DIY SOS’ most jaw-dropping disasters as makeover show returns to BBC: From properties COLLAPSING to furious builders storming off set and ‘botch jobs’ that saw homeowners ‘truly exploited’
DIY SOS has been a staple of British television since it was first broadcast in October 1999 with a simple premise – professionals helping to fix DIY jobs gone wrong.
While the series has created some surprising transformations over the years, not every featured story has a happy ending.
In fact, some homeowners claimed professionals had ‘ruined’ their properties, with angry workers occasionally leaving the set.
Now, as the series returns with a brand new season this month, fans are reflecting on their biggest DIY SOS disasters.
From builders storming the set despite the show’s intent to alleged near-fatal defects, there have been cases where properties have fallen dramatically short of expectations after receiving the DIY SOS treatment.
2017
But not all DIY SOS failures over the years have affected homeowners, and in 2017 the repair of a house in Hull proved too much for a builder called Chris.
He actually walked off the set of the show after learning that the property’s ceiling had to be torn down and rebuilt.
DIY SOS has become a staple of British TV since it first aired in October 1999 with a simple premise – professionals help fix DIY jobs gone wrong (pictured here is the show’s presenter Nick Knowles)
Now, as the series returns with a brand new season this month, fans are reflecting on the biggest DIY SOS disasters, including a builder running off set.
Builder Chris couldn’t stand it after learning the property’s ceiling had to be torn down and rebuilt
Presenter Nick Knowles said: ‘This means two chips will be hanging from Chris’s newly plastered ceiling. This isn’t going to go well.’
Before going out Chris shouted angrily: ‘This is the last plaster job done on this house.’
Nick replied: ‘Oh no, it’s not like that! Everyone who thinks they have stopped plastering takes one step forward. Chris, where do you think you’re going?’
The angry builder replied: ‘What do you mean, okay? How can you leave a sentence like that and finish it with completion? There’s nothing right about this!’
2018
One of the more memorable flops in 2018 was a £200,000 semi-detached house in Devon. Bizarrely, the owner’s daughter, Lauren, claimed her room had been made smaller as a result of work done by DIY SOS.
But the final product was even worse for his father Stuart, who had to tend the wall after repairs.
Stuart’s mother, who gave up her home to move in with the father-daughter duo, also struggled with the work as she did not have as much space in the renovated property as she had in her own home.
Stuart said: ‘Mum was much happier there before. ‘He had more space and he had friends.’
One memorable flop in 2018 was a £200,000 semi-detached house in Devon; Bizarrely, the owner’s daughter, Lauren (R), claimed that her room had actually become smaller as a result of the work done by DIY SOS.
2020
Another DIY SOS fail that affected the whole family took place in 2023, when homeowner Peter Chapman claimed he was left with a property with defects so major they almost caused a fatal accident.
According to him, just a day after the completion of the work, the aid bars installed in the bathroom for his wheelchair-bound wife and daughter came loose.
Part of the hallway of the Cheltenham house is also said to have collapsed, which Peter says could have caused a fatal accident.
Other problems included a leaky roof and cracks in the walls; This led to the BBC offering Peter £15,000 in compensation.
However, the homeowner refused this amount, insisting that it would cost more than that to repair his property.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘DIY SOS has stolen my last three years and the stress is killing me.’
Help sticks installed in the bathroom for this homeowner’s wheelchair-bound wife and daughter came loose during another DIY SOS disaster
Other problems included a leaky roof and cracks in the walls; these problems led the BBC to offer Peter £15,000 in compensation.
2025
But as host Nick explained before the final season aired, some DIY SOS failures were completely avoidable.
Speaking on The One Show, he said one house was nearly submerged due to the language barrier between builders.
Nick said: ‘Yeah, so there’s often a language barrier between builders anyway! In this process, which is called the free and open exchange of ideas in political circles, we often catch each other by the collar. So this can get pretty hot.
‘But in this particular case, we were really racing towards the end of construction; There were about 200 people in this three-bedroom semi. And suddenly the plumber comes in and says, “We have a problem with the shower we installed; it’s voice activated.”‘
Speaking on The One Show, he said a house was nearly flooded due to a language barrier between builders, resulting in a voice-activated shower in French.
Nick continued: ‘And I said, ‘So what’s the problem?’ I said. “He’s speaking French right now and we can’t turn him off,” he said. “What do you mean you can’t turn it off?” I said.
Hilariously, in an attempt to fix the problem, a member of the team had to shout the French word stop (“arret”), but this still did not stop the shower.
Nick said: ‘So we’re all shouting something.
‘And the shower, because we don’t have drainage at the moment, so the shower fills up with water and will flood the rest of the house. And none of us know what to shout in this shower.’
Luckily, the team managed to get the shower back under control before it was too late and changed its voice-activated settings to English.
DIY SOS airs on BBC One and iPlayer on Fridays at 8pm.
