Stacey Solomon helps couple who wasted £70k on unfinished extension as part of new DIY show Renovation Rescue

Stacey Solomon helped a couple with their bungalow extension as part of her new show Stacey Solomon's Renovation Rescue.

Caroline, a psychotherapist, and her husband Erick, a web designer, from Enfield, London, were building an extension for their two bed detached bungalow but came unstuck after builders left the job unfinished after they were paid £70,000.

Stacey though came and gave the couple tips and design ideas inspired by minimalist Japandi (Japanese and Scandinavian) architecture, which also crucially helped them save on their already stretched budget and we take a look at the final result.

Couple left with uninhabitable home after spending £70k 

A year ago the couple hired builders to extend and renovate the property for £70,000 and the couple had to move into Caroline's parent's house whilst the work was being done.

However, the couple realised things were amiss as Erick said: "I realised the work starting to be bad quite early on. I took pictures of the roof and said "This is not straight" and they said "Oh it's not going to be like that".

"They sealed everything and it was still the same, slopey... That's when we realised like you don't know what you're doing."

Bags of screed were also used to cover the underfloor heating that the couple noticed said on the back "Not Suitable For Underfloor Heating" and the skylight in the kitchen-diner was leaking.

The couple hired new builders after nine months who told them the extension cost would now be £140,000, double their initial budget, to complete the work due to undoing the previous builders' errors.

Stacey gets 'hands on' removing window panes

Inside the extension there were windows above the entrance to the bedrooms that the couple had initially decided to remove. 

However, after convincing from Stacey who liked the daylighting that came from the windows the couple decided to simply replace the windows instead.

Stacey duct taped the windows shut to stop them shattering and then removed the pane by loosening the beading around it with a chisel and hammer.

"You know what it looks better already" Caroline said. Erick remarked he didn't expect Stacey to be so "hands on" with the project. 

Erick inspired by Stacey's advice replaced the glass in the internal windows by measuring the window frame before cutting the beading to size and holding the glass pane whilst the beading is fixed into place.

Stacey fits a bathroom sink

Although all the first fix plumbing had already been done in the extension a number of jobs were still needed such as fitting a basin and a toilet in the en suite.

"There's a lot of things in plumbing you really need to have professionals do, but there are some areas on the second fix we could do ourselves.

"Plumbing is not a string currently in my bow. It just really intimidates me but I'm excited to give it a go today."

Stacey and Erick installed the bathroom cabinet with the sink as well as attaching it to the water pipes after which Stacey excitedly said: "I'm gonna go home and say to Joe [Swash] "I've just fitted a sink today.""

The process saved around £300 by not hiring a plumber to do the work.

Stacey gives DIY guide to laminate flooring

The couple had also bought DIY friendly laminate flooring for the bedroom, which would cost around £50 per square metre to lay, so Stacey suggested doing the work themselves to save more money.

Stacey gave them a demonstration as to how the laminate flooring system works as she explained: "This is a general click system. Basically all of the planks click into one another and you lay it like brick work or block work."

Laying the floor themselves saved around £1500 but Stacey wasn't finished there as she also helped the couple install the decking outside.

With a mitre saw she cut the pieces into place before using a T-Clip system to attach the decking to the frame by screwing into T-Clips between boards that then tighten as they're screwed to create tightly fitted decking.

Erick stated: "The decking is amazing. I'm gonna do barbeques, and dancing, singing."

Couple saved £6k using pocket doors for the partition

The couple wanted a partition between a music room and the kitchen inside the extension, but Stacey gave the couple some other house extension ideas.

The couple wanted full height bi folding doors, which was estimated to cost £10,000 but to save on costs Stacey suggested: "If we reduce the size of the opening we could introduce some kind of pocket door system, and, potentially, something like that could cost around £4k rather than £10k. A massive saving."

Stacey helped the couple install the sliding pocket doors with oak panel cladding that also include soundproofing insulation.

With the final result Stacey called the doors her "favorite thing in the house" and even starting wondering where in her house she could install pocket doors.

Finished home 'looks like a whole different house'

Image 1 of 3

When Stacey returned to see the Japandi bungalow designed home as she exclaimed: "It looks like a whole different house, doesn't it?"

The couple revealed to Stacey that they were quoted at the bear minimum £65,000 to get the work done, even with doing a lot of the work themselves, but they managed to complete the extension and renovation for £60,000.

After over a year of work the couple were finally able to live in their home again as Caroline stated: "I've fallen back in love with my home."

The first episode of Stacey Solomon's Renovation Rescue is available to watch on Channel 4.