Episode 3 The £100k House: Tricks of the Trade

Last year, Piers Taylor and me, Kieran Long,

brought architectural expertise

and innovative design thinking to self-builders attempting to

build a home from scratch for less than £100,000.

-Come on, baby.

-How much money have you got left?

Let me see...

This year, we're bringing our £100K House experience to people

that own a home already...

It's dilapidated. It's a dump.

..but are desperate to turn it into an extraordinary one.

Whoo!

They, too, are on the tightest of budgets.

We've got £540 left.

We'll challenge them to embrace big ideas...

What you want really is exactly what this place provides.

..and to be more ambitious.

-I don't know.

-He's come in and torn up the rule book.

But with their life savings at risk...

The hiccups are coming now.

If the money runs out, I'm left with half a house.

..can the homeowners create the house they've always wanted

but believed they could never have?

This better fit.

This week, a family with a tiny budget

need to update their pokey cottage for modern life.

It's so dark and it's all enclosed, it does feel claustrophobic.

But are they prepared for our radical solutions?

I can't see it in a house.

And overhauling an inherited home after losing Dad...

It's absolutely vital I get this right.

..means decisions are even tougher to make.

Goodness me, the work is going more quickly than the emotions!

I'm on my way to Shropshire to meet a couple, Abigail and Christian,

who've found a place that has so many qualities.

It's in a place they love and have real personal connection to.

The problem is, this house won't serve their needs long term.

Their three-bed cottage in Christian's home village cost

£250,000 nearly five years ago.

When I first started to go out with Chris

he still lived across the road and I used to look out of the window

to over this way and thought, "What a lovely little cottage."

So when I saw it for sale, I thought,

"I'd really like to live there."

Having extended family close by was also important, because a

few years earlier, Abigail was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

When Abigail was first diagnosed, they start explaining what

this could mean for the rest of your life.

It was a lot to take on board, cos we were quite young then.

Abigail's condition affects nerve endings in her brain

and spine, impacting mobility, vision

and could one day result in her needing a wheelchair.

Their 19th-century cottage, with all its nooks

and crannies, is increasingly unsuitable.

It's so dark and it's all enclosed, it does feel...

-very claustrophobic.

-It's just very oppressive and depressing.

The key areas that need solving for this young family are the

dark kitchen and the dilapidated extension,

with its awkward access to the garden.

MS is a difficult disease. The kitchen is a bad design for me.

You've got to have the lights on all of the time because, if not,

I can't see what I'm doing, basically.

It's horrible standing here.

If I'm facing this wall, I can't see anything.

It's so depressing working in there.

When I'm poorly, that's when I need it to work a lot more.

It's definitely not the dream house at the moment.

We've got to design this so it can work with a wheelchair, so we can

get out to the back garden easily, move in amongst the work surfaces.

Abigail and Christian have just £17,000 to spend.

They've had plans drawn up already,

but the quotes have been far higher than expected.

One quote we've have for the whole build,

the rear extension itself, is £47,000.

We've got £17,000 to do the work inside and outside.

That's making me feel a little bit worried.

To save money, Christian now intends to do the work himself.

But they've started to have doubts about the design.

It looks a bit too boring at the moment, really, bit standard.

This is a transformation with an enormous amount riding on it.

I want to meet them now and find out what's not working in the house,

and see what we can help them achieve for a budget of £17,000.

Abigail, tell me about some of the

practical issues to do with having MS.

The more I have to move around, the tireder I get,

so if I'm not very well, that's extra walking

I need not to be doing.

And I guess it's energy you save that you can spend on being

-with your family?

-That's right.

MS is such a difficult disease, nobody knows

how its going to affect me long term.

I could have crutches or a stick or even a wheelchair at some point,

so to make it accessible for that

will be really important, and to make the kitchen

a more easy-to-work-in space, with everything in the right areas.

And of course buildings this age are not designed for these

considerations, these are practical buildings from an era past.

19th-century cottages such as these were built by mill-owners

to house workers.

But today, the small rooms are difficult to adapt.

So Abigail and Christian are right to

put their money into a new-build extension.

But I'm worried their budget has killed their ambition.

What I can see on this plan is a fairly straightforward

box on the back of your house.

-It doesn't really inspire us.

-Really?

Keep thinking, "Could be a bit different to that."

-Not sure how, but...

-I think that's right,

I think you deserve to be excited by the building.

-There's a lot riding on it, actually.

-There is.

It's got to perform a lot of different tasks

-and make you fall in love with this place.

-Definitely.

It seems absolutely vital that Abigail and Chris

sort out the problems that they have in this house.

Abigail's health and condition demands

that this house be future-proofed, and that design has to deliver

so many practical benefits for that reason.

But it also has to inspire them, it's important this is a place

they can fall in love with, particularly for Abigail.

If they're going to spend a lot of years here,

she has to feel more attached to it than she does now.

One thing's for sure though - the old extension needs to go.

Brute force and ignorance will sort this out now.

Any significant work that we do to our homes must of course

be approved and signed off by building control.

And with the demolition underway, Piers and I urgently need to

come up with an idea for their extension which

inspires them, meets with Abigail's future needs

and stays within their tight 17-grand budget.

Abigail has some significant requirements for this build,

she has MS, they've got two young kids, got a really dark

and dingy kitchen, which is cut off from the rest of the living space.

She feels constantly divorced from family life while she's in there.

But their budget is only £17,000.

It has to be something also that Christian can build himself,

that'll help them cut costs.

I'd just like to find a way of getting all of this to do more

than just be so ordinary, so generic.

Their current plan involves creating a new, slightly larger

brick-built extension rendered on the outside.

This traditional building method is time-consuming

and difficult for a novice.

Piers thinks there might be better alternatives.

Sheet materials are good ways for self-builders to achieve quite a lot.

Also, it needs to be a thing of beauty.

Clearly, they are young and they need to be excited by this.

What if they say, "I just want it to be in stone, like my building is already"?

I'd say, "You probably can't afford it,

"it's also something you can't build by yourself."

So this isn't just about style, it's also about finding

a technique that these guys can really take on

and use and build themselves.

Abigail and Christian are desperately in need

of inspiration for their low-cost extension,

and Piers believes they may not need to look far to find it.

This is such a rich landscape full of amazing buildings

made out of amazing things.

And what strikes me about Abigail and Chris's extension

is it doesn't speak of them or this place.

Buildings are bound up in people and places,

and I need to find a way to get this building to really belong here.

Piers wants to open their minds to the possibilities of

agricultural architecture, but can he persuade them

to adopt materials and methods

ordinarily found down on the farm into the design for their new-build?

These buildings are as beautiful as any great modern building.

I think the way they use materials is beautiful, the way the materials

sit in the landscape and they're just so fit for purpose.

See, this handrail is incredible, it's so delicate and beautiful.

-I'd love that on my stairs, really love that.

-It's fantastic.

Mm... I like it, I think it's fantastic,

it's just how to integrate it into a home is the bit I struggle with.

Farm buildings need to be constructed efficiently,

cheaply and be hard wearing.

Building a barn more than twice the size of Abigail and Christian's

planned extension would cost around £8,000,

because it uses large sheets of material which go together quickly

and easily on a concrete foundation.

So this precast concrete is fantastic.

I can't see it in a house. My vision, I must say, is quite weak

in that respect.

'Christian is not convinced, but concrete is a low-cost material

'and can look great if finished well.'

It actually looks as if it's been polished.

Is this something we can achieve within our budget?

Well, the cost is actually in the labour, so if you can do it

yourself then the cost is quite low and it's pretty easy to do yourself.

Really? I love this. I love polished concrete.

I would really like this in my kitchen.

What's been great about going up to the farm is seeing Abigail

really come to life when she looks at the form of those buildings,

at those materials, and so on, and that's what

she needs to do when she thinks about her own house.

Back at Abigail and Christian's, Piers presents his bold plan

for their extension, taking inspiration from what they've seen.

What would work really well is instead of having just a flat roof,

you could do something like that, actually,

which is a split asymmetric roof.

I really didn't want to do a flat roof,

so it would be really nice to do something like that.

And then you make everything out of black metal.

-Are you talking a metal roof?

-Uh-huh.

-Excellent.

-Everything black. The whole thing.

-Roof, walls, everything.

-I love that. I think it's fab.

Piers's design, inspired by agricultural buildings,

is for a new wing on the back of the house.

He proposes constructing a simple timber frame, clad in black

corrugated sheeting, topped off with an asymmetric pitched roof.

It's larger, but cheaper and easier to build than their existing plans.

Mindful of Abigail's future needs, it will be a bright, open-plan space

with wide door openings, multiple roof lights,

corner window seat and a brand-new kitchen

opening straight onto the garden.

Using a simple palette of a few authentic materials like those

seen on the farm will tie it all together.

But is the plan too radical for Christian?

In my head at the moment I'm still thinking a little bit

like a barn off the back of a building.

Abigail and Christian are trying hard to add a new family space

to their house.

But when a home means so much to us emotionally,

it can be hard to find the courage to make fundamental changes

and invent a new future for it.

Our second challenge is in Birmingham.

Madeleine works for a conservation charity making wildlife films.

But when her widowed father became ill she had to put her life on hold

and returned to her childhood home to care for him.

I came back to the house just over two years ago

when my father got particularly ill.

Madeleine looked after him at home until he died.

When you've got somebody

that's full of life and full of energy, the hole they leave

is just huge. Absolutely huge.

Madeleine now lives in the 1960s end-of-terrace where she grew up.

And it's full of memories.

This used to be my room when I was growing up,

and the cupboard, that used to be for all my secret bits and pieces.

The vast majority of my memories are embedded in these four walls.

It's hard.

Madeleine feels it's time to put her own stamp on her family home.

The house obviously was really modern and cutting edge

in the 1960s, but we're not in the 1960s any more.

Parts of it are so retro they're almost back in fashion.

Downstairs, the rooms are generous and well lit,

typical of decent modern architecture.

But upstairs, space seems wasted and misused.

As you go up the stairs there's two big cupboards.

There's got to be something else that you could do with that space.

Off the landing, the old-fashioned bathroom fails to provide

the relaxing sanctuary that Madeleine would love.

It's not avocado, but it's still dated.

You wouldn't want to sit there for hours, relaxing.

Madeleine wants to remodel the first floor of her home to provide her

with an office space for creativity, and a new luxurious bathroom.

But with five decades of memories tied up in this house,

she's struggling for a way forward.

It's got all this potential and it's just really frustrating,

not being able to unlock it.

It's absolutely driving me mad.

Just £7,000 needs to cover the work, but it's money Madeleine inherited

from her father, so has an emotional price.

I can't bear to think I might waste any of his money.

We need to help Madeleine find a way to make fundamental changes

to her home without destroying the precious memories that run deep

in the walls, but it's no easy task.

It's often incredibly difficult to change your house

if you're emotionally attached to it,

because you don't want to, in a sense, destroy the legacy

of what it was,

but actually you need to be looking towards what it could be as well.

-Hi, Madeleine.

-Hi.

-How are you?

-Good, thank you.

-Nice to meet you.

You too.

Just walking up to the area of the house she wants to transform,

it's clear how emotional this process is going to be.

OK, Piers, um...

I have to say, I'm just so...nervous.

I can feel my heart going, I'm just really... Look, clammy.

What are you most worried about?

I think I'm most worried about getting it wrong.

But knowing she has to make changes,

it's vital to discover what sort of design Madeleine likes.

I do like boutique bathrooms, designer bathrooms.

What I wanted to do is incorporate a shower in here somehow.

Creating a luxurious boutique bathroom on a budget is not easy.

Piers's first step is to look for ways to maximise

the available space.

This looks like a very space-hungry service duct.

The most practical thing to do in here is just to push this wall back

to here and re-plan this so you can get a shower in here,

and the bath could go to the window.

Just beautiful taps coming out of this wall, which could be fantastic.

That would be ideal.

Madeleine's other dream is to make a creative space where

she can work and relax.

Well, here we've got two very deep cupboards.

It's amazing the amount of space here.

If cleverly opened up and reconfigured, the old landing could

be where Madeleine is able to really put her own stamp on the house.

It's really important to find a way into this problem,

cos this isn't about coming up and saying, "This could be done,

"that could be done," it's an emotive conundrum,

not really just a practical spatial conundrum.

But what will she make of Piers's reimagining of the space?

What's interesting is how much space there is

at the top of the stairs. You could take out all of this,

build in a beautiful kind of sculptural desk.

Ideally, it wants no visible means of support.

-A sort of space to sit and work.

-I think that would be really lovely.

You could put roof lights right up with a kind of sculptural reveal.

The possibility of bringing natural light, you know,

that shines down into this space could be really lovely.

Creating a new bathroom plus a top-lit creative sanctuary

with a bespoke desk at its heart is a big ask for just £7,000.

Will Madeleine be willing to gamble her inheritance

on trying to achieve it?

It's absolutely vital I get this right, because it's got the added

responsibility to have this be something that Dad

would have approved of.

That was really intense and actually quite emotional.

The challenge for Madeleine is not to become derailed

by unpicking memory. I'm worried that it will start to really make it

quite raw for her and might prevent her from doing this project at all.

Back in Shropshire, Christian is also reminiscing about the past.

That house over there is where I grew up.

This stream here is where I used to play when I was a child.

Being able to stay in his home village is something

Christian always wanted.

It's like a dream come true, living here, it's fantastic.

But because of Christian's bond to this place,

deciding to use unconventional building materials on his home

is still too radical a choice to make.

The buildings themselves, I think, are fantastic,

and if I could paint, I'd paint them,

if I could draw, I could draw them

but they're buildings within the landscape

which, in my head, are farm buildings.

So, in a last effort to get Christian on board,

I hope I've found the perfect building to prove materials

like corrugated iron shouldn't be reserved

for just overgrown farmyards.

-So, you can just see it up on the hill.

-Stunning. Really stunning.

I must admit, it doesn't look like a barn.

Yeah, it definitely doesn't.

Designers David Conner and Kate Darby

are building this amazing office space.

It's simple, effective and striking.

-Wow.

-That is amazing.

-That is amazing.

I want Christian to see how, if he gets the detailing right,

their build won't look like a barn - it'll look stunning.

So, I think when you get closer you start to see how careful

-they've been with this material, don't you?

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

'Corrugated iron's an integral part of the rural landscape,

'and was first developed in the 1820s.

'By the end of the 19th century,

'it was commonly used on agricultural buildings.

'Now no longer actually made from iron,

'it comes in all kinds of materials

'including plastic, steel and aluminium.'

I love how it creates this very clear silhouette, doesn't it?

That simple pitched roof.

And the corrugated iron really comes to the fore.

Even though it's painted black, it's got a certain quality to it.

With no fuss, no frills,

Abigail and Christian could achieve this look

on their tight budget by using sheet materials.

The precision in the cutting's amazing.

It does look really neat.

That detail, with the same material in the same colour,

it's really nice.

And this simple shiny facade encases a secret from the past.

Inside, there's an ancient barn protected by a conservation order.

It's a radical solution

to conserving a piece of living history.

A delicate balance of the old and the new.

I think this is just such an extraordinary space, isn't it?

I don't think I've ever seen a window that big before.

And this huge window just brings all of the outside in, doesn't it,

in such a beautiful way. But I love when you turn around,

you've also got this amazing rotting relic.

-It's magical, isn't it?

-Yeah.

The internal space is awash with natural light.

The textures and colours of the old battered beams,

stonework and windows contrast with the modern materials

that are now holding this building together.

There are lessons here Abigail and Christian could learn

for the new extension of their 19th-century cottage.

You just get this big thickness of insulation in there,

which is obviously making this place really warm,

but it'll also act as sound insulation,

you know, like the rain on metal - you won't hear it through this.

-It won't sound like a caravan.

-No, absolutely not.

It looks achievable.

I think I've finally got through to the practical man in Christian.

This trip's been vital in getting him

thinking differently about materials

and how to combine modern architecture with an older building.

I'd say we're 100% confident now we're going with corrugated iron.

I don't think it looks like a barn at all.

It's finished off so well.

It really does look like a building you could live in.

I like the way the old meets new in this building.

We're thinking about exposing the stone on the old part of our house,

so we can show the clear line between where the old house finishes

and the brand-new, really modern extension will be built.

I'm really excited about our build.

Back in Birmingham, Madeleine's project is also moving forward,

and her seven-grand budget is about to take a pounding.

Work commitments mean that she can't be on site all the time,

so she's placed her faith in local builder Martin.

That will be the edge of the bath.

His job - rip out and install a new bathroom and shower,

remodel the landing

and make a hole in the roof to introduce a shaft of light,

which will light a desk below.

There's no going back.

With Madeleine working away,

the demolition of her family home gets underway without her.

Piers has great ideas,

but sometimes I don't know if they're going to work.

Martin's given Madeleine a fixed quote of £5,300.

That should cover three weeks' labour and building materials.

So, pressure is on for him to complete the job.

Madeleine has asked to keep this doorframe intact

and to keep this glass.

We're carefully taking it out.

And with Madeleine un-contactable during the day,

Martin has to make a big decision about the wall

between the bathroom and landing without her.

We're trying to figure out here

whether we're going to take the whole wall out

and rebuild it back again

because we're kind of restricted with what's there.

If we got rid of it,

we don't have to cut it, which is going to save a lot of problems.

The new wall will come out of Martin's money

but he's convinced that it will make his job easier.

Running a project from a distance is never straightforward.

Sometimes decisions are made that unwittingly affect the budget.

And with Martin's team now ready to fit the new skylight,

he's had to make another big decision on his own.

Madeleine was worried about the size of the window

and whether there was enough light getting through to shine down

on this landing and stairs, but we can't wait any longer, really.

We need to get this done,

so I've just gone and got the biggest one I can get.

After Martin's costs, Madeleine only has £1,700 left.

That has to buy her a new bathroom suite, furnishings,

her desk and decorating materials.

At £400, this new large window eats up a chunk of the budget,

but the light that will flood in will be priceless.

It's very tight, you need to be off the top of the ridge

to allow for the opening of the light.

Can you go down? Can you move down any tighter?

Not really, no.

It's in, but how will Madeleine react

when she returns to see the state of her much-loved family home?

Back in Shropshire,

work on Abigail and Christian's new extension is in full swing.

The foundations alone could cost nearly a third of their total budget

so they're both labouring on the build to save what money they can.

Each day extra costs extra money

so we're going to have to work hard over the next couple of days.

Abigail's desperate to help

but stress can be a trigger for her MS.

In trying to keep on budget, her health could suffer.

Juggling the build, work and a young family is a tough ask for anyone,

and I want to know how Abigail is managing.

How do you cope with family life while all this stuff's going on?

It's hard. Things that need instant decisions

are what stresses me out the most, I think.

This week has been really busy for the both of us so, yeah,

both of our stress levels are high this week.

Christian is concerned about the amount of pressure Abigail is under.

It is really difficult for Abigail.

There's been quite a few late nights, early mornings.

She's flat out all the time,

she doesn't stop, doesn't get time for rest.

I do worry, cos stress does bring on a relapse.

After another week of continued exertion,

Christian's worst fears are realised.

Abigail has a relapse of her MS.

Having stressed myself out,

I think I've caused myself another relapse.

It's affected my eye this time. I get what's called optic neuritis

which is inflammation of the optic nerve.

It's a warning that the work to the extension

that's meant to make life easier is starting to damage to her health.

Each time I have a relapse, it's damaging those particular nerves.

So, it's not just like it comes and goes.

There will be damage to the nerves.

Back in Birmingham,

Madeleine's builders have been working unsupervised.

But now on her way home,

she is understandably anxious to see how her family home has changed.

I'm feeling a bit nervous.

It's really frustrating being so far away from the work.

This is the first time Madeleine's family home has been

altered in over 50 years.

It's a lot to take in.

Wow, goodness me.

In the space of one week,

the landing and bathroom have been ripped apart.

It's a bit different.

Bit disconcerting to see the roof all exposed.

These are changes that Madeleine knew she had to make,

but memories are making it tough.

It feels like a bit of...

..a bit of a break with the past

and the work is going more quickly than the emotions

so I just need to catch up, really.

Yeah, it's different.

It's clearly a painful time for Madeleine,

so it's crucial we help her create something new

and personal as the centrepiece of this transformation.

Spaces can be defined by one beautiful item, whatever the budget.

Piers's idea for Madeleine's interior is to try to define it

and give it character by one very beautiful crafted element -

that desk.

And I've come to see a project in south London

by Bell Phillips Architects which really shows how one very crafted,

very beautifully designed thing can define an interior.

Known as the origami staircase,

this stunning brushed-stainless-steel structure

sits at the heart of this apartment in a Victorian town house.

This staircase defines it as a contemporary space,

it allows light through it and as soon as you enter the flat,

it's the first thing that strikes you about it.

It's a really defining feature.

The owners chose to focus much of their resources on this one item,

which set them back £20,000

but raises their whole project to another level.

This was a third of the total budget of quite a large refurbishment

but it's paid off a hundred-fold because what you've got in the end

is a defining piece that gives character to the interior,

it's a beautiful piece of design, a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

The lessons for Madeleine here are really that one

beautifully conceived, well-designed thing

can be defining for an interior

and if she invests some of her budget in just such a thing,

it can really lift her house above the ordinary.

For Madeleine, the one beautiful thing has to be her desk.

The wood it's made from needs to be unique so Piers has brought her

to an extraordinary place to search for it.

We have amazing hardwood

in this country, and people think that it is

prohibitively expensive to get something made, but it isn't.

It is if you go to a high street, into a really smart showroom,

and coming to a timber yard, a place like this, is different.

This is like a sweet shop for people that like wood.

There are a handful of timber yards in the UK that

specialise in locally grown sustainable wood.

The timber here is a million miles away from the planks of wood

you'd find in your local builders' merchant.

-This is Madeleine.

-Nice to meet you, Madeleine.

I mean, the great thing about timber is that it has its own character,

so I think it is wrong with timber

to go in with an idea about what you are going to do and actually

let the material inform you.

Different colours, shapes and sizes - no two pieces are the same.

And every species has its own characteristics.

This is ash, which generally has a nice wavy edge,

-although not very dramatic.

-It is subtle.

But I don't know that it's got enough width to do it in one piece.

Some sequoia, which is a soft wood.

This is a beautiful, beautiful colour, although it is quite soft

and it'll mark.

This is horse chestnut, a conker tree.

-Look at that.

-That's amazing.

-Remember, they are not flaws, they are character.

-Wow.

She may have fallen for the beauty of the wood,

but can Madeleine afford it within her budget?

With a bathroom suite still to buy, she only has about £1,000 left.

What sort of prices are we talking

for the sort of size that Madeleine is interested in?

Well, certainly, the ash is going to be the cheaper option, around £300.

The sequoia would be a little more.

The horse chestnut that we looked at, 500 to 600.

Finding the right piece within her budget could utterly

transform the new area Madeleine has created.

-This is pretty amazing, Madeleine, isn't it?

-I...

-You're speechless!

-Yes. Beautiful, isn't it?

This is the most beautiful curve, isn't it?

I mean, really, it's just fantastic.

-This is cedar of Lebanon.

-It's gorgeous.

It's about the biggest tree that you can cut in one piece.

It dwarfs me! Yes, it's bigger than I am.

You actually do need this width

and the offcuts you could use for shelves.

Absolutely gorgeous.

It's got subtlety, it's got drama, and it's kind of sensual,

it's really a gorgeous, gorgeous piece.

What would this cost?

-That piece is going to be £600.

-Bargain.

I mean, it really is, look at it.

Yes, save the best till last, it's amazing.

Really, really amazing.

On one hand, this is quite a lot of money

but I think that it's incredible value, really,

because if you went to buy a beautiful table that somebody

else had made for you, it would cost hundreds, thousands, even,

but it's better because you are making it yourself, you know, you are

choosing something that only you have seen potential in

and then you are taking it back, working it, shaping it,

fitting it into your house, so the gain is immeasurable.

Back at Abigail and Christian's 19th-century cottage in Shropshire,

there's good news.

Abigail's been taking it easy and is recovering from her relapse.

Novice builder Christian has successfully put up

most of the timber frame.

Today, he's tackling the difficult job of fitting the hefty main

roof joist into position.

Yeah, it's about 150-odd kilos,

so I wouldn't fancy trying to lift that on my own.

Installing this big central support

that takes the weight of the roof would ordinarily require

expensive lifting equipment, but as every penny counts,

Christian's roped in some friendly muscle power.

The whole roof structure relies on perfectly positioning

this hefty beam.

You've got to come round just a little bit this way.

It's vital that it fits perfectly to give maximum

support to the roof structure.

It's still not fully in, we're catching on the brick.

The hole it's going into isn't big enough,

but if they chip away too much, it could break into the bedroom behind.

-Don't need to take any more out.

-We don't, no.

Oh, it's brilliant to see the walls going up, you really get

a feel for how big the room is and how big the windows are, the doors.

Yes, very excited.

The made-to-measure timber frame set them back £3,500.

While it's significantly cheaper than the equivalent

build in brick, it's still a sizable

chunk of their dwindling budget, especially given

they have the whole interior and the bespoke cladding still to source.

Because the cladding is such a vital part of this build,

Abigail and Christian have tracked down the same sheet metal worker

that worked on the building we visited,

and hopefully enough of the same material to clad their extension.

Good night that was when we found out

we could get that material, cos otherwise everything else was just compromised.

Now there's no margin for error.

Any cutting mistakes mean extra sheets will have to be

specially imported, costing time and money they just don't have.

This is a critical sheet cos he's got the two windows in him.

Fortunately, the measurements are spot on.

They work on the cladding into the night

so when Abigail returns home she can glimpse it for the first time.

Oh, wow, that does look amazing.

Oh, it's very exciting. It's super cool, that is.

Amazing.

I am really pleased, it is amazing.

It does look excellent.

I think I would say it actually looks amazing.

Whatever, yeah, it does!

Although we had seen it before, on the trip we went on,

to see it on our building is special.

Back in Birmingham, and Madeleine's project is on a roll,

but there is still hard work to be done.

Both the bathroom

and the remodelled hallway need painting, while builder Martin

still has to do all the plumbing for the new bathroom suite.

It's absolutely manic.

Absolutely manic at the moment.

And normally there would be at least a day's gap between plumbers

and electricians and me clearing the site,

but it's all happened all in one go so we are all kind of squeezing past

each other and handing each other things, and, you know, up and down.

So it's mayhem but a really good mayhem.

Making major changes to any home can be a nerve-racking

business but, for Madeleine, trying to make a fresh start

in the family home she recently inherited was a daunting prospect.

Nine weeks ago, Madeleine embarked on the transformation

of her childhood home.

The house was modern when it was built in the 1960s

but hadn't changed since then.

The time had come for the house to move on.

An outmoded and poorly planned bathroom

and a wastefully large upstairs landing meant that this house

was not fit for Madeleine's needs.

But with emotions still raw, Piers came up with

a radical plan to create a 21st-century space which

honoured the treasured memories of a happy family home...

..all on a budget of just £7,000.

I'm fascinated to discover if Madeleine has been able to

pull off this very emotional balancing act.

Hi, Madeleine.

Hi, Madeleine. How are you?

-Good to see you both.

-Nice to see you.

How's it all been going?

Yes, interesting. You know, normal.

What do we read into that?!

I just really hope you love what we've managed to do.

-It is most important that you like it.

-I love it.

I don't just like it, I love it.

-Can you show us? Because we are dying to see!

-Absolutely, I can't wait!

-So, after you.

-Let's have a look.

I can't wait to see it.

-Oh, wow. What a fantastic space.

-It's truly amazing.

-I mean, really amazing.

-Completely unexpected in a house like this.

Look at that height and all of this light flooding down.

-It's just extraordinary, you must be thrilled.

-Absolutely.

It's beyond anything, really.

To me, it feels quite disorientatingly beautiful

because I was looking down when I came up because

I didn't want to see it, but I just came into this other world,

-completely, you know?

-Yes.

For 50 years this was a dark upstairs landing with large

cupboards that had outlived their usefulness.

Now, with a large feature skylight flooding the whole house with

daylight and a unique desk, crafted out of beautiful ash,

this former hallway is the creative haven Madeleine has always wanted.

It's complete transformational.

In terms of the light, in terms of the space...

The scale of that light is so fantastic.

It's wonderful and you get connected to the outside through that space.

The most exciting thing for me is the ambiguity of the space, really.

Is it functional? Is it a desk?

Is it a creative space or is it just a lovely piece of sculpture?

Absolutely. I mean, this was a dark corridor before

and now it's a beautiful space, a beautiful place where you

want to linger, actually.

The amazing piece of ash cost £540.

It's unique and really makes this space special.

This is really a house that's had new life breathed into it

by you and your fantastic judgment about all of those things.

But this is only half the story.

Madeleine's seven grand also had

to create a luxurious sanctuary out of a dated and plain bathroom.

Well, this does not feel like the bathroom of a '60s house.

It is not at all what you might expect. It's really quite sensual

and quite sort of seamless and feels high quality in here.

I mean, it's a lovely room.

Absolutely, and now so generous with this recess that

you have borrowed from the hallway, and the backlit shower panel.

Using space efficiently has enabled Madeleine to have a generous

bathroom, and add some unique touches that bring it alive.

The non-standard fact

of having a fantastic translucent wall with a light behind it,

as you shower, and how much nicer is that than a standard bulkhead

light that most people would have in their showers?

It really feels enveloping, beautiful, sensual and, again,

a place that you would want to spend time in.

Searching for deals online and buying from one supplier meant

she got her entire bathroom fitted out for £1,000.

I think this is everything I can think of, really.

It's got the luxury, it's got function and,

you know, it's got a kind of creative...

A sense that you just want to relax.

You know? It's got a feel to it.

These two spaces are utterly transformed.

Did Madeleine manage to achieve this within her seven-grand budget?

What I hadn't completely anticipated

was that I would do things like have the extraordinary light,

but I thought when I could see the space, I thought it really,

really justified that overspend,

so I ended up just over 8,000.

For Madeleine, though,

sticking to the budget was about more than just money.

My father was very careful with money.

And you would really need to justify to him

if I was going over budget,

why I was going over budget and was it worth it?

And I think I was very conscious of that, but it really...

I think he'd be happy.

There's definitely value for money in physical terms,

but I can't really describe how much value there is in, you know,

emotional terms, really.

I was worried that it would be a bit poky, a bit mean,

I was worried that the roof light would be big enough,

but actually everything was not just good,

but better than I could possibly have imagined.

It's interesting that this space has a lot of things that were

quite awkward and quite difficult to achieve -

and one of those things was bringing in top light,

that most people would probably feel was just a bit inconvenient

and a bit too much work for not enough gain.

You know, it doesn't give you any more space -

all it does is enhance the quality of the space.

But actually the roof light was the one essential ingredient - you know,

the sheer generosity of that top-lit space just is brilliant.

In addition to utterly transforming this house,

the renovation of these two spaces

has had other, more profound effects for Madeleine.

It was a very, very sad and difficult time,

when my dad was ill,

you know, for the last few years,

and this has just kind of brought joy back.

And it's really hard to kind of describe how or why,

but that's actually what's happened.

I love the space that Madeleine has created in her house. I mean,

it's spatially rich, and it's full of great materials, it's beautiful.

Most of all, I'm left with the feeling,

though, that Madeleine has used this design process

to deal with some important issues in her life.

This was her childhood home, it was her parents' home,

and now it's a home for her for the long term.

In Shropshire, the outside of Abigail and Christian's extension

is almost complete, but the interior is still a building site.

Money's running short,

so instead of plastering the walls,

Piers wants them to consider a material

that could give their kitchen a hardwearing finish

without breaking the budget.

Plywood.

It's probably the architect in me

that likes the fact that plywood is so good structurally,

and it's so strong,

because it has grains going in two different directions,

and then they're glued and bonded together.

There are some car manufacturers

-that use plywood for their chassis and things.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Amazingly strong.

Plywood is a really popular material with architects for interiors.

Today, there are many grades to choose from.

Birch ply is typically the most expensive.

In that thickness,

I mean, that is about 40 quid, 50 quid a sheet or something.

It's very smooth, beautifully made.

This is a beautiful colour - it's very silvery,

but it goes darker when you stain it, typically.

But it's not always the most expensive

that's the most interesting.

This one is about my favourite, I think.

This is shuttering ply,

and it's called shuttering because when you're digging a foundation,

you dig a hole, the earth wants to fall in, so you shutter it with this,

you hold it back. This is about £20 quid a sheet.

-Really, is that all?

-Yes.

-It's very beautiful.

-Really beautiful.

-Really nice lines.

-Yeah.

I mean, strangely, for me,

the cheaper the grade, the better, almost.

I quite like the writing that you see on it.

You know, sometimes you see the stamps of where it came from on it,

and I like all that stuff.

The authentic and basic finish of this plywood

will perfectly complement the corrugated cladding

of their exterior.

This on the walls and the ceiling with your concrete worktop

will look incredible.

-I can really see it now.

-And sounds quite economical as well.

It does.

When using materials like plywood on walls and ceilings,

specialist surface spread-of-flame treatment is required.

I'm really excited, yeah.

It's been really good to see the different types of ply.

But the challenge of finishing this project successfully

is far from over.

Abigail and Christian have got the big picture right now.

What they really need to do is focus on the detail,

and the detail of this extension will lift it

from something that's bodged together

through to something that is potentially

really exquisitely beautiful.

How one board meets another, how it turns the corner,

how it goes into a window reveal - all those things,

that is really what they need to focus on now.

Abigail and Christian begin the challenging task

of fitting the plywood skin for their new interior.

The ceiling and the walls are going to be ply.

Originally, we wanted ply for the doors on the kitchen,

but I thought that would be too much,

so we've kept it to the walls and the ceiling.

They've gone for the shuttering ply, as Piers suggested.

It's cost them 380 quid for the wood

and another 300 for the fire-retardant treatment.

Every joint and fixing will be on show

so it's vital that it's fitted precisely.

Our friend who's a carpenter did say, "Ooh, that's a big job,"

but I thought, "Oh, he's talking rubbish."

But he clearly has worked with the stuff before

and understands how much of a big job it was!

And getting this right is not the only thing on their minds.

Pretty much ran out of money,

so it's slightly frustrating

that I'm now having to buy second-hand appliances

to fit in my brand-new kitchen.

Which is fine - I don't mind second hand,

I like second hand, I like reusing, but I did want SOME new stuff.

I am excited.

I'm just frustrated at the time it's taking to get it done.

I think...

I'll call it a day.

Abigail and Chris were living in their dream family home,

but the devastating news that Abigail had a debilitating

illness meant they urgently needed to make alterations.

The kitchen was dark and awkward for Abigail to move around in.

They desperately needed a practical space

where they could all be together as a family,

which would also work for Abigail if she should ever need a wheelchair.

Abigail and Christian realised

that they needed to extend and replace the old lean-to.

With initial quotes more than double their budget of just £17,000,

Christian opted to do all the hard work himself.

Embracing Piers's idea of a light-filled extension

that fits into the local environment,

this build has tested them to their limits.

It's just 11 weeks

since they started the ambitious transformation of their home,

and Piers and I are back to see how they've got on.

-Hello!

-Hello!

-Hi, guys.

-Long time no see.

-Yeah, long time no see.

-How are you?

-Good, thanks.

-Good. So, how's it all been going?

Oh, very well.

We're exhausted, but we're so glad it's finished,

-and it's fantastic.

-Yes.

You're finished, then. You don't look covered in brick dust...

No, just got little bits of paint.

So, we can't wait to see what you've done.

-Will you let us take a look?

-Yeah, come and have a look.

-Come and see.

-Wow, look at this!

-That is absolutely

-extraordinary.

-Look at that!

It's a real piece of contemporary architecture

on the back of your house, I must say.

It really looks like it belongs, though.

It's a really contemporary thing, but actually,

totally appropriate for this context.

And it's a building that is very similar to those farm buildings

that we looked at a few months back.

I just love the way it gives you this completely usable,

beautifully proportioned space outside,

as well as obviously what's going to be a fantastic space inside.

I mean, that's exactly what good architecture should do, isn't it?

-You must be really thrilled.

-We are.

-We absolutely love it, don't we?

-Oh, over the moon.

Just can't believe how good it's turned out.

Wow! Well, it is just light and airy in here.

I mean, it's an amazing feeling, isn't it?

It is, it's lovely.

-This volume just feels really good.

-I think that's right,

I think this is really lofty, which is what I like about it.

It has real character, and it's kind of a quirky character -

you know, it's unusual.

And I really like the generosity of that corner window,

and I like the fact that it encourages you

to sit and linger in it.

I like these glimpsed views you get through these windows

that are placed over this corner.

This is a gloomy day, and this is really...

you know, it's a delight to be in. It doesn't feel dark.

I mean, these windows aren't the cheapest in the world, I mean,

they're absolutely beautiful, but how much did they cost?

The windows themselves cost around about £5,000,

the windows and doors all in -

but that's...they're aluminium, they're top-end glass,

and the reason we were able to afford that

is because of the other things saving money.

I very much like how you've used unfinished materials

that lots of people would ordinarily think you need to cover up,

but that's been a bit of a struggle, hasn't it?

Trying to convince people that it's OK to have concrete on the floor

and plywood on the walls.

Everybody, everybody, I think, that we've spoken to,

has said, "You can't use that. Why are you using the cheapest ply?"

But it looks lovely!

But what's also great about these materials, like plywood,

is they're things that you can do yourself,

whereas plaster is a tricky thing that you need years of skill -

and here you can do this yourself.

It's cheap, it's simple and it's easy.

Tell me the difference that this makes

for family life around the house.

Well, the main thing was to have everybody in one room, really,

so if I'm not well, and Chris is having to do more,

I can still be in here with him,

sat at the table or sat at the window,

and the children can still be in the room with us.

And also, once we level off the outside,

it'll be level access if I ever do have to go in a wheelchair.

-And I can see out of the window.

-Yeah.

-So it's perfect.

But it already seems like the whole space flows

so much better in general, which is more accessible.

-From the front door you can see straight out this window.

-Yeah.

Which is what we really wanted, didn't we?

So, you had £17,000 plus a bit of contingency to build this -

have you managed to pull it off for that money?

-We've used the contingency as well.

-But in total this is about £20,000.

About £20,000, we've managed to do the lot.

I think it's an amazing achievement for £20,000 -

I don't know about you, Piers, but per square metre,

this must be one of the best-value buildings I can imagine.

This is less than £1,000 a square metre,

and you've got something that's beautiful, inspiring

and truly unique for that money.

Abigail and Christian have ended up with a building

that THEY have designed, really, and they've built.

I think that is fantastic. They really OWN this.

What's absolutely fantastic about this build

is that Abigail and Christian

have been completely unafraid to apply directly loads of lessons

they've taken from some pretty serous works of architecture.

They've proven that those things aren't out of reach,

and they're not just for the people who can afford it.

They all have lessons that you can apply directly

in the most modest of builds, like this back extension.

And I'm really thrilled for them,

but I also think this is like a prototype -

it just shows can be done if you look carefully at influences,

and you then take those lessons

and apply them directly to your own build.

'Next time, a badly planned bungalow...'

It's not much of an arrival, is it?

'..is far from Ronnie and Nicky's dream family home.'

-Squeeze by!

-Yeah, sorry!

-There you go.

-This building is stopping you living the way you want to live.

-Yeah.

'But will they be forced to embrace

'a more adventurous and cheaper plan?'

You've got to change this, cos you don't have enough money to finish.

'And Nigel and Kim are living in a DIY danger zone.'

We just have this one space that we live in.

'But will they be able to decide where to start?'

My first question is, why you don't finish this space first?

I so want a lounge.

'And will the problems ever end?'

If they had a really good storm,

I think the chimney would have come down.