A pair of strangers who partnered up in a bid to flip a run-down house into a sellable home, failed thanks to a cowboy builder blowing their budget.
Llyr, a communications worker from Llandeilo, and kitchen designer Elinor, from Cardiff, joined forces to try and bring a dilapidated terrace in Tonypandy, in the Rhondda Valley up to scratch.
The pair were part of Channel 4's renovation show The Great House Giveaway and bought the shell of a home for £62,500 at auction.
They were tasked with upgrading it, on a budget of £70,000 and within a tight timeframe.
Wales Online reports there was no boiler, no toilet, no staircase banisters, some damp, and a garden that looked like a tip.
Around 40% of their budget that was immediately swallowed up by a new boiler and central heating system.
But it was the back wall of the house that became the stuff of nightmares as Llyr hacked off the render right back to brick.
The show's host Simon O'Brien described their worrying situation as: "over budget, over schedule" and said the pair were "over the renovation".
But worse was to come.
The pair got quotes for the rear wall work and went for the cheapest and with the work done all the new render needed was a lick of exterior paint.
But Elinor soon discovered a new and worrying crack had appeared and so a surveyor was called.
lyr says the surveyor puts the work down to being "a bit of a cowboy job".
He said: "We need to find someone of a good standard to come and do the job correctly.
"It has put us in a tight spot in terms of budget and timings to sell the property."
And while they try and find someone to do the render again at short notice poor Llyr is up on the ladder again hacking off the render.
Simon is devastated for the pair, adding: "It really is bad news and it needs to be done properly. What a nightmare."
He takes pity on Llyr and Elinor and says he will reimburse their reno budget with the cost of the original job as the builder refuses to come back and review the work.
By the end of the renovation Llyr and Elinor have only a few weeks in which to sell the property and even though the estate agent values their completed house at £105,000 it is put on the market for £99,950 for a quick sale.
Simon returns to deliver the verdict to the anxious first-time renovators.
The house was bought for £62,500, they went over budget from £7,000 to £10,497, and costs, fees, and interest came to £14,934 – leaving them a profit of £4,069 to share between them.
