Original subtitles

Here in the UK, we do love a period property.

I never dreamt I would own a castle.

For me, it looks like a typical doll's house.

From countryside houses...

It was everything you could dream of. It was a palace.

...to timeless terraces.

I turned up and I thought, "Whoa, this is pretty cute.

But beneath the grand facades...

Hopefully the house won't fall down. We'll see, won't we?!

...these historical homes are falling to bits.

Everyone told us to tear this building down.

All over the country, an army of renovators are snapping them up

at knockdown prices...

I think we should leave it like this. It looks old-timely.

...then facing challenges of epic proportions.

CRASHING

I said all along to get a new-build.

This series, we meet the brave new renovators...

We were looking for a bungalow with a shed.

...and return to our familiar band of determined dreamers...

Who else has got a chapel in their house?

...all risking everything...

I thought I had a good idea of what was needed.

I was quite wrong.

People think renovation is lovely, don't they?

HE CHUCKLES

Oh, God, I'm trembling.

...to create the forever home of their dreams...

Oh, my God, it's so nice!

...brick by brick...

Whoa! This is amazing. ...room by room.

I'm still having my pinch-me moment.

We're nowhere near finished, but it feels like a house now.

We are a renovation nation.

Today, we're back in Cumbria

at Graham and Jodie's 19th-century mansion,

where forgotten treasures are waiting to be discovered.

Now, they're good.

So I've got two of them on the staircase spindles.

That's a little treasure for me.

We return to the remote Isle of Gigha

as Andy and Karen protect their 200-year-old home

from the Hebridean weather.

Managed to retrieve, out of the window recesses,

six pairs of shutters.

I want to get one set stripped first.

And in Cheshire, we rejoin Matt and Charlotte as they attempt

to get their bathroom renovation back on track.

I always said to Matt, when we started this renovation,

I wanted him to go one room at a time.

And Matt, naturally, being Matt, ripped out seven.

In Cumbria, where the Lakes give way to the Yorkshire Dales National Park

sits the village of Maulds Meaburn, home to the imposing Flass House.

Built in the 1850s by two business leaders in the opium trade,

the mid-19th century grandeur of Flass

was in danger of being lost altogether,

as the house had been broken into by urban explorers

and even used as a cannabis farm... Look at the mad dog!

...until three years ago, when Graham, who runs a chain of hair salons,

and wife Jodie stepped in to save the historical house,

buying it at auction for just £460,000.

We fell in love with it. Everyone thought we were crazy.

It was in a really bad state.

Earlier this week, we saw Graham and Jodie kick off the renovation

of their huge Victorian glasshouse, which was originally built

to show off collections of exotic plants like camellias.

So what I'm doing is just looking

to see if I can find any curved stones,

because we've lost these and I want them back.

And in doing so, they unearthed more secrets

about their 19th-century home.

Yeah, we've got another room and I didn't pay for it. It's free.

Flipping 'eck. Oh, that's amazing.

And it's not just their 59-roomed house that holds secrets.

Come on.

So today, Graham is exploring the outbuildings.

So we've got this amazing building,

architecturally interesting in my opinion.

It's listed, Grade II, as all the site is actually.

With the long-term plan of turning the old coach houses

into holiday lets,

right now, these 19th-century outbuildings

are in desperate need of repair,

with a leaking roof threatening to damage the treasure trove

of items left behind by former owners.

And Graham's hoping to find some historical wonders he can put

to good use in the main house.

Where do we start?

Helping once again is trusted contractor Derek,

whose family have been working in and around Flass for over 40 years.

I want to keep everything we can that's original to the building,

I want to reuse it.

Look at that, it's oak, I imagine.

It'll be handmade again.

I reckon that'll polish up, with hundreds of years of patina.

Let's try it the way it was originally.

It looks as though there's different slots,

as though they could go in different heights, doesn't it?

I love revealing it all and putting it back together.

It's a jigsaw puzzle.

When it's all done, it'll look smart.

Finding part of the original horse stalls is quite the result.

So Graham ventures upstairs

to where the stable hands might have once lived.

Right, now, will the lead reach?

And just like the main house, it's full of surprises.

That's someone's underwear there.

Definitely Derek's. Derek left his underwear here.

I'm curious to see what we find.

I'm hoping there's something of value.

Oh, my God, it is a junkyard, isn't it?

Modern. Rubbish.

Oh, a door. I've always liked doors.

So if I found a door with a lock,

it'd be great, but these are cheap doors compared to Flass.

Flass, I wouldn't be able to lift, the doors are really heavy.

Now they're good because I've got two of them

on the staircase spindles.

They go on the newel post out in the main... on the back,

what you used to call the private staircase

that used to lead to the master bedroom.

Now there's two of them still on, and I wondered

where the others are.

Now I know, they're here,

so they can go on the top of the staircases.

That's a little treasure for me. Little things make me happy.

Sixty Years A Queen, 1895.

Now, I like things like that.

Saddles. Now I wonder how old they are?

Bearing in mind, this was a coach house.

I like the mystery of the past.

This is an old umbrella stand, isn't it?

Oh, we're rich.

They're 2ps. Not old, not rich.

But with the leaky coach house roof still in desperate need of attention,

any sudden change in the Cumbrian weather

could seriously damage the artefacts left inside.

Got some treasure, got my lovely, lovely finial.

Been an OK day, hasn't it?

Right, onwards and upwards.

The Scottish Isle of Gigha is the southernmost island

of the Hebrides.

Home to just 170 people.

But in 2021, the population increased when the island welcomed

two new inhabitants, married couple Andy and Karen.

Good to see progress here.

They bought this rundown, nine-roomed former Church of Scotland manse,

originally built for the minister of the island,

for the heavenly price of £175,000.

I think we work well as a team generally.

I mean, we bicker, of course we do,

but we've not had a major falling out, so that's really good.

And we love each other still, even through it all!

As long as we get to the end of it, we're not bankrupt yet.

Yet. Yet.

Earlier this week, with renovations in the main house

in the hands of contractors,

we saw Andy and Karen upgrade from their caravan

into the first of their newly renovated shepherd's huts,

which will eventually become their self-catering glamping business.

Today, Andy and Karen are turning their attentions

back to the Old Manse and what will become their dream kitchen.

Interior walls have been reconstructed, flooring levelled,

and the first fix of plumbing and electrics completed.

The builders have done a tremendous job in the last month.

The kitchen is now framed out.

It's much easier to feel the space and how it's going to look.

I'm happy with our kitchen design now.

We're not quite on the homeward straight towards being in yet,

but we are more confident in the timescales

that we've been promised.

With walls to be painted, flooring to go down and an entire kitchen

to be fitted, it's fair to say they've got their work cut out.

Although Andy and Karen have opted for a turnkey contractor,

who completes all the work and hands over a finished property,

the couple still save time and money

by doing some of the prep work themselves.

Today, Andy is working on the stairway, which leads

from the kitchen up to the main living room.

I'm going to look at taking off the rest of this mortar

to allow the builders, who are back on Monday,

to frame out all of this wall.

The gap on the stairs already is quite narrow,

and I'm trying to get back as much space as possible.

Installing a timber frame on the interior of stone walls

allows insulating boards to be fitted to keep the house toasty

in the Hebridean climate.

We're trying to keep the Georgian look and feel,

but put a bit more love back into the property at the same time.

From walls to windows,

as Karen focuses on the Old Manse's original wooden window shutters

which will be reinstated in the kitchen and throughout the house.

I need to find my tools.

They've withstood the Scottish weather for over 150 years,

and Karen is hoping they'll weather a storm for many more years to come.

Managed to retrieve, out of the window recesses,

six pairs of shutters.

I want to get one set stripped first.

I think they're going to be fine. I mean, they feel pretty solid.

Today's tool of choice is a heat gun.

The stream of hot air the gun emits

causes moisture and air trapped under the paint to expand,

blistering the paint and making it easier to scrape off.

It's like a glorified hairdryer.

But you do have to be careful not to scorch the wood.

I'm hoping to have a nice, smooth, raw wood so I can then reprime

and repaint it.

That's a good starter for ten.

Actually, I just think it looks like one layer of paint.

I don't know what you think.

That particular shutter you've got there looks in reasonable condition

as well, which is pleasing. Yeah. I'll have to chip away at it.

We're getting there. We are getting there.

Taking on a house with such an important role in the lives

of the island's residents is not lost on Andy and Karen.

Lots of people have been really interested in coming around,

seeing what we're doing.

They were christened in the manse or they went to classes in the manse

and it's just been really lovely.

It's a beautiful house.

It's going to be standing for another 200 years, hopefully,

and we're going to help that happen.

Yeah, we love Gigha.

I don't think we could have found a better place to settle.

Coming up...

Wired for sound...

Matt faces the music with his bathroom renovation.

I really want to get this bathroom finished.

How many months have we been on this bathroom? Ten years.

And in Cumbria, Graham's finials keep Jodie guessing.

Did they go here?

They're either legs off something

or the tops off a four-poster bed.

In Cheshire, near the market town of Northwich,

stands the 14-roomed Hartford House.

Originally set on 13 acres of land, the land was eventually sold off,

and the 228-year-old main house was split in three.

In 2020, the four-bedroomed front part went up for auction,

needing major structural repairs.

Seeing the beauty behind the battered brickwork,

Matt, a supercar pimper,

and Charlotte, who works for a tech company,

immediately fell in love with its Georgian charms.

Obviously just the sheer size of it with.

Just the character, it was really oldy-worldy.

We've got to have that house.

They won it at auction for £490,000,

but soon realised what they were up against.

Matt kind of reassured me and said,

"I'm not worried about anything, it's all going to be fine."

And then I overheard him having a conversation

with one of our friends saying,

"I think I've bit off more than I can chew here."

Earlier this week, Matt and Charlotte created

a beautiful new bedroom for their four-year-old daughter, Scarlett.

Wow!

But when Matt set out to finish the family bathroom...

...their 228-year-old house had other ideas.

You can see how it's all moved.

And when Matt spotted signs of severe structural movement

on the landing ceiling...

You can see a bow in the ceiling.

...their bathroom reno was put on pause

as Matt took drastic action to save their family home from collapse.

The aftermath of the mess is just horrific.

But out of dust and debris came the start

of a beautiful mezzanine floor.

You can see how it comes together now.

It just makes such a difference.

Today, Matt and Charlotte's focus is fixed firmly back

on a luxurious family bathroom.

Having already taken the original bathroom back to brick,

replaced the ceiling and levelled the floor,

it's now just a matter of plumbing the bath, sink and loo,

installing the taps and sorting some of the electrics.

And also bringing to life

Matt's modern-day vision for their Georgian home...

I line the holes up and then I can find the centre.

...with a sound system.

But as a qualified engineer with a love of straight lines,

he's not making it easy for himself.

I don't want to put the speakers there

because it's a waste of the room,

they probably won't even work great being dead close.

I also don't want them, like, sort of too far wide.

I do want them central.

It's just, do you do them wider?

I'm not sure.

This could take some time.

I think we're just going to go for it.

Do centre about here, there and there.

The next challenge is making speaker-sized holes in the ceiling.

It's what Matt does best. That's all right.

Mounting the speakers could have been a 20-minute job,

and it's probably going to turn into a couple of hours.

As any renovator will testify, there's no such thing

as just a 20-minute job.

So is it going to be that big? Yeah, but it'll have a cover.

It's just it'll have a mesh over it, a white mesh. OK.

The problem is I'm gonna have to cut the joist in the loft.

Ever get a sense of deja vu, Charlotte?

I always said to Matt, when we started this renovation,

I wanted him to go one room at a time.

And Matt, naturally, being Matt, ripped out seven.

So it's like, here we are.

I really want to get this bathroom finished.

How many months have we been on this bathroom? Ten years.

Moment of truth.

Hole's too tight.

Oh, dear. Never reads the instructions.

Just likes to have a go.

And then he goes back and reads the instructions.

It's still a tight squeeze.

It's hitting this little bit of wood here that sits

just below the pipe. That's what it's hitting.

Oh, miles off. Pipe's got to come out then.

True to the renovation playbook, one job leads to another.

Before Matt cuts the pipes, he's got to drain the heating system.

With the water pipe successfully drained, cut and relocated,

Matt's new speaker system is soundly in place.

Need to see if it works. The moment of truth.

I was just going for a bit of disco. Oh, yeah?

MUSIC PLAYS

It works.

And the bathroom entertainment doesn't end there.

We went to Dubai a few years ago

and we had a TV in front of the bath. Wow.

So we ummed and ahhed,

it was quite expensive to do, a lot of messing,

but if we're going for it, we're going for it, so...

So, yeah, just over the top as usual. But it should be nice.

Not like the bathroom that I had growing up in a council house.

It's nice to be able to give our kids that level of luxury

and, you know, they're going to grow up in an unbelievable house.

It is going to be insane.

But we just need to get it done because at the rate we're going,

they're probably going to be left home by the time it's done.

Right, I suppose I'm in the bath then.

Would you go lower? No.

Just there. Would you?

Right there. Is that about right?

That's perfect.

Unlike regular TV's, bathroom televisions are specifically

designed to withstand humidity and moisture,

but power leads and sockets do need to be tucked safely away

within the wall so they can't get wet.

Need to get one of them bath pillows as well.

The TV may be in, but with plumbing and electrics still to do,

bath time remains a long way off for Matt and Charlotte.

Over 100 miles north in Cumbria, at Flass House,

Graham's been exploring the old coach house and stables

tucked away on their 17-acre site.

Ta-da! Oh, yeah, you found them.

Perfect. Thank you.

Graham found these up at the coach houses

and we were wondering what they were for.

We thought they might be finials off the staircase

and we have used two of these before in the past,

but he's found another two

so we just need to see if it'll work

and if we can use these somewhere.

So I'll go and have a look.

Just through the door is the old private staircase

leading to the bedrooms.

It may not be on public show, but Jodie's ensured

it's just as carefully considered as everywhere else in the house.

The original finials had been smashed off,

and we've tried to stain it up to look like it was original,

and there's another one at the top as well.

So the idea was, did they go here?

But... I'm thinking not.

And looking at these, I do think that they are

off a piece of furniture.

So they're either legs of something that have been taken off

to make a piece of furniture fit somewhere

or the tops of a four-poster bed

and that would explain why there's four of them.

We'll just keep hold of them and see if we can use them somewhere else.

For Graham and Jodie,

owning a house as vast as theirs comes with many challenges,

and sometimes not all of them renovation related.

One of the challenges is you've made dinner

and everyone's sat up in their bedrooms.

I message them and I say your dinner's ready,

but you can guarantee that when you need them,

they won't answer the phones.

They're probably sat there laid by it, just ignoring you

or it's on silent or they're playing on computer game

and haven't seen.

With modern technology being ignored, and if the kids

don't hear their mum calling... Archie!

...there's nothing for it but to climb the three flights of stairs...

...cross the galleried landing...

Honestly, the Victorians did it right.

...and like parents everywhere,

wait hands on hips for a response.

COMPUTER GAME PLAYS

I've been calling you. Your dinner's ready.

How about answering your WhatsApp messages once in a while?

I've actually gotten really good at drifting.

Oh. Have you? That's good then.

Oh, that's good. He's got good at drifting on his computer game,

but he can't come for his lunch.

But the Victorians who once resided in Flass House

had a much more reliable method of communication,

which revealed itself to Jodie

when a leaky roof popped open one of the ceiling boards,

exposing an entire bell system.

We're looking at the servants bell wires, which run the full length

of the servants quarters and connect to the bells

that are just outside the kitchen.

They're in really good condition.

It's just a case of working out which one goes to which bell.

There's two per room, so on each side of the fireplace.

You need them matching, really,

but we're just going to, for now, get hold of what we can get hold of

because they're few and far between.

Although you can get modern ones that say "ring for champagne".

Only joking, I won't do that!

Don't worry, I'll buy the real ones.

Bit by bit, Jodie's building a collection

of her online purchases to restore the whole system.

This is part of a bell pull that's been discarded on the floor,

which we're going to try and restore.

And some of them had, like, ivory finishes.

I know that obviously you wouldn't want that now,

but it is part of history.

These are all going to get polished up.

They are brass underneath.

And I think we've got about 40 to collect.

And, uh, I'm probably 15 in.

Got a lot of bells to buy.

Whilst restoring treasures inside the house is commendable,

outside there is still the pressing matter of saving the roof

of their Grade II listed coach house and barns.

Coming up...

Andy has some house rules in place

at his Isle of Gigha renovation.

I keep telling people that they need to wipe their feet

as they go out, rather than they come back in.

And in Cumbria, Graham is up on the roof

and struggling to follow his own advice.

What you're meant to do...

and it's quite hard because, they're thick, is come along...

Ah, I think that's had it.

Just off Scotland's west coast on the Isle of Gigha,

Andy and Karen's dream kitchen is starting to become a reality.

New flagstone flooring has been laid,

kitchen units and cupboards have been fitted

and the windows have been prepped, ready for the installation

of Andy and Karen's renovated shutters.

This is the first room that has really started to

come to a realisation of all the planning over the last two years.

It's been a long journey and it's great to see something

now taking shape.

Unfortunately, progress has been slow elsewhere.

It's been a month since Andy and Karen's drive to prepare

the stairwell for the new walls to go up,

but they're still surrounded by dust and debris.

I keep telling people that they need to wipe their feet

as they go out, rather than they come back in.

The supporting lintel Andy had found under the plaster

was rotten, leading them to check the rest of the house.

Probably between eight and ten were rotten.

We took the decision to do all the lintels, which has probably

put us about a month back in the schedule

and again cost me more in budget.

But this is what's cost us the time, lintels going in everywhere.

But we're now confident we've got a great structural job done.

And with the kitchen moving closer to completion,

Andy's feeling rightly chuffed.

It's the first time I've had the luxury of a kitchen

built to my design from scratch.

So that's a really big thing for me.

And although there are only two of us,

I hope that we can install our dining table,

which will seat about 12,

and we can have a great social life on the island

and see many people dine at this kitchen.

Before Andy can be the host with the most,

today, the specialist fitters are on site to install

Andy and Karen's new onyx worktops.

With Karen away taking care of her mum,

Andy is on hand to ensure the install is fuss free.

Shiny. Used in jewellery for centuries,

this ancient gemstone is similar to marble and granite.

A few minor alterations, as I expected,

but hopefully we'll see it in today.

With a few cuts to ensure the sinks are a good fit...

That's fine. You feel like an expectant father, don't you?

...soon the hob area and the coffee station are both in place.

Good.

In the centre of the kitchen,

the biggest piece of onyx is for the island...

Looking good. ...which needs careful measurement

to ensure the overhang is equal on each side.

How we looking, Ross? Bang on.

Fantastic. That's a good start.

Just check my legs. Not my legs, these ones.

I call them legs, downturns.

Um, just make sure that we get the right height now. Brilliant.

Get them cut and get them on as well. Looking good.

At each end of the island,

the look is completed by an upright piece, creating a waterfall design

seamlessly flowing from the top to the floor.

Ensuring they are level is a precision job.

Yeah, pleased with that.

This kitchen, I think, has more square foot than either the caravan

or the shepherd's hut

that we've lived in for the last two years now.

It'll be good to get life back.

I know Karen would echo that if she was here today,

she'd be saying she wants life back to normal.

Renovation is not for the faint-hearted.

Just four hours after they arrived,

the worktops and end pieces are in place, secure

and bringing the whole room one step closer to being a working kitchen.

There's a lot to do still, but let's not take any gloss off today.

It's gone really well and I am delighted with what they've done.

With the rest of the Old Manse looking far from ready,

Andy and Karen's move into their new home is still a long way off.

Over 240 miles away in Cumbria, Graham is back at the coach house

and stables, with builder Deano making much-needed repairs

to the leaking roof.

I'm a roofer today. Deano's taught me how to do it over the years.

Without careful attention, the decades of decay could lead

to irreparable damage to the structure below.

These are diminishing slates.

They start off at 39 inch from here to here at the bottom.

And then by the time you get to the top,

they're dropping down each thing by about an inch.

Diminishing slate roofs remain a popular choice today,

but in Victorian times, they were a sign of wealth,

with the largest and most expensive tiles

in line of sight at the lowest point.

But originally this design was to allow for the variations in size

of cutting a natural product

and place the largest over the house walls,

which could support the extra weight of the larger tiles.

And all you've got to do is just make sure they overlap

by five centimetres so the water runs away.

Graham and Deano are replacing broken slates a row at a time

to ensure no gaps are missed.

And some of the larger tiles can be cut to fit

if you know what you're doing.

I'm right-handed, but what you're meant to do,

and it's quite hard because they're thick,

is come along...

Ah! And it gives you a rough edge along there.

I think that's had it, but let me just check.

I hope he's got spares.

Over there, there was piles of them in the old conservatory,

so we've got quite a lot of spare slate, thank God.

What we haven't got a lot of is the big ones,

so we've got to be really careful we don't snap the big ones,

and they're hard to get hold of now. So you don't want me smashing them.

And you've just seen how easy they are to smash.

I'll have another go. If at first you don't succeed.

That's the spirit, Graham. Fingers crossed.

When they've been put on before, they've used steel screws.

It is original, but they're steel

and they won't come out, they're a bugger.

We're using copper. They never rust and they're soft so they bend out.

Second time lucky...

And it doesn't always go to plan. ..or not.

As well as being a champion cutter, Deano is just as passionate as Graham

about doing a good job.

I love it, love it.

I wake up with a smile on my face every day coming to work.

There's not many people that can say that.

Time for Deano to give a masterclass in slate trimming.

I'm hoping he breaks it now too.

No, that one's cracked.

Had a big fracture down it. Yay!

But Deano's quick to find a replacement.

There you go.

That'll do it, buddy. There you go.

Here's one we made earlier. Ha-ha-ha!

The copper nail goes in and the slate is held firmly in place.

Actually, roofing I find really relaxing.

And it's satisfying seeing it come along, isn't it?

It's nice to see the building restored.

A month later...

the first nip of autumn is in the air, and Graham and Jodie

are back at the coach house to consider their next steps.

We replaced the roof, so we're now watertight.

It's all back to how it was.

It's a shame the water's got in and damaged the chairs

and the mirrors that were left behind.

It's great to see the start of it coming together.

It'll be good to be able to carry on and get some more work finished.

Flass House is now liveable.

It was on the Building at Risk Register,

it's now off the Building at Risk Register.

We've secured it for the future.

With stage one of the renovations complete in the main house,

the epic transformation of this once battered beauty of the Victorian era

isn't lost on our dedicated DIY-ers.

Buying a derelict English country house

is going to be a cocktail of emotions.

You're going to love it, you're going to hate it.

It's going to cause a divorce,

so that's why I'm shovelling the mud out.

This six months has been all of that.

Well, that was awful. I'm absolutely covered.

There's always something going wrong.

Oh, my God, all this is going to have to come off.

But sometimes, you wander around at the end of the day

and you see the work you've done and you go, "It's worth it."

Slice of paradise down here, it's stunning.

Yeah, it is, it's lovely.

I think that there's a lot that's been done.

There's still a lot left to do,

but the work that we've done, I think is fantastic.

I never thought we'd get here, to be honest.

We both have fallen in and out of love with it on a regular occasions,

but most of the time we're in love with it.

We're not selling up and moving abroad

to a two-roomed house, are we, this week? Not yet.

Coming up...

Renovators under review...

...Charlotte's upcycling skills get a closer inspection.

So I've had to bring Matt in for quality control.

You're getting there, you're a solid six and a half.

That's not bad.

And on the Isle of Gigha, the verdict is in

on Andy's painting skills.

I need to learn a bit more finesse, I'm told by my wife.

But it's never been a strong point of mine.

A bit more, Captain Bodge-it.

In Cheshire, Matt and Charlotte's bathroom renovation

is almost finished.

This is it? What do we think?

With the plumbing, wiring and painting completed,

Matt and Charlotte's much delayed bath time is drawing closer.

But there's just one final project left to do,

build some bespoke bathroom storage.

We wanted something maybe a bit vintagey,

a really nice-looking unit, but we've struggled like mad.

Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees.

We had a bookshelf that had been left by the previous owners,

and we thought, I wonder if we can upcycle it and turn it

into something, you know, a custom piece.

So I'm just hoping that I can live up to Matt's very high expectations.

Right, so, let's get it downstairs. Let's crack on. Yep.

Charlotte is going to sand the shelf unit down before she paints it.

And Matt is going to cut and fit a handmade, detailed door.

I'm thinking we're going to put some sort of beading,

maybe give it a bit of a period, sort of, shaker look.

SANDER BUZZES

I'm just hoping if I can rough it up enough,

then the paint will stick to it,

and it'll give us a nice sort of matt finish.

It's time for the first inspection.

So I've had to bring Matt in for quality control.

As we all know, he's rather particular.

The verdict is in.

You're getting there, you're a solid six and a half.

That's not bad.

Charlotte can see the finishing line for the bathroom in sight.

Bathroom is, like, so close now.

I feel so excited to have it finished.

18 months ago, Matt and Charlotte

began their marathon bathroom renovation,

stripping the whole room back to brick

and starting again from scratch.

Now, after months of hard graft and a few unexpected delays...

If I crack the plaster, well, that's what I don't want to happen.

...Matt and Charlotte's hotel-inspired bathroom

is five-star luxury at its finest.

I can't stop walking in and going, "Wow!

"Wow, this is our bathroom."

Yeah. It definitely feels strange, doesn't it?

And the results are a testament to Matt and Charlotte's hard work.

It's a complete transformation, isn't it?

Yeah, a lot of work has gone into this.

I didn't want it to be like half a job.

I didn't want to walk in and think, "I could have done that better."

Matt and Charlotte have been able to bring their vision

of a luxury bathroom to life.

We saw literally a snippet of a bathroom on a catalogue

and we were like, "Oh, I really like that."

And we've kind of taken that image, made it our own,

brought in all the little additional features and things that we wanted

to tailor-make it to how we wanted it to look.

The colour scheme of gold fixtures, white basin, bath and black tiling

have been followed throughout.

It doesn't look too modern and it doesn't look too old.

It looks like it belongs here.

So that's just another little thing along the way that we've done

and it has worked out right.

It's absolutely perfect, isn't it, this room?

There's nothing out of place.

In Matt's eyes, everything's square, everything's level.

Every detail has been considered right down to their brand-new toilet.

You look at the detail like the toilet.

I mean, you feel like you're sitting on a throne when you go for a wee!

Charlotte's hard work and Matt's finessing has transformed

an old bookshelf into a stylish storage solution with panelled door

and gold bar handle.

As long as you've got, you know, a little bit of an idea

of what you're doing

and, yeah, it looks really well. I'm quite happy with it.

Yeah, it looks good.

It did take a lot of teamwork between me and Matt,

making sure that we were both happy with it.

And I think that's why it's so special.

Over the last six months, Matt and Charlotte's teamwork

has certainly made their renovation dream work.

From their luxurious family bathroom and a beautiful bedroom for Scarlett

to the start of a modern mezzanine level,

flooding the hallway with light.

But with so much to do before Matt and Charlotte's forever home

is finished, it's their drive and determination that will keep

their renovation on track.

What we've taken on is such a huge project,

so there's an element of like, are we stupid

or are we quite inspirational? I don't know.

And I think we're probably somewhere in between.

In the last few months, the house has come on

leaps and bounds, a lot better than we could have ever imagined.

We're really proud of it. We love it, don't we?

We go upstairs, we look at the bathroom, and we're like,

"Wow, that's ours. We love it."

On the Scottish Isle of Gigha, it's September.

In the Old Manse,

Andy and Karen are pushing ahead in the hope they can finally

move out of the shepherd's hut and into their forever home.

With many rooms now ready for decorating,

Andy's been sanding the original wooden flooring,

removing centuries of dirt and varnish.

But it's the kitchen where they've seen most of the progress.

Andy, are you just about to come and get some paint? Yes, I am.

I'll leave it open then.

With just the painting left to do in here,

before Andy can finally graduate from the single hob in the shepherd's hut

to his new dream kitchen, there's nothing for it but to crack on.

But soon it becomes clear that painting is not

Andy's strong point.

Painting white on white, it's quite difficult to spot where you've been.

It's not my favourite thing anyway.

I need to learn a bit more finesse, I'm told by my wife.

But it's never been a strong point of mine.

Uh, a bit more Captain Bodge-it.

For Karen, painting the kitchen has brought back

some childhood memories.

My dad always used to do the decorating at home,

and I hope my mum forgives me for saying this,

but every new year at 11:30,

he'd be putting away the step ladder

and going for a quiet bath!

And the whole house had to be spotless.

It's a Scottish thing about welcoming in the new year

with a clean house.

I hope you won't still be up that ladder this New Year's Eve, Karen.

While the paint dries,

Andy and Karen have another important job to do.

Karen started the long job of renovating

all the house's original shutters,

and now the carpenter has made some adjustments to this one,

they need to see if it fits.

I think certainly, given being on a Scottish island in winter,

it won't just block out the light, it'll block out the weather as well

a bit, I should think.

These were all kind of painted in.

It's nice to put something original back up.

Do you want me to road-test it? Yeah, yeah.

See what it's like.

Once it catches on there, that's going to block out 99% of the light.

That's good. Good job, Karen.

Good job, Andy.

It's been two years since Karen and Andy moved their lives

to the Isle of Gigha and bought the Old Manse

in search of a slower and quieter pace of life.

With walls to plaster and rooms to decorate,

the Old Manse might not be quite ready to move into,

but the all-important kitchen that for so long has been a building site

is finally the heart of the home.

Oh, it's looking good.

Looks very different, doesn't it? Very, very different.

Smart, navy cupboards and white onyx worktops

create the contemporary style they hoped for.

The huge central island gives Andy the space

he's been so patiently waiting for,

and Karen's separate coffee zone is cleverly built

into the wall with added storage.

This is the coffee station, so it's got a little sink and tap

and I'll keep all my mugs, we'll get a shelf up.

I'll get all my mugs and all the things for making tea and coffee.

I'm going to have a nice window seat at the front.

And then I'm not far from the coffee machine with my mug

to sit in the window seat and look at the world go by.

For Andy, all the modern comforts are a far cry from months

in the caravan and the shepherd's hut.

Really looking forward to this.

I've joked all along that for the last six months

in our nomadic existence, it's been one-pot cooking.

But to have a hob with five rings and seeing it now,

I think it's brilliant.

Three glass pendants give Andy plenty of light to work by,

and with an additional feature light hanging by the window,

the room is positively glowing.

I'm loving the shutters on the window being back.

That's a great feature.

And as if on cue, the Scottish weather decides it's time

to test them out.

Just a big flash of lightning there! Yeah!

So this is the point of, hopefully, we'd have the option

to keep the weather out so we can ignore the thunder and lightning

outside as it comes down.

But I think what we're going to be doing is we're going to be sitting

on that wee bench seat there with a mug of tea or a mug of coffee

or a glass of wine and just watching.

Watching it strike. Yeah.

As well as finishing the kitchen,

the past six months have seen Andy and Karen build the first of several

shepherd's huts, laying the foundation for their future

holiday rental business.

And now, with work in the main house moving to the decoration stage,

it won't be long before Andy and Karen can really celebrate

and start to enjoy island life.

The theory that we came to the island because of its beauty

and the peace and tranquillity it offers,

renovation is not peace and tranquillity by any means,

and we're looking forward to renovation being... Being finished.

This is our forever home, isn't it?

I'm really looking forward to when the house is finished,

just going down to the beach, having a walk along,

feeling the sea breeze, taking a book,

sitting on a rock and just enjoying the peace and quiet

because it's lovely and quiet on this island.

Really enjoying the outdoor lifestyle

is what I'm looking forward to.

Five new renovators take on epic projects.

You can see everything start to take shape.

Remnants of the past... It looks fantastic, doesn't it?

...in a Victorian mansion in Northumberland.

No matter what, it was going to be repaired and put back.

In a Cumbrian manor house...

Everyone told us to tear this building down

and here we are now putting up lampshades.

...exciting renos crank up a notch.

My God, it's so nice!

And at a derelict castle in Scotland...

There's no degrees in here today.

...a couple are recreating history.

Who else has got a chapel in their house?

...from decades of rubble.

I'm just worried that I'm not going to do it right.