The Big Build - Hereford DIY SOS

For the moment, the biggest thing we have is hope

that some sort of cure will come along.

No, I know I'm never going to see Christopher walk down the aisle.

We're here to help a family whose eldest son faces an uncertain

future with muscular dystrophy.

If we can prolong his life,

for it to be a good quality of life, then that's what I aim for.

But getting round the house is becoming increasingly difficult.

To see Christopher in this, in this house, permanently, is scary.

We're going to need the whole community to rally round.

No...no parent should go through losing a kid.

You know, it's a life-changing thing for a family

and it was just, you know, something we could do to help, really.

And we just have nine days to give this family the new start they need.

All the usual suspects are here and look - Julia's back,

but we will need a small army, if we're going to get this done.

-Where are we going to find a small army - where are we going to find them?

-We're over here!

So they are - this is DIY SOS - The Big Build!

Claire and Colin Gibbons live near Hereford with their two sons -

five-year-old Ben and Christopher, aged seven.

Today, hospital visits are a regular part of life.

18 months ago, they were the last thing on anyone's mind.

Colin was a fire-fighter, Claire was a supermarket manager.

They were working hard to make their three-bedroom house

a perfect family home.

Over the six years we've been here, we've saved up enough

to do one room at a time.

I've done most of the work myself.

He's bit of a perfectionist,

so whereas you would think a job might take you maybe a day,

it might take Colin maybe a couple of weeks.

That's harsh, that's harsh.

Just before Christopher's sixth birthday, Claire and Colin

noticed their eldest son was walking stiffly,

and took him to a child development specialist for tests.

What they learned changed their lives forever.

The doctor said Christopher has a muscle-wasting condition.

And I said, "OK then," I was, "He'll have some medication for that.

"That'll sort that problem out.

"When does he need to have it?" You know - "We'll get it today."

She said no.

We obviously had no idea what was coming,

so it was the second appointment when we went to see her.

Erm, they obviously knew 100% then it was Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic condition

overwhelmingly affecting boys.

As muscle function deteriorates over time, Christopher finds it

harder to stand or grip.

I'm going to dig it so deep that it won't work.

Increasingly Christopher has to spend days

in his wheelchair, as walking becomes more difficult.

Just watch the road, boys. Stay on the footpath.

The way that we had it explained to us

is that by the age of 10 to 12, Christopher will be wheelchair bound.

By late teens, he'll be totally paralysed,

and the life expectancy is early to mid '20s.

Every case progresses at a different speed,

but despite some promising medical research, there's currently no cure.

He did ask me, "Mummy, is there a medicine?"

and I said, "No, darling," I said, "They're working on it. They're working on that medicine",

and that "One day you will have that medicine but I don't know when."

Uneven floors and narrow doorways mean Christopher's wheelchair won't fit in the house.

You have a good rinse.

And with Colin away on night shifts, bedtime can be a real struggle.

He is determined to walk up the stairs by himself,

but he's getting heavier now and I can't...I can't carry him

as I used to be able to carry him.

The stairs are becoming dangerous but the last thing Claire

and Colin want is for their seven-year-old to sleep downstairs.

The reason why we want Christopher upstairs is to

feel as part of the family. That is what he's used to.

We wanted to be able to...for him to feel as normal as possible.

Already bedtime is becoming far from normal.

Christopher sleeps in splints to stretch his tendons,

while nightly steroids protect his muscles.

Lay back down.

That's why we're coming,

so Christopher can sleep upstairs near his family.

Mummy loves you very much, OK?

Night-night. Night-night, little man.

So thanks to a tip-off from the next-door neighbour who

wrote in, we've sent Mark in, two weeks before the main build to knock

down the garage and lay foundations for a two-storey extension.

It looks like he's found a couple of willing helpers.

-When you're a builder it's fun.

-Yeah.

Look at that, like a shower falling down! Wow!

This was the perfect home,

but it's no longer fit for the family needs.

We're on our way to turn things around

and keep the Gibbons family together as long as possible.

It's really strange for me to be in...in such a beautiful house,

-and you've done this yourself?

-Thank you. Yeah, yeah, most of it.

It's a stunning job, he's done a really good job for you.

Yes, yes, he really has made this house perfect for us

to live in at this present moment but not obviously for the future.

Why is it not fit for purpose? What are you going to need us to do?

We're just thinking about the future,

so widening of doorways downstairs and then to be able to have a

bedroom upstairs for Christopher, that he can access, because

he is struggling with the stairs now - walking up the stairs, yeah.

-That does mean unpicking a lot of the work that you've already done to create a nice house.

-Yes.

And if we're going to come and do this for you,

you realise we are going to have to do some damage?

I'm not worried about, you know, any damage that's done, as long

as Christopher gets what he needs, that's all I'm worried about.

You've got an electric chair now have you? What's that like? Is it good? Is it like a buggy?

Did you see that thing parked out there? That's my thing.

-Oh, that's your one, is it?

-Yeah.

-OK. How is it, is it fast?

-Yes.

It's like having your own little buggy or go-kart,

I suppose, isn't it? Is it all right when you have to take the chair?

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Have you had a go in the wheelchair yet?

-Sometimes.

-Do you? Does he let you have a go?

-Does he? What, the electric one? Is that fun?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Cool. So who's the best driver at it?

-Me.

-Really? Is he? Is he?

-Yeah.

We've got a lot of work to do if we want to encourage wheelchair racing in the house.

And talking of childish rivalry...

Billy's got a new hat.

You've got a new one, and you've got a new one.

-I've been promoted.

-Have you got a new one?

-Yeah.

-How come I haven't got a new one?

We're all colour-coded as well, look.

-Is that right?

-I'm green.

With envy?

Yeah. Chris is red for danger. Billy's yellow.

Amber.

I'm "Stop", he's "Go" and he's "Wait!"

And this week our designer is an old friend

Yay! It's a good to be back, boys.

I think she's come to the wrong set.

It's like you're auditioning for Grease or something.

Julia has a long history with the team,

and she's one designer that's never been scared to get her hands dirty.

Yes, if there's one thing Julia understands better than anyone,

it's how to get the best out of the boys.

Have I got to cart it all the way through myself?

-Good luck.

-Thank you, thanks for offering to help.

But where there's a will, there's a way and she's certainly wilful.

Oh, can't believe she came back.

It's day one and we're off. It took six years to build, minutes to trash

and we have just nine days to put this lot back together

and construct a two-storey timber-frame extension.

There's things going on everywhere with everything.

There's windows coming out, conservatories going, landscapers, bricks going in and out.

Fantastic. Sort of a hive of activity

but yeah, it's making me really nervous already, cos there's

dust flying around and it was just so perfect. I mean, Claire -

bless her - hoovered before we arrived yesterday, and...

That is like taking a mop to a tsunami, really, isn't it? It's er...

Yeah, so I am extremely nervous about the whole thing,

but we've got to do it and we've just got to do it as best we can.

Of course we'll do the best we can. We always do the best we can.

We never turn up and think we're going to do the worst we can.

Julia's plans are all about freedom for Christopher.

We're adding a ramp at the front and we're widening all doorways downstairs

so Chris can use his wheelchair throughout the ground floor.

We're going to knock down the conservatory

and re-build it twice the size so the family have space to sit

and eat together, and we're laying a new floor flush with the kitchen,

eliminating the awkward step that currently hinders wheelchair access.

We're ripping out the current playroom

and growing its footprint with a new two-storey extension.

A special wheelchair lift will take Christopher up to the new first floor.

This space will provide a large bedroom, giving Christopher

the room he needs for technical equipment, including a hoist

going the length of the house to help him access a wet-room bathroom.

It's all very scary equipment, really, for a little boy.

We're going to try and disguise the equipment as much as possible, to make it really feel like home.

It's about getting that balance right between getting the functionality

and making sure that we've got everything in place for him, as time goes on, that he can get used to.

Without looking like a hospital ward?

Absolutely without it looking like a hospital.

It's got to be a happy, dynamic, fun place for him to be.

And there's one other instruction Julia has made loud and clear -

see what it says?

Upstairs, Julia has banished us

from Colin's newly decorated master bedroom.

Downstairs, Julia's instructed us

to hand the lounge and kitchen back pristine

once we've widened the doors. Not sure how we're going to do that,

I mean, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, can you?

But if the instructions are not to do any damage,

then we must obey the designer.

We never go against the designer.

Slightly worried because these are the...this room and the kitchen

were the two rooms that we didn't want to damage too much.

The debriefing we had this morning was we're not going to do any work

in this part of the house, right?

And you spin round to your right,

we're not doing anything in this room,

apart from widening all the doorways.

So this is our finished floor.

No-one made any provision to get any hardboard,

I'm dreading the moment when we take up the floor covering,

there's going to be little scratches.

Outside, the timber frame building is firing up,

and there's rumours we're being filmed. Amazing.

It's now 11.45 and we started work at, what, 9.30, so two hours.

Who was that bloke on the scaffold?

Mind you, it's difficult to keep track.

We've got people here from Somerset, Staffordshire, Yorkshire,

basically all over England.

People often ask us,

how do you manage to get so many people working together?

Well, you can't micro-manage them,

what you have to do is just point them in the right direction

and have an overview, someone in charge, somebody they can respect.

A lot of people, innit? 20 people you've got under your command.

-I know.

-That makes you like an executive.

-It does, doesn't it?

-But I am a natural leader...

-Are you?

-..of, erm, of men.

-Oh, yeah?

There's probably enough there, aren't there?

Bit more? Another one in there, mate.

Yeah, a lot of pointing, not much doing.

What are you going to do with this place then,

cos a garden, obviously, is really important in a house like this

when you're trying to create maximum space.

-Essentially, it's like another third of your living space.

-It is,

and we're going to do the most brilliantly fun thing out here

and create like a track way around the garden

so that he can race around on his wheelchair

and Ben can race around on his bicycle.

Nice, so that's what the oval down there is for.

So this is what they've been doing here, they've been setting out...

Fantastic garden, guys, this week.

..they've been setting out this track way for us which is going to loop here and round here.

Because of the different levels here, we've got real issues,

cos we need to ensure obviously that you've got wheelchair access

straight out of the house, straight into the room for the hot tub.

Yes, the hot tub.

Now, Claire's research secured donations for a hot tub

from Make A Wish Foundation and the local Round Table

soon after Christopher's diagnosis.

His occupational therapist recommends daily exercise

in the hot water to help relax his muscles.

But the shed also needs to be right for the future -

it's only going to get more difficult for Christopher

to climb in and out without a hoist.

There's no wheelchair access and it's cold in the winter.

Is that nice? Yeah?

So they use their hot tub pretty much all year round for his physio?

Yeah, they do. Well, they need to definitely. The trouble is,

at the moment it's not insulated, so we're going to insulate it all.

-Oh, are you?

-And make it a much better space for over winter months.

We're also going to put in a little fibre optic twinkly ceiling as well,

again just to sort of help with all the sensory experience

and make it a really relaxing space, but I haven't told Billy yet.

He doesn't know you've got fibre optics?

-You know how he feels about fire optics?

-Yeah.

That's one showdown I'm looking forward to.

Up on the first floor, we have a breakthrough,

literally, as opposed to a breakdown which is what normally happens.

This is the bit we're going to have to get absolutely right.

This entrance way takes us into the brand-new room

that is the heart of this build -

a bedroom and bathroom fully equipped for Christopher's needs.

It will let the family stay together on the same floor

and that's so important.

These timber framed extensions are fantastic.

People say, "Are they strong enough compared to normal builds?"

Well, if you think about it,

Tudor buildings are timber framed and they've been here for ever.

And thanks to our Taunton boys, the timbers keep on coming.

This really is instant building.

I've got something to show you in the hot tub room.

Ladies and gentlemen, an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

Now, what I want to do in here, Bill, erm,

is to create a really lovely sort of sensory experience,

-because it's really important for Christopher to be able to really relax.

-Special lights.

Yeah, so, this is where you come in.

-So what I want to create is...

-A row of lights?

No. Starlit sky, and then it's your job to get it all linked up...

And drill millions of holes and poke these through.

Drill millions of holes, preferably in constellations.

That's star patterns, Bill.

Oh, well, you'll have to do that.

What do you mean I'll have to do that?

Well, a chippy will have to drill them, MDF.

Oh, why, can you not do that?

That's a chippy's job, ain't it?

Right, OK, so that's your little job for this week.

This week, my little job for this week?

What about the rest of the house, I don't need to deal with that?

This is the important bit.

Anyway, right, so there we go. Good luck.

Design team 1, spark's face 0.

In the back garden, it's level pegging,

and the racing track is taking shape - not bad for the first day.

Amazingly, our timber frame extension is up to the second floor

with the roof trusses on already,

and it's not the only place that's actually developed.

The garden has been completely stripped, the conservatory has gone

and the footings are in for this amazing racetrack,

and it's worth looking at the size of the place.

It's huge, huge enough for a utility room, for a bathroom

and then a play area for the boys here,

which is all going to be linked via a lift shaft here

up to a giant bedroom and wet room in the top,

and all that has been done in just one day, not bad, eh?

You know it never fails to amaze me the progress that we make,

with the right help.

This morning, it's the brickies' turn.

Our timber frame is getting a brick skin from top to bottom,

so the new extension matches the rest of the house.

I mean, if it was a naked builder,

we'd be putting a pair of trousers and a T-shirt on

to make it match everybody else.

I'll go away from that simile straightaway, I think.

And our glaziers have driven two hours with windows

and a brand-new set of doors for the conservatory.

But Chris is stuck in what is fast becoming his least favourite room.

-Oh, there you are, I've been wondering where you were.

-I'm here.

I'm in the rooms that aren't having anything done to.

-That was the brief, remember?

-Yeah, cos I've seen you looking frustrated

and hopping from foot to foot all day.

Well, we've had these door linings fitted

so I wanted to patch around them while it was quiet,

but every time I keep coming in the room,

there's cables...which isn't their fault,

but Billy wants to put two-way switches in, whilst...

Makes perfect sense, but I can't patch plaster until they're in.

Look, I've got my tools all ready to go,

-bucket of water there, bag of hard wall, but I can't get at it.

-Yeah.

Very frustrating, and considering that we're not doing nothing

-in these two rooms.

-Well, apart from destroying them,

-I mean, we have made a few holes in them.

-We've done very well.

So where is Bonny Prince Billy? I'm afraid he's otherwise occupied.

Not working - arguing.

-Are the fibre optics going in today?

-We haven't touched them.

-Why not?

-Not in that room.

I do not do fibre optics, that's a chippy's job.

You said yesterday...

No, you said. MDF is wood, isn't it, really, in a way?

-So that's a chippy, ain't it?

-Yeah.

I bet I can do it.

You're a better man than me, Gunga Din.

I bet I could do it cos that's ridiculous.

Round 2 to the sparks.

-All right, fine, all right.

-But we will all be here to help.

Oh, no, you won't!

Out the back, insulation board is going into the hot tub,

and, with that one out of action,

Christopher is at a local leisure centre

having a supervised hydro therapy session.

This is just one of the regular treatments

Claire takes him to each week.

It's meant Claire giving up work,

as she devotes all her time and energy to her son's medical needs.

Well, I went into crisis mode when I found out about Christopher.

I...I did research,

I phoned up charities, wanting to know, erm,

was there a cure, was there medicine,

what I could do personally.

When the consultant originally told us what Christopher had

was a muscle-wasting disease,

I sat there numb and took full responsibility for it.

What do you mean full responsibility?

Because being his mum,

because they explained to us that it was genetic, that it came from me.

That's a huge thing that you're saying there,

"I take full responsibility," as if there needs to be blame somehow.

It's my responsibility to make sure that the family functions,

-I've got...

-It's both of your responsibilities.

Yeah, I know, but I had to give Colin that time to grieve, erm,

cos it is a grieving process of what you've lost,

of what potentially you're going to lose with Christopher

and the sort of life that he could have potentially lived.

I had to let him cry. Colin went into meltdown.

So when do you get time to cry?

But that's the point, I don't think I do that.

It's hard, but Claire's obviously had to stay strong and support Colin

as he struggled with the news of Christopher's diagnosis.

One thing I hope when they return home in a few days

is that they both draw strength

from the huge support network they have around them.

Friends, family, colleagues

and almost 80 tradesmen turning up every day.

In Christopher's bedroom, the walls are starting to take shape,

and this fancy hole

is the aperture for that wheelchair lift to the ground floor.

Meanwhile Jules and his merry men are laying the concrete base

for our new conservatory. It's a very hi-tech operation.

This is a new...this is a new technique, actually,

-taught to me by the locals.

-Is that right?

Yeah, I haven't got me wellies...

-Right.

-..so he said bag up.

That doesn't look right, does it, really?

What's going on, then,

cos how come there's a big hole in the corner there?

Not enough concrete.

What happened, Julian, what's going on?

We're just...we're just fine tuning.

We've sort of set the floor, but really 15mm too high.

Fine tuning! I think our leader of men is out of his depth.

Time to bring my cerebral gold mine to bear.

Well, what is it you want me to measure?

Well, I want you to put the spirit level out so it's level.

-No. See the tiles? Come off the tiles.

-Yes.

-Come out level.

-Yes.

And measure down to the concrete, please.

-90..

-Still 90?

Could you open up the other door and do exactly the same process, please.

It's 95.

Just for the record, it's worth remembering this.

We need this concrete level with the kitchen floor

for Christopher's wheelchair.

Jules had better get it right before it sets, with him in it!

Luckily, our young plaster boarders seem to know what they're doing.

As we reach the end of the second day,

Christopher's room is boarded out for plastering in the morning.

Inside the house, at least, it's all going rather smoothly.

It's a beautiful brand-new day

and Chris has two teams at work on the extension.

Well, my boys have moved down, going to board this one out,

and we've got a new gang of plasterers upstairs plastering that,

so they're chasing them.

How you doing? It's Mark here at SOS.

I've got a major problem, mate.

'Yes, you have, you're too short.'

Do you know the aperture...?

'I mean, not in life, I mean with the measurements,

'that's why we call him 100 Millar.

'He's always too short by about 100mm.'

What's actually happened is

the information that we got was wrong for the lift going in,

and the lift guys have come out to fit the lift and the lift won't fit in the aperture.

Now we've got the walls built upstairs/downstairs, the floors down,

all the radiator pipes going through, the wiring through,

we've got to rip the whole thing out and re-build it.

I'm telling you, he measured it wrong and it's causing huge problems.

-We've got to cut the floor out.

-No.

-We've got to move the walls up the stairs.

-No.

-And we've got...

-I've got plasterers upstairs.

You're going to have to go and have a word with them.

The most important thing in this house is to get this lift in.

-I'd better stop them skimming the ceiling, so I'll go and stop the plasterers.

-Yeah, you'd better do.

Gentleman, gentlemen, all change, all change. Bit of a problem.

You're going to come out and tell us to stop.

How can you read my mind?

You don't want to go in there, mate, scary.

No-one's fault. Mark's.

That wall has got to move this way 100mm. Sorry about that.

No problem, Christopher.

Christopher? Sounds like my grandad.

So Chris's boys have to down tools

while our chippies unpick their own work.

Time to make myself scarce, I think.

Colin must have found it hard

balancing the needs of his job with the needs of his family,

especially in the difficult days after Christopher's diagnosis.

All of a sudden, it just got too much, erm...

I don't know, it was just a build-up, I think

and then, one day, I was actually at work

and the wheels fell off and that was it,

everyone knew then it was time for me

to go and spend time with the family.

I do get a sense that you're frustrated with yourself.

Very, very.

-Because?

-You do feel it's out of your control,

I mean, yeah, the fatherly role is to protect your family,

protect your kids and look after your wife, erm, but obviously,

when Christopher was diagnosed, that was taken away from me.

You know, you have your children, two boys in my case,

and you're thinking, right, it will be football on the Saturday,

and you think of all the things you're going to do with them

as they're growing up,

and then, all of a sudden, half of that is taken away and that's...

Well, you can either make a list of the things that he can't do,

-or you can make a list of the things he can do.

-Yeah.

You have support from your work colleagues, from your community,

from an extraordinary wife,

and what you've got to come to terms with now, you can't change...

you can't change the diagnosis

-which is what you're still trying to fight in your head.

-Yeah.

You've just got to find something to be...to throw your energy at,

burn off all that frustration about it not being fair and...

..so you can be there for her and the boys.

I know exactly what you're saying. I know exactly what you're saying.

Getting you sorted and getting you right

-about how you're going to deal with this is important to him.

-Yeah.

Back on site, the lift engineers are signing off

on the new position for the lift shaft.

Getting there, getting there.

As long as we're about 50mm from the face of that skirting board

-to the outside of these beams.

-What's the actual gap?

-9.46.

Upstairs, a second lot of chippies

are ripping out the wall we put in yesterday.

And round the back, you know the doors we put in yesterday?

Yeah, they're coming out too.

-They're heavy.

-Got to take the glass out, mate.

Can we afford to keep doing things twice?

I say, can we afford to keep doing things twice?

Really, it needs to be an internal set of doors, not external doors,

cos these here have a rebate on them,

and that rebate runs all the way round the door, top and bottom,

and that's why it's catching the floor,

cos that rebate is to stop the weather coming in.

So simply put, you've ordered the wrong doors, haven't you?

(He's a bit grumpy.)

Oh, this is not a good sign, he's gone quiet,

it's never good when he goes quiet.

Well, there's no point blaming the designer

cos they never take the blame for anything. "It wasn't me, it was him."

None of them can measure.

I'm hot, and when I get hot and I'm sweating and I get all...

Ooh, I could crush a grape.

So whilst Julian is mentally making fruit salad,

it looks like our lift shaft is in the right place at last.

It's taken six men the best part of a morning. Blimey.

-That's it finished?

-Yeah.

-Sorted?

-Yep.

-Is it right?

-I'm happy.

Well done, lads. Tidy job.

It's a tidy job because someone else measured it

and then fixed it, Mark.

Actually, there is one thing extra Mark forgot to do -

update the furniture designer with the new dimensions.

That will be the one delivering wall-to-wall oak veneer benches,

pre-made, to size, as ordered.

This is Andy who, very kindly, has done some furniture for us,

and having made loads of furniture to fit into the room,

it didn't fit because...?

-Cos a wall had been moved.

-Yeah.

-170mm.

Yeah, that's because 100 Millar, as we call him, as we've discussed,

made a mistake on the measurements.

Why have you decided to join in, because, to be honest, mate,

-you could have been somewhere else earning money rather than doing something for nothing?

-Yeah,

but, erm, from a charity point of view, erm,

I lost my daughter last year and something like this,

it's my way of giving something back

and the people of Hereford have been fantastic, supporting us,

so that was one of the reasons I jumped on board.

I didn't know that, honestly.

I didn't know that was the case with you, I'm so sorry to hear that.

It's kind of... He's having a real struggle to come to terms with, er,

-what he's facing with his boy.

-Yeah, yeah.

And without wanting to push you too hard on this,

but I'm...I'm not sure how I would begin to get up the next day

and go to work, did you find that?

It was so tough, yeah, it was seriously tough.

But I've great friends, I've got great family

and, erm, work has been, yeah, it's helped me get over it.

Throw yourself hard into work.

Yeah, yeah, cos without it, it would have been so much harder.

I'm very glad you came along to help and I really appreciate it as well,

it will make a big difference to this family as well,

-they've got tough, tough years coming up.

-Yeah, yeah,

and no parent should go through losing a kid.

I mean, that's been, you know, very hard for us.

That's been one hell of a day, that has.

We turned up this morning, everything looking great

and then the lift was in the wrong place,

so we had to rip the ceilings down, move everything about,

re-build the walls, re-plaster it, change the plumbing,

change the wiring, had to rip the doors out,

we've just had to change everything today, it's been a hell of a day.

Look at that sunshine, what a cracking day!

And talking of the skies, Julia's concentrating on her constellations.

She's in fibre optic heaven,

drilling stars for the hot tub light fittings.

This is the night sky as it was

on the day that Colin and Claire got married. How cute is that!

-Who cares?

-Who cares?! It's romantic!

No-one's going to sit there and think, "Oh, hang on a second, I recognise that night sky.

"Wasn't that the night sky on the night they got married?"

Punch some random holes in, feed the fibre optics and go,

"That was the sky when you got married," and they'll go, "Oh, was it? Oh lovely."

They're never going to get a piece of paper and compare it, are they?

They might do.

Don't ruin it for me, I'm having a lovely time.

Is it worth the effort?

Most of what we're doing is about the little boys,

and it's all for Christopher, which is fantastic

and that's what we're here for,

-but Colin and Claire really need something for them, I feel.

-Yes.

And it's lovely, it's a lovely thing.

Any woman would love this surely?

Really? Really? There's a woman over there,

there's a woman with a hard hat on, a building woman,

-when did she turn up?

-I have no idea.

Excuse me, lady, there, hello, hello, yes.

Hello, can you pop round a second, can you come this way?

So this is a sensible lady with shorts on, you see.

-You're a firefighter, aren't you?

-I am, yeah.

-OK, what's your name?

-Carolyn.

-Hello, Carolyn.

-Carolyn, right.

Carolyn, we're discussing here,

would they prefer tickets to a show and dinner for the night out

or to have a representation in lights on the ceiling

of how the sky was when they got married?

OK, I would go for the show and meal.

Oh, for goodness sake!

HE LAUGHS AND CHEERS

Caroline and Colin's other workmates from the fire station

have been on site all week offering their support.

They may not be trades, but they've turned up anyway,

determined to do what they can,

including misusing equipment....

..to do something unusual with a sausage.

Down below, a brickie's working on the access ramp to the front door.

Round at the back, the concrete slab is well and truly set,

and underfloor heating is going into the conservatory.

We've had a little bit of a problem cos Knowlsey helped with this.

'What do you mean?'

-Well, there's another problem that Knowlsey didn't work out.

-'What?'

-It's 20mm too high.

-'That wasn't me!'

Well, in one place.

Yeah, the whole square!

I think we all know who's really responsible for the concrete

and, with the insulation laid, it's obvious the slab is still too high.

There's only one solution - they're in for a long hot afternoon.

Meanwhile in the playroom, at least the sparks are ahead of schedule.

I feel confident that I've measured it right

and as I drill a hole, the cable should fall through. Let's go, son.

It's like an episode of Thunderbirds.

And 37.5. Right, drill, please, scalpel, knife.

Deodorant perhaps?

-It's always best...

-To wear glasses.

-..to shut your eyes.

Yeah, or wear goggles.

1-0, that's 1-0 to us, the sparks, we got that one.

He's a complete pilchard, isn't he?

And up the gable end of our new extension - some real professionals.

Our Taunton brickies are finishing the brick skin,

and there's their very last brick.

He's sweating, very impressed. 4,500 bricks.

4,500 bricks in three days.

That's proper bricklaying, that is.

"That is proper bricklaying, that is."

Our racing track is looking good too.

The landscapers have been cementing blocks all morning.

Just for a change, it's all going to plan.

I'm sure we can soon put a stop to that.

Can I just ask what the design team is doing out here at this stage?

What we are doing is setting out the lighting around our racetrack,

cos we've got these lovely little lights to insert into the bricks.

It's too late, the stones are already in.

No, no, they can pop back out again cos they're not set.

When you take them back out again, it means you have to put more stuff underneath

because otherwise they go out of level.

You can't just pop them out and pop them back in.

-I'm not going to argue with the lady.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Really?

-No chance.

No? Not you either?

Since when did you get all suddenly Mr Helpful?

We're only trying to get the job done, aren't we, darling?

Thank you very much indeed, yes.

Have you given him Rohypnol or something?

But we won't be able to do it

-standing round talking about it, will we, sausage?

-No.

-So we need...

I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?

Am I in the way, am I?

I'm sorry. I'll go somewhere else, then, shall I?

Yeah, it seems to me, on this build, if a job's worth doing,

it's worth doing at least twice.

I mean, just ask Jules.

He's clearly lost it after laying the floor for the 15th time.

He could be in Riverdance, couldn't he?

The insulation's in and the pipe work is in,

so we've put a temporary ply floor over,

and a DPM just to keep the rain out.

And because we've had to take out the doors,

we're temporary blocking the opening in for security for tonight,

that's what we're doing.

They all think he's lost it.

Right, are we ready?

Do you think you should let people out first, Jules?

Oh, yeah. Oh, does your mate want to get out, don't he?

Proper job. Right, somebody drill me and screw me.

Morning. As you can see,

tradesmen are turning up right, left and centre. 82 on site yesterday.

We need about 85 today if we're going to get it done.

Another busy day ahead.

With the last slate in place, at last we can drop the scaffolding.

Well, when I say drop, take it down carefully, obviously,

in case there's anybody from health and safety taking notes

and wanting to write in - we do love your letters.

That means the landscapers can start on the back, smoothing the level

so Christopher has wheelchair access from the house to the hot tub.

And the conservatory has arrived

now Jules has finished shaving his underfloor insulation.

Inside the house, Chris is going nowhere fast -

the coving's damaged where we had to move the boiler,

meaning Chris will have to patch up his favourite room again.

We're not doing nothing in here, Bill?

We're not touching the kitchen, the living room,

the bathroom or the bedroom.

-Or the hallway.

-Don't dare touch it, don't dare touch it.

Upstairs, little Christopher's en-suite bathroom is beginning

to take shape and some of the medical kit is starting to turn up.

This is what will help Christopher maintain his independence

in the coming years.

So this is amazing.

Basically, I've got this in my hand, I come in to use the loo.

Basically, if he sits on the loo, as he sits back,

the seat depresses at the back and it activates a seat switch,

he'll press with his elbow

-and then that will activate the wash and dry facility.

-What happens here?

FLUSHING

It works.

Thank you very much, thank you.

The toilet also uses jets of warm air

so Christopher will be able to wash and dry himself hands-free.

I'm very impressed, actually. It's a brilliant bit of kit.

The decorators are turning Chris's old room into a bedroom for Ben,

and in Christopher's new room,

a street artist is working on a mural with a touring car theme.

Why touring cars?

Well, both Ben and Christopher are racing mad, Colin too in fact,

so we've bought the whole family to the go-karts

for a bit of friendly competition.

-So who's going to win? Me, Jules or your dad?

-You.

Is that a bit of favouritism?

-Try and win, go flat out.

-Flat out?

It may not be football on a Saturday like Colin mentioned,

but this is a chance for him to focus on the things he can do with the boys.

-Put your foot down, that's it, good boy.

-Put my foot down!

They play in the back garden with their little push along cars

and they pretend they're racing drivers,

every boy's little dream,

but to see them two and to have the track to themselves, yeah...

Well, you could see for yourself,

the smile on their faces, brilliant, priceless, absolutely priceless.

Well done, boys, well done!

Well done, the boys! Which brings us to the grudge match.

Right, then, lads, prepare to be beaten.

He can only drive tractors,

he'll be no good on a go-kart, that's for sure.

He has got a weight advantage, to be fair.

Look at that look. There's somebody who wants his dad to win!

It's the prince of darkness versus the king of tractors versus Dad.

Come on, Daddy, come on, Daddy.

And they're off!

And it's an early lead for Dad.

Billy's been overtaken already by Julian.

See, some of those tractors go quite fast.

Come on, Daddy! Come on!

Dad's certainly still holding on to the lead, making his sons proud.

This was supposed to be a bit of a laugh,

now they're taking it really seriously.

Last lap.

-Daddy won.

-Daddy won.

Clap for Daddy.

Were you cheering Daddy on? Good boy.

Crash you didn't.

No, I didn't. I thought I'd lost it a couple of times.

It's been a great day, victory for Dad and smiles for the whole family.

And back on site, even Chris has something to celebrate.

With one day to go, he's finally out of the room

that he was doing nothing to. It's only taken him eight days!

There's one big job we haven't started yet.

You know that building site out the front, the rubble garden?

We need to turn it into a lovely garden.

Luckily enough, that bloke spraying the soil blue

is a Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winner.

Peter Dowle has taken a personal interest in helping out.

I can't believe we've got someone of your importance and eminence.

Well, we had the call, it's in Herefordshire and local business,

so we thought, what could we do to help?

We got the call, my sister has a lovely little son Joseph

who's just been diagnosed with the same condition.

-Really?

-Mm.

-Man, that's hard.

Sorry.

Sorry. And it was just, you know, something we could do to help really,

-so that was just...

-Jesus, that's tough.

How do you even begin to get your head round news like that?

Yeah, he's 16 months, 18 months old,

so it's just diagnosed in the last three, four months,

so it's a life-changing thing for a family and...

So you decided to get involved in this and help this family out.

Well, it's important to them.

The more space they can get and the more normal the lad's life can be,

and by putting a nice garden in, and also a little race track

out the back there, so when he's using his wheelchair...

Yeah, a big Scalextric, then.

Well, that's kind of what it feels like, doesn't it?

And I suppose normality is the thing you're aiming for,

and what's really interesting is, in your garden design,

what you're trying to do, I'm guessing,

is combine what you'd normally do in a garden, like a beautiful garden,

with a highly usable garden for their specific needs.

Absolutely. A practical outside space

which, you know, makes it a nice space to be in.

Fantastic. Wonderful.

Unbelievably, our conservatory is up at last!

Yes, blow the trumpets! Put up the bunting! We can hang the doors!

They've actually become a bit of a garden feature recently,

we thought we were going to leave them there.

And the floor's level with the kitchen at last.

Jules finally got it right in the end.

Guys, wonderful job.

I'm almost feeling a little bit... a little bit emotional.

Oh, you! Other side.

Thanks.

Blimey! Music's gone a bit heavy, isn't it?

Have a dance at home if you want.

Tarmac and artificial turf

will give Christopher an all-weather surface for his wheelchair,

and, hang on a minute,

isn't that Julia's constellations I see before me?

Rather late in the day. Another job that's taken nine days.

Oh, yes! Yes! Oh!

You've still got to feed those onto the main one.

This is why I've been trying to get a chippy on the job

for the last four hours, but Mr Millar - no, no, no!

-Skirtings in the house are more important apparently.

-Well, they are.

No, they're not.

Well, they are.

Yeah, but they're not.

In the period that you've managed to do one board,

we've managed to build a two-storey extension.

Is that a fair comment, really, is it?

Er, yes.

It's going to be so beautiful when it's done.

So anyway, now we know it works, that's great.

Brilliant. Our handmade furniture is back with a few modifications,

and this time it fits.

Beautiful, look at that.

It's the final push, here comes the lift.

Fits perfectly, like a glove.

We have hoists in the playroom and up in Christopher's bedroom.

And a motorised hospital bed

will be able to turn Christopher as he sleeps.

But despite all the medical equipment,

Julia is determined to keep things looking fun.

Just nine days ago, we arrived to find a family rocked

by news of their oldest boy's muscle-wasting condition.

We would walk to the end of the Earth to find that cure for Christopher.

The seven-year-old was in danger of being cut off from family life

on the first floor, especially at bedtime, already an ordeal.

Mummy loves you very much, OK?

We always knew this was going to be a sensitive build.

We're hoping that it's...the changes aren't going to be all clinical.

When we see the house with the lift in,

with the hoist and things like that,

it's going to be heart-breaking I know,

because it's something that you know is coming.

We had to transform Claire and Colin's home

without trashing years of hard work.

(He's a bit grumpy.)

And we had to do most things twice.

Don't dare touch it, don't dare touch it.

But with 80, 90, 100 trades every day...

-On behalf of everyone on the planet, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

..some travelling from Essex, Leicester and Yorkshire,

and with a firefighting army marching on their stomachs,

the people of Hereford have given this family

the new start they need, whatever the future holds.

A two-storey extension means we've been able to give Christopher

more room for his wheelchair, upstairs and down.

The family lounge is back to its former glory,

but with widened doors.

You'd never know we'd been here.

And the kitchen, well, you'd think we'd never been here either.

We've taken the boys' narrow playroom and widened it

with a bright construction theme. They're going to love this.

How cool is this for boys to play in?

In the adjoining toilet, there's loads of room for Chris's wheelchair,

and a team of friendly robots guard the walls.

A wheelchair lift will take Christopher up to a brand-new bedroom.

This was the space Claire and Colin asked us not to make look like a hospital ward.

I think we've done all right.

Christopher's new bathroom includes hands-free taps and toilet,

and a rising bath.

But we've given it a locker room feel in the colours

of his dad's favourite football club - Sunderland AFC.

Christopher's old bedroom has been re-engineered for young Ben -

a bike-mad, map-loving five-year-old who hero worships his dad.

Downstairs, that cramped conservatory has been transformed

into a bubble of calm,

a gracious space for the whole family to come together.

And with those doors hung at last

and the floor level sorted inside and out,

Christopher can race from the furthest corner of the garden

right the way to the front of the house.

-Unusually, we're going to do this start with the outside.

-OK.

So, a lot of people have worked very hard

to give you the best possible home that they could.

OK, three, two, one - open your eyes.

Oh, my God, it's wonderful!

Oh, wow. I can't... Wow.

It looks completely different, look at the door.

If you look up by the drainpipe,

the straight line that you can see down,

everything to the right is new.

OK, new playroom, in you go.

-Oh, my God.

-Oh!

-It's outstanding, it's magic, it's magical...

It's amazing, wow.

This doesn't even...

You can't even see it, it's like a little spaceship.

Have a little seat just there.

Importantly, this area here is an area that, obviously,

they can play in and jump around in at the moment. Later on,

when he finds it more difficult, it's an area he can lay as well,

and, of course, with the hoist,

he'll be able to get in and out as well, so he'll be able to lay here.

If he's going to lay on here, we still want him

to be able to play, so in here...

Oh, look.

There's a digger truck, track already built in there,

so that he can play with that.

Look at those little baskets, look at the skips!

-Ben's skip and Chris's skip.

-No way.

I can't believe that all this was done in such a short amount of time.

We could have never have done this ourself. All this space.

Wheelchair access door, wheelchair access door,

and then wheelchair access door there,

which is not something we have shown you yet,

so maybe you should nip in there next.

Oh, my, look at the wallpaper.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

Of course, one of the key things about this build

was always going to be about the access

and making sure that he could get around, so...

He is going to love that.

It's like an adventure park, isn't it, for him? Look at it.

Do you remember the instruction you gave us?

"It's important he has access

-"but I don't want it to look like a hospital."

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So we've made it like an adventure park instead.

Would you like to step out into Chris's new bedroom?

Oh, my God, look at the cars!

Look at his bed, Christopher's bed.

-He's got a bed that doesn't look hospitalised.

-I know.

And there's lots of controls on it.

Basically, it goes up at the end, up at the top,

and, also, you can tip it so it turns him and turns him in the night

so he can either turn himself or you can turn him,

and that's all under these controls here.

OK, this is the thing we were all worried about

and we were going to struggle to deal with,

so we've seen some hoists,

-we've seen a hoist down in the playroom area as well.

-Yeah.

This is the key hoist here, obviously.

I'm going to demonstrate it

and I hope you're not going to be too upset by it,

but there is a little spaceship which flies around,

to the point where, if he comes up in the wheelchair in the lift,

then you can use the hoist,

you can use the hoist here, to get into the bed,

the hoist will also come through and into the new wet room bathroom.

-It doesn't look clinical at all, does it, Colin?

-No, no.

-At all.

You knew how I was feeling about coming in here, but it's just wow.

Pretty cool, isn't it?

We want to give you the environment

where you make the most of every day you've got, you know, what I mean -

every day, rather than...

it takes off some of the worry about what's going to happen, what's going to happen, what's going to happen.

-Yeah.

-Just start living in the now for the time that you've got.

-Yeah.

Oh, wow! Oh!

Ben's skip.

-So do you know what this is?

-Yes.

OK, let me show you, something you can do here with your brother.

So what you do is, press that down one, there.

Let it stop there, just there. Right, hang onto that.

And your other hand, see how long you can hang on.

LAUGHTER

There he goes. Oh, he's gone.

See that little box on the wall just there?

Press that arrow and see what happens.

What? What?

Wow.

Oh, wow.

What do you think, Ben?

It never looked like this before.

< Oh, wow.

That's because this room, this part of the house wasn't here before,

it's an all-new part of the house.

Wow.

Is that cool, Ben?

-You like it?

-Yeah.

So if you had to give marks out of ten for your bedroom,

how many out of ten would this be?

12.

Do you want to hop down, then? Come down your ladder.

-There's a bit of a den underneath as well, did you see that?

-No.

Oh, wow. Oh, my God, it's much bigger, it's loads bigger.

Yeah, I was going to put some sort of ramp to get over that,

it was always going to be a worry for us.

Let me tell you, getting the floor height correct in here

was a massive worry for us cos we did it wrong at first

and we had to go back and do it all over, it was a nightmare.

Wow!

Look!

A main road!

Got their own racetrack.

-I didn't even know there was going to be a road.

-Wow.

He changed it.

Just a bit. That's genius, that's genius.

And there's one more surprise,

if we can entice Christopher out of the garden.

It's not just his wheelchair access

and a new relaxing space for his hydrotherapy.

Open your eyes.

Oh, wow!

Oh, wow.

-And a hoist.

-And a hoist. That's what we were worried about getting.

The lights on that board aren't just put up randomly,

-that is the stars on the day you two married.

-No way!

-How romantic is that!

-Nice.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So the family have just seen the house

and, as you can see, they're really happy.

These are some of the people -

the ones at the back, stand up on tippy toes so that you can see -

these are the people who've been here for the last nine days.

What an amazing bunch of people you all are,

you've changed the house around.

We went through a list. We were talking to the lads here

and tell me the list again - your favourite things in the house?

-Erm, the lift.

-The lift.

-The bedroom.

-Whose bedroom?

-Mine and Christopher's.

The track, they love the track out the back,

for all the people who got involved with the track.

Like a road it is.

It is like a road, isn't it? Yes, it's very cool.

Thank you to everybody, everybody that's here today, just thank you.

80, 90 builders every day turned up. They're amazing, amazing neighbours.

I can't take it all in.

It looks different with flowers in the middle of the road.

-Does it look pretty?

-Yeah.

-Cheers, buddy.

-Well done, mate.

Tell you what, you're holding it together really well, mate.

I think one of the toughest challenges in life,

especially as a parent,

is dealing with things that you just can't change.

How this family have come to terms with the diagnosis

they received 18 months ago is...

well, it doesn't bear thinking about, does it?

So if you can't change everything, change a little bit at a time.

And that's what all these people have done.

They've come along and changed what they can and, as a group,

they've made a massive change to how Christopher's life will run over the next few years.

He'll be able to use the whole house,

he'll be part of the family everywhere,

he'll have as normal a childhood as is possible.

So concentrate on what you can change, not what you can't.

Maybe you could help somebody.