Your dream home renovation has turned into a nightmare — who are you going to call?
Reese Witherspoon and Stacey Solomon might not first spring to mind, but the Academy Award winner’s production company Hello Sunshine has launched a new UK-focused home makeover show fronted by the X Factor star.
Stacey Solomon’s Renovation Rescue, airing now on Channel 4, is helping despondent homeowners who have been ripped off by cowboy builders find low-cost solutions to help finish their projects.
A London couple facing a £140,000 bill to re-do expensive yet shoddy work on their extension are Solomon’s first port of call.
Erick, a web designer, and psychotherapist Caroline bought a two-bedroom detached bungalow in Enfield and commissioned builders to renovated and add an extension.
The workmen blew through their initial budget of £70,000 budget, racking up £10,000 in overspend before Caroline and Erick realised, to mounting horror, the work wasn’t even up to scratch.
An extensive professional survey revealed a whole host of issues, with dodgy electrics that needed to be entirely re-done and whole walls walls that had to be knocked down.
“I can’t imagine a day when we’ll be living here,” said a despondent Caroline, while Erick admitted the saga had been “super stressful”.
It would have cost them at least another £60,000 to fix all the mistakes with new builders, leaving the despairing couple considering borrowing money from family or re-mortgaging their property.
“When I first met Erick and Caroline, they were ground down by months of building problems — from faulty underfloor heating to leaking skylights,” says Solomon.
“They couldn’t see how their building site could ever be a home again.”
Solomon was also struggling to envision how her DIY workshops could help them save money while still delivering a liveable home.
“This is definitely going to be one of the toughest, biggest projects because the sheer amount of work that needs to be done leaves us with not much budget,” she said at the start of the episode.
“I feel a little bit apprehensive because you don’t know what hidden costs are going to be along the way.”
Together with a team of experts, Solomon helped the couple with budget DIY fixes to help defray some of the expenses, including fitting a sink and making their own transom windows.
The couple also saved thousands of pounds by designing and fitting a partition wall, fixing up furniture and painting the bedroom instead of paying people to do it. They even created a music room for Erick, who is also a keen singer.
“Their hard graft is evident all over the house,” Solomon said.
“They upcycled an old dining table by sanding it and changing the legs. The most stunning feature is the incredible pannelled door between the living and music rooms that we made together.”
Solomon is a keen proponant of DIY as a way to take ownership of a renovation project — as well as saving money when the budget has already been blown sky high.
“By doing so much of the work themselves, they have made this space uniquely theirs,” she said.
“The DIY that Erick and Caroline have achieved, hasn’t just saved them money, but it’s actually injected their personality into the project. It’s what brings the house to life and makes it feel like home.”
