right?

Well, you're both right.

Guys, this is how it'll be, the kitchen is ordered,

it's going to look great. That's it.

Democracy's dead!

Just to demonstrate my point slightly more graphically,

this is how much space we're actually losing.

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

Nine!

Nine builders' worth.

Oh, stop!

LAUGHTER

There's always one, isn't there? And, here there were nine.

Outside, the boys have their work cut out for them because the trusses

are only partially constructed and the snow is now here in full force.

-How are we doing?

-Pardon?

-How are we doing?

-Oh, just lovely.

-Well, the weather has got even worse.

It's getting ridiculous and blizzard-like.

-Look at this guy. Are you enjoying yourself?

-I'm being a snowman.

The trouble is, if we don't do this, we'll end up with

more and more snow inside the building.

Two snowmen standing in a field,

one snowman said to the other snowman, "Can you smell carrots?"

-Is that as good as it gets?

-Can you smell carrots?!

Yeah, we got it, Bill!

Just a bit of a tumbleweed moment really, wasn't it?

It's amazing that even though these guys are freezing cold

they're still determined to work.

And it's for this reason we called in Nigel, our safety advisor,

because this lot... Well, they'd just carry on and we can't let them.

Just for people to understand, how bad are the working conditions?

It is, it's ever so cold, the wind is roaring in across the flats,

it's very slippery underfoot now.

The guys are using boards, and we've got air bags down underneath.

Although we've got bags, they're a last resort.

We don't want people falling down at all. To be honest, it's getting...

-It's close to calling it a day?

-..to the edge, yeah.

There's a reason the guys are busting a gut to work

in freezing conditions, and that's Paul and his young family.

The house might be in pieces right now, but Gabby is keen

that the kids have an input with the decor in their rooms.

She needn't have worried. They had it all planned out already.

I'm having a bunk bed in my bedroom.

A bunk bed! That would be amazing, wouldn't it?

-And who's that a picture of, Jake?

-Mummy.

That's lovely. And what's that there?

-Guitar.

-Oh, that's really, really lovely.

I'd really like to put that on the wall. Would you like that?

And what's yours a picture of, my darling?

Erm, the house.

You know, that is pretty much what the house looks like now.

How did you know that that's what the house looks like at the moment?

Before it was a building site, did you like the house then?

-No.

-Why not?

Cos I didn't get to play anywhere.

Is there anything else that you think

would be really nice for the other people in the house?

-Well, PJ to have a pink bedroom.

-No thanks!

-That's done. Is that OK, PJ?

-No.

MORE GIGGLING

I get the feeling the girls are ganging up on the boys a bit here!

Whilst work goes on at the house, Paul and the kids

are staying with his mum, Maggie.

Since Roxanne died,

she's seen first-hand the impact it's had on the family.

I don't know how he does it. I don't know how he's coped.

to try and grieve as well as look after them,

it's been very hard for him.

I think he's done marvellous and everybody says

he's done a marvellous job.

So proud of them, I tell you.

And, of course, our Paul at the beginning, after Roxanne, he went..

I couldn't get him to talk, he went within himself

and they were worried about Daddy, you know what I mean?

You know, they lost Mummy and they're worrying about Daddy.

They shouldn't be worrying about Daddy, should they,

because of what they've been through?

So they've had enough worry in their little lives without having any more.

If you could wish one thing for the kids, what would it be?

Space and separate rooms, just so where they can go away

and think and have quiet moments to themselves, which they do need.

That would be lovely, yeah.

-That sounds like a good idea.

-Yeah, yeah.

Sounds like a great idea to me.

Back at the coalface, the lads are fighting the weather and the light,

trying to make some headway with the 32m garden.

Just coming to check, are you suffering frostbite yet?

Yeah, we lost the feeling in our hands a while ago.

Have you? You're permanently cheerful, you lot.

-It's unbelievable.

-Yeah, we're from Worksop. We're mad.

NICK LAUGHS

There must be something in the water around there and here

because the roof team is still hard at it.

But enough is enough. It's freezing and the snow has forced our hand.

That's it. We're going to have to call it a day. We can't carry on

in these conditions. Guys, we'll have to pull you off over there.

It's gutting and it's going to put us back at least half a day

on an already-packed schedule.

No-one wants to fall behind, but we have no choice.

Watch your footing. It's really slippery on the way out, yeah?

All we can do is hope that the gods smile on us tomorrow,

we get better weather and we can make up for lost time.

I told you the sun would shine

and there it is, that big, orangey globe-y thing,

which means that the white, horrible, fluffy, cold stuff

has gone off the top of the roof which is nice and means we can get back on.

Let's see if we can get there today.

-How are we doing, gentlemen? How are we doing today?

-All right.

-It's a lot better.

-It's not too bad. I'm glad the weather's died down.

-It was ridiculous yesterday, wasn't it?

-I'm proud of you, getting up there. Me and you,

-we were up here like a pair of wet dogs.

-Yeah.

I think you're doing really well to keep it going the way you are.

Well, it's... You know, you get 90 people a day turn up and help out,

-stuff happens, doesn't it?

-I meant with age.

-Oh, me?

That's nice, isn't it?

I know we need the young guns on this job, but we're every bit

as pumped up and primed as the next young fellow, you know?

Yeah. Maybe not.

Morning.

Yes, feeling slightly delicate this morning. But I think it will be

light duties only for me and we've got a whole house to do.

That's a TENS machine on his back, used for pregnancy and pain.

It's absolute bedlam here this morning.

We've got about 20 plasterers turn up to start plastering,

but there's no boarding done yet.

25 years plastering and that's where you end up.

But, Chris, size isn't everything. Well, no, I'll leave it.

This build was already ambitious, but it's now behind schedule

and the pressure's mounting.

-How are you getting on today?

-Well, I just believe everyone's

plastering a day too early for us sparks.

We have to pull the plasterers in now cos that's...

Well, then don't have a go at me...

I'm not having a go at you, I'm just asking you how you're getting on.

-Not very well at the moment.

-That's all right then.

If you boys had come in and worked your butts off,

do you think you should have come in a day later or half a day later?

If you'd have worked faster, we'd have been all right.

-I blame that guy. It's all his fault.

-It's all my fault.

-It's his fault!

-Leave it there. It's all right.

-Look, it's going well, isn't it?

-Yeah.

In such a tight space, it's easy for us all to get on top of one another,

something the family know only too well.

Losing Mum has been and is terribly traumatic for the children.

Paul has to help them with that,

while still grieving for the love of his life.

How do you feel about talking about Roxanne? Is it still too raw for you talk about?

It's not too raw. I can talk about Roxanne and all the good times

that we had, not a problem. I talk to anybody about them.

The difficult part, for me, to talk about is

when she got ill and how much...

how brave she was and the pain she was in.

It's not that I get upset for myself, I get upset for her and the kids.

-How long was she ill?

-Just eight months.

-It's not a lot of time to get your head around something, is it?

-No.

So, you haven't had any time to grieve?

I promised Roxanne that when she went that I would...

I would carry on,

that I would try and not let it affect me too much,

-that's what she wanted me to do so...

-You had this conversation before she died?

We had quite a few very hard conversations before she died.

-About the children?

-About the children, about me, about life.

What did she make you promise?

She made me...made me promise that I'd look after her children,

I'd do the very best that I could by them.

It was one of the things that she wanted, a big house for the kids,

but what they lost is just irreplaceable.

Can I ask you something? Somebody said something to me

that you wished it had been the other way around.

I wished she was here looking after the kids.

You'd have swapped places with her, wouldn't you?

-Yeah.

-You're doing a great job.

I think you're a fantastic father.

I think Roxanne knew that when she chose you.

Your mate Joel was saying he couldn't do it,

he couldn't have done it the way you've done it.

-Everyone thinks you're doing a great job.

-Yeah.

What he needs is a house that helps, not hinders,

in the job he's trying to carry on.

Hopefully all the work,

all the hours we're putting in on site will make that difference.

You've got to say though, really,

when you watch building shows, like big design building shows,

where they say, "After eight months, the building still isn't watertight," look at that.

Roofing on, watertight up the top now, windows going in.

Don't mess about here, you know.

And another pair that don't mess about are Gabby and Mark.

I've had the units made off-site to fit in there

and now there's a great big box in, so they now won't fit.

It's a power struggle, you see, with design versus build

and often they don't see eye to eye,

although that could be about Mark's height.

-It's a two-way thought process.

-You just need...

-I can't work out what's inside your head.

-You can't work out what's inside my head.

-Darling, everything's on the drawings, so you can just...

Oh, what, the drawings that you told me to just ignore?

You can't have it all your way, you know?

There's a lot of work goes in behind the scenes

and you just don't care about it.

Watch you don't trip or fall or hurt yourself.

Think I've upset her.

So, let me tell you how to handle Gabrielle.

She's very airy fairy, she floats around, makes up drawings and then tells you to ignore them.

If you left it to her devices, she'd have the whole place

covered in cushions and wallpaper.

She doesn't understand that a house has veins

and it's got electric cables

and pipes, it's got sewerage,

it's got all those practical things and...

LAUGHTER

Can I draw on her face?

Get off!

-SHE YELPS

-No! He really is!

Now, that's the way to sort out a difference on site.

Well, it's always worked for me and Jules.

It's another glorious morning in South Yorkshire.

Less glorious is the schedule. We're not where we should be

and it's making the team slightly nervy.

This morning we've loads of people here

and there's lots got to be done, like roofers want to finish today,

the landscapers want to get all the turf down today,

there's loads of decorators in there.

It's going to be a busy one. Bit scary, really.

Jules might be bricking it, but the guys on the roof are just happy

to work away until the job is finished.

-Got to be done tomorrow, haven't we?

-Yeah, I know.

-Well, I say happy...

-Victor Meldrew.

Harold Steptoe.

Speaking of which...

I was 29 when we started this. We were young, we were fit.

Now, he's wrecked, I'm wrecked.

You look about 70 today.

That's all right. We're not complaining.

Not much!

But there is one thing that is bound to put a smile

on even the grumpiest of faces.

Look. Hot sausage rolls and hot pork pies.

-I'll take them off you, my friend.

-There you go.

-Well done for all your hard work.

-Thank you very much.

It's nice to show a bit of love here and there, isn't it?

And these lads probably need it, the rate they've been working.

Gentlemen.

We've broken the back of the big construction jobs.

Sorry about the back reference, Chris.

But there's still a hell of a lot of work to do.

Luckily, Gabby hasn't overlooked any details.

She wants the home to have a heart. Little Katy loves elephants

because her mum used to buy them for her.

Hopefully, this will make one little girl very happy.

-We've had the wallpaper made especially for her.

-You've had it made for her?!

Yeah, a lovely lady designed it especially.

You must be pleased with the whole building though

cos it has doubled the size of the space for the family.

-It's incredible.

-Yeah, it looks fab. When I stop freaking out, I'll be pleased.

Freaking out? I don't think freaking out is fair.

Mind you, Gabby is a hard taskmaster.

Didn't we discuss this, guys?

We tried to talk her out of it, but she wasn't having any of it.

Whether it's bespoke wallpaper or crazy tiling,

they just keep delivering.

What I love so much about these projects is

I ask lovely Steve here to just put a couple of hanging rails up

and maybe some shelves for Paul's shoes,

look what he's done.

Cupboards are the source of all happiness.

He's looking really bashful now and trying to run away.

All right, my darlings. Favourite tilers in the world.

-How's it going?

-Nearly there and it looks awesome.

It does look really good, doesn't it?

These guys just don't know the meaning of nine-to-five,

which is just as well as there's only one more day to go.

And the garden boys, well, they're certainly not work-shy.

They deserve medals, all of them. They've just been unstoppable

out the back. Now they're being unstoppable out the front.

-You've got a bit of a frenzy on at the moment.

-Yeah, really wet. Sweating.

Just got to keep going till it's done. We'll probably be here

till eight tonight and the same again tomorrow, but we'll have it done.

It's the final day on the build.

We always knew this job would push us, push us to the limit,

we knew it was big and that we needed every bit of help that came our way.

But we're still behind.

It's flipping chaos. We haven't quite got the garden finished.

I feel like we need another day on this. There's so much

on this job to do. I just hope we don't run over time. It'd be really disappointing

cos everyone has put their heart and soul into this here.

I wouldn't say this job has totally broken us,

but it's come pretty close.

# Everybody hurts... #

That looks like Chris, actually. Although, to be honest,

this is not quite as stiff as Chris is at the moment.

I think I need stretching, that's what I need. I need racking.

Good old stretch.

HE GASPS

You have a go.

-Go on. Go on!

-Did you hear my elbow?

-Yeah, go on. Go on.

Push your bum down and your back up. Come on. Come on.

Come on. Come on.

-Got to breathe out.

-I'm up.

-Breathe out.

-I'm up.

Um, I feel like I'm interrupting something personal. What's...?

No, no. We came in and put the floor covering down

and I said, "I'll just show the exercises she told me to do."

-How's your back?

-It's, erm, broken, I think.

Yes, can I just point out, the BBC don't recommend these exercises.

I definitely wouldn't try these at home.

Our driving goal is to give Paul the new home his family needs.

With six kids, he's a pretty busy dad

and he doesn't get much time to himself,

but when he does, he's coaching the local under-eights

with his friend Alex. And where there's football, there's a Billy.

CHANTING: DIY SOS! DIY SOS!

We both know absolutely nothing about football.

We haven't got a Scooby-Doo. But we both just love having the crack

and if you look at the kids, they love it as well.

I know his passion is his children,

but yet he seems to really be enjoying himself in this football.

Hopefully, what we're doing will just take a big enormous amount

-of stress away from him.

-I think it'll take an enormous amount

of stress from the whole family.

They're living in a two-bedroomed house and there's six people

and they've got limited budgets. I mean, it's going to feel stressful.

He's got six kids, hardly any life and he still smiles.

Kick on, brother. Give us five. I'll give you a fiver later. Well done.

I scored first!

People in this world, some people are very unfortunate

and some are really fortunate. I'm not saying Paul's bad off

in the world of love because he loves his kids,

the kids love him. But material things, he's got none

and he copes and he smiles,

so, top man, really.

Well done!

It's amazing. You're looking at the future and the past,

Stanley Matthews in full flow.

Back on site, we're making headway,

but with so many empty rooms, I couldn't resist a bit of interior design.

What have you got? Oh, my goodness!

I've got all kinds of other bits and pieces in there as well.

-Did you buy it for them?

-Yeah.

-Nicholas!

-It's nice, isn't it?

Not really a heartless, shallow, horrible human being, are you?

Let's not get carried away.

-I managed to get a drum kit.

-Really?

-Like a proper drum kit.

-What colour is it?

-Black.

-Oh.

-What colour did you want it?

-Red, for goodness' sake!

-That's unbelievable, isn't it?

-Isn't that unbelievable?

-Honestly.

-Properly unbelievable.

'I think that conversation's over, don't you?'

Inside, it's finally shaping up nicely,

with the kitchen almost complete and the centrepiece has arrived,

a hand-crafted oak table kindly donated by local craftsman Michael.

-How long did it take you?

-It took about three days to make.

-I thought you might like to see this. This might cheer you up.

-Hey!

Oh, that looks ace.

Give it up for Mike. Really good.

I feel like we should give each and every person on this site

a round of applause. They have all worked their socks off,

in freezing conditions, for a family they barely know.

-You enjoyed it, even though it's hard work?

-Yeah. Slimming.

-You're half the man you were at the start of the day.

-I know and that's saying something.

And do you know what? There's not a miserable face amongst them.

They might be tired, but all round are just proud smiles.

These boys have been extraordinary,

absolutely flipping extraordinary. Your team are done.

Finished. Completed.

Isn't that amazing? And it's what, seven o'clock now?

Exactly on time. We said we had to get out of here

by seven o'clock on the last day and you've done it to the minute.

-To the minute.

-Genius. However, the rest of the people

working in there are nowhere near finishing.

We have to show this to them tomorrow morning, so they're going to have to be here until midnight,

one o'clock, two o'clock in the morning,

but at least the outside is done, we're not going to be making noise

and disturbing the neighbours.

Just nine days ago, we arrived to find Paul

and his six young kids struggling to live

in a cramped two-bedroomed house.

The house is just crazy. We just can't move.

It hasn't done my relationship with the kids much good, to be fair.

The children were on top of one another, with nowhere to play

or escape to for some alone time, time they desperately needed

as they learnt to adjust to life without Mum.

-Who's that a picture of, Jake?

-Mummy.

The kids were distraught, to be fair, and they still are.

This is the biggest domestic job we've ever done.

We sent out an SOS and people from the village

and surrounding towns and cities responded as always with generosity,

spirit and passion, moved by the family's story.

This lot didn't just go the extra mile, they ran a marathon for us.

And this is what they built.

From the front, you can see our new extension has doubled

the size of the home.

Energy-saving solar panels span the old and new roof space,

helping to reduce this family's household bills significantly.

Inside, we've knocked through

and opened up the whole of the downstairs,

creating a streamlined living room, kitchen-come-dining area

that allows Paul to keep an eye on everyone at all times

and for them to see him.

Upstairs, the original layout has had a gigantic overhaul.

There's a family bathroom

and Shannon and Katy get their own rooms.

We've built a two-storey extension in just nine days.

Now, the new downstairs floor area provides space for PJ

to have his own room, a proper boy's room.

And Paul, after a year on the sofa, will finally get to sleep

in a proper bed in his own bedroom,

complete with bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.

Upstairs, the extension has created the space for another two bedrooms,

one for Jake, in his favourite football colours,

and the other for the two youngest girls, Sophie and Emily,

taking this house from a two to a six-bedroom home.

You ready? OK. Open your eyes.

Wow.

My God.

Quite a change, isn't it?

That is unbelievable.

I could never have imagined it like this.

I know how attached you were to your old sofa,

but we had to get rid of it.

Look, have a little seat and look down the room.

That is just huge.

It is absolutely stunning.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And it's properly somewhere for you and the kids to be proud of.

Feels so open.

It felt very claustrophobic,

especially in this room.

Yeah, of course.

-Shall we go through and have a look at the kitchen?

-Yeah.

You like your cooking

but there's plenty of workspace to do your baking and stuff on.

It's just changed.

I just can't get my head round.

What do you think?

Brilliant, aren't they?

Can't put a price on stuff like that, can you?

This is Jake's, isn't it?

Yeah, looks like his handiwork.

And he's painted Mummy teaching him to play guitar.

You know, it's a good thing that they continue to talk about Mum,

and that Mum should continue to be part of,

you know, part of their lives all the time.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

We ought to go round and look round the rest of the house.

This is for you.

A bed.

Yeah, a proper bed.

-Can I?

-Yes, mate, absolutely.

Oh, wow. How long since you properly slept in a bed?

It's about...

It'll be about a year-ish.

Pretty girl, wasn't she?

Yeah.

I don't really know what she saw in me, to be fair, so, yeah...

Oh, I do.

I think anybody who sees how you've managed...

can see what she saw in you.

What do you reckon?

He's going to love this.

To have somewhere nice and quiet to study,

so he can get on without any hassle is proper fantastic.

Shannon's room.

Oh.

That's stunning. She wanted her own room.

Bless her.

Well, she's got it now.

It will make her very happy.

Now who do you think this is?

Katy, cos it's got an elephant.

-And pink, that's like ultimate Katy, isn't it, pink elephants?

-Yeah.

Put two boys in here... It just...

Each room just feels massive now.

So this is the new building, so we thought it kind of made sense

to have the two youngest in together.

It is brilliant.

If you'd like to make your way through to Jake's bedroom.

Oh, he'll love this.

I never expected him to have his own room.

You kind of thought that we'd still end up making them share?

Yeah, how you've managed to make so many bedrooms is untrue.

You know everyone that's talked to you comes away with this impression

that you don't think you're doing a good job,

but you've done an amazing job.

I just like to keep myself on my toes

cos I want to make sure that what I promised Roxanne

I'm going to do, so I do be quite tough on myself

to make sure that I am going to fulfil that promise to her.

What did you promise about the house?

I promised I'd get it finished for the kids.

-It's one you can tick off now, isn't it?

-It's...

I feel like, I've got the kids right

and this is just like the final page in that book.

You know, I've done everything else, this is just...

Feels like my life is going to start again.

It really does.

Oh, wow!

Hey, me!

Wow!

This is so good.

Oh, wow!

Do you like it, what do you think?

-Cool! Cool!

-Awesome. Fabulous.

-Do you think they're excited?

-Oh, just a little bit.

Look at us there!

Wow.

Wow.

So marks out of ten for the room then?

-Ten.

-It's all right, is it?

-Yeah.

You happy to have a room of your own?

It's amazing.

What do you think?

I really, really, really like it.

-You got what you wanted, didn't you?

-Yeah.

Whoa!

Is this just my bedroom?

Yeah, it's just your bedroom, mate.

Cool.

Have a look round and see what you can see.

-Elephants.

-Elephants, eh?

-Excited?

-Yeah.

And go and sit on your bed and see how comfy that is.

Really comfy.

It's really comfy.

What's the best thing about having your own room?

So I can get to sleep.

So you can get to sleep properly.

A little bit overwhelmed.

This is your room.

What's this, Emily?

Mine.

Yes, it's yours, isn't it? Is it beautiful?

SHE GIGGLES

Bed.

Your bed.

You've watched Paul and the family go through such a tough time.

Must be... Must be nice to finally see this side of things.

It's wonderful, it really is, yep.

I'm just speechless.

What everybody's done, the village, you, the team, everybody.

Just... Just can't thank you enough.

It's just life-changing, isn't it? Let's face it.

Well, we've got one more surprise for you,

so let's get the coats on the kids

-cos we're going to pop outside right?

-Lovely.

KIDS EXCLAIM

Oh, my word!

-Oh, look at this.

-My gosh.

KIDS EXCLAIM

Are you kidding me?!

Drums!

We've got some drums.

LAUGHING

Ha-ha!

That is awesome, Jake.

This is amazing.

Oh, wow!

And then footie!

-You're in goal.

-Yay!

PJ.

Here, here!

CHEERING

I need you all to come outside so that we can go and say thank you

to the people who've done all this work, OK?

You ready? Come on, then.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE KIDS: Thank you.

Wow.

As you can see, it was quite a turnout to turn this around.

Obviously I get to chat to you all through the week,

can they hear it from you why this was such a big deal

and why it was so important to do this?

I just can't believe what you've all done for me, to be fair with you.

Finishing this just helped us move on now.

Yeah.

Roxanne would have been so proud of you all.

She really would have been.

I just can't thank everybody enough, I think you're marvellous,

absolutely marvellous.

Daddy, look your bedroom.

Yeah mine, I've got a bed, I've actually got a bed!

Yeah, I just got given a little note by PJ as he was sat in his room.

He made a little note saying, "Thank you to the DIY SOS team,"

which is basically what you all are.

"Thank you so much, you have given us the most amazing things

"and you deserve much more than a card.

"Thank you from PJ".

OK, so go and say hello.

Brilliant.

Thanks ever so much. Thank you.

We did the kitchen.

At the end of the day what we've done is built a house

and of course that in no way makes up for the loss of a mother.

And as the children grow older they will get angry,

probably in their teenage years when they reflect on that,

and think that nobody cares,

but it's very difficult to think that when you live in a house

that was built by people who do.

That's what this lot have done.

They've made a different future for the children.

Maybe you know someone in your street, in your village, in your town

that you could lend a helping hand to.