Cowboy Builders (UK)

Sheffield

Melinda and Dom are in Sheffield helping a couple whose marriage is on the verge of breakdown after 3 years of heart ache at the hands of a Cowboy Builder. Craig and Jo Adams took on the extra burden of a remortgage in order to extend their three bedroom house. But sadly for them the builder they paid 32,000 pounds, disappeared leaving them with an unfinished extension, and a dangerous structurally unsound roof. Because he was responsible for finding the builder Craig feels he has let his wife down, and the stress of living on an unsafe building site has driven the couple further and further apart. It's Melinda and Dom's job to rebuild the extension and catch the cowboy responsible but are they too late to save this couples relationship.

Bolton

Music teacher Sam King and NHS employee Nicola King, decided to take on an audacious remodeling of their bungalow, so their kids could have bigger bedrooms and more freedom. Unfortunately the builder they hired bungled the job and left them living in a home that looked like a bomb had hit it. It's a large ambitious build and fixing all the problems is a mammoth task for Melinda. Meanwhile as the Cowboy is local and it's a tight knit community. Dom has to tread especially carefully. Dom's keen to gather as much information on the Cowboy as he can so he can pass on a solid case against him to the authorities. Using all his guile, Dom sets up a sting operation so he can catch the Cowboy in the act of doing dodgy work.

Dunstable, Bedfordshire

In this episode Melinda and Dom are in the market town Dunstable in Bedfordshire to meet a couple whose relationship has been torn apart by a Cowboy Builder. College lecturers Tracy Palmer and Angus Murr were trying to make more space for their 5 kids by extending their family home, but a year on the job is unfinished, and the stress of living on a dangerous building site has driven the couple apart. Dom tries to track down the builder that left them in the lurch and discovers that his girlfriend maybe just as involved in the dodgy dealings. Meanwhile Melinda discovers problems with the build may go as deep as the foundations.

West Country

Melinda and Dom are in Thornbury near Bristol to help Stuart and Michelle Trigg. The IT consultant and his wife paid every penny they had to a builder to build a large extension on the side of their 3 bed property to add a bedroom and playroom. But the cowboy has left them with an unfinished build of wonky walls and leaking sewage pipes. Instead of a 4 bed house, they're living with only 2 usable bedrooms and with no sign of ever getting the build finished. Dom and Melinda are their only hope. Dom's hunt for the Cowboy takes him across the border into South Wales, while Melinda flexes her design muscles to come up with an ambitious new layout for the extension to give the kids the ultimate family playroom.

Watford

Melinda and Dom are in Watford to meet Simon and Cheryl Dearsley. After years of failed IVF treatments the couple had decided to try and adopt and planned to extend their 2 bed semi to make room for a new arrival. Unfortunately the builder they hired took their money and left them with a useless half built shell. With the house a building site the plans to have a family of their own are on ice. To add insult to injury the devastated couple have been left without a usable kitchen for over 2 years and are surviving on takeaways. Dom's on the trail of the cowboy and discovers the Dearsleys are just the tip of the iceberg, and meets other victims including a Russian millionaire. Meanwhile Melinda caught in a battle between what the homeowner wants and what would make good design sense.

Buxworth

Melinda and Dom are taking on not just one build, but two. They travel to Buxworth to meet Greg and Claire Harrison. When Claire fell pregnant for the second time they decided to make space in their tiny cottage by having their loft converted. Unfortunately the builder did such a bad job the building inspector said it was the worst work he had seen in his career. Dom and Melinda come to the rescue, and in the course of his investigations Dom meets another couple who have been a victim of the same cowboy. Beverly and Rob Kidd have been forced to redo a lot the cowboys work, with heavily pregnant Beverly doing DIY to get their house ready in time for the birth of the new baby. Dom phones Melinda to see if she can fix the Kidd's house as well as the Harrison's.

Cardiff

Dom and Sheree are on the outskirts of Cardiff to help a family who have been left to freeze living with a half finished extension and no central heating for 3 years. Care-worker Julia wanted to extend her home to make room for her aging mother Mary. She contracted a builder, the son of someone she thought was a friend, and paid him 64,000 pounds to build a two story wraparound extension. Six months later, the builder left the job, taking all of their life savings and leaving Julia with an open shell of a home. While Sheree struggles to make her budget stretch far enough to finish this massive job, Dom investigates the Cowboy and discovers he may have fled to Thailand. He also meets other victims of the same builder.

Twickenham

35-year-old marketing manager Juliet Avery was looking to move but realizing her budget wouldn't stretch to a 2 bed, decided to buy a one bed and extend it. The builder she paid 50,000 pounds to ripped down a load of walls but never built the extension leaving her home open to the elements. By now Juliet was heavily pregnant, and having run out of friends' sofas to sleep on, had to move back into her unsecured building site of a home. Sheree has a battle on her hands with her chief builder John Russell to try and give Juliet the perfect home for her and her baby Megan. Dom investigates the Cowboy and discovers that its more than just his building work that has made some former clients unhappy.

Leicester

Travel agent Bhavna Kataria and shop assistant Kirit Kataria needed another bedroom to make enough space for their 3 growing sons, so they hired a builder to extend their home who they thought had a good reputation among the local Asian community. But having paid out 30,500 pounds of the 34,500 pounds quoted for the job the family have been left in the lurch with nothing more than a shell with no roof. The stress on the family has been so great that Bhavna ended up on medication, and at one stage hospitalized. Sheree takes on the task of rebuilding the half finished extension, while Dom discovers the builder responsible is the most prolific he's ever come across and worse still has gone underground so is going to be tricky to track down.

Warwickshire

Mechanic and DIY enthusiast Rob and his wife Wendy, a cooking teacher for people with disabilities, decided to expand into their loft to create more space for their two teenage daughters. Their master bedroom and ensuite was to be built into the loft, while Louise could move into their old room, leaving Amber with a spacious bedroom to herself. They paid a builder 20,000 pounds, but were left with a loft room that's totally uninhabitable and not sealed off to the elements that has had 27 faults discovered by an independent surveyor. Sheree's job just keeps getting bigger as it becomes clear in order to redo the loft they'll have to redo half the rooms downstairs too, while Dom's investigations lead him to discover the builder has had murky business dealings in the past.

Doncaster

Teaching assistant Dawn and electrician Paul Fraser wanted to build a 2 story extension on their home to make more space for them and their 9 year old daughter. However, the builder that they'd paid 11,000 pounds out of a 16,000 pounds quote decided he didn't want to complete the job, leaving them with a shell which they would later find out was riddled with problems. Paul tried to fix the problems himself but the couple have run out of money and have been stuck living on a building site for 3 years. Sheree takes on the task of finishing the build but struggles to find much the original builder got right. Meanwhile Dom tries to track down the culprit responsible and discovers there are people all over town who are unhappy with him.

Woking, Surrey

Dom and Sheree are in Woking to help single mum Jacqui Smith. Jacqui's best friend Liz Donaldson is terminally ill with cancer, and Jacqui decided to extend her home so that Liz could move in and be cared for by Jacqui in her final days. Sadly the builder that Jacqui paid 26,000 pounds to do the work took her money but never laid a brick of the new extension. Jacqui borrowed more money and got another builder to half build the extension, but the cash has run out and she's now living with a shell. After taking on the task of completing the extension Sheree makes a shocking discovery about the property that puts the whole project in jeopardy, while Dom discovers the Cowboy responsible is a builder whose path he has come across once before.

Dorset

Melinda Messenger and Dominic Littlewood try to help a grandmother from Dorset who was ripped off while she recovered from cancer. She paid 14,000 pounds for an attic extension that was left unfinished and caused extensive structural damage. While Melinda tries to secure funds to repair the building, Dominic sets off to find the culprit.

Harrow

Dominic Littlewood and Melinda Messenger visit Harrow, north London, where they help a couple with three children who needed to expand their home to accommodate a family member with health problems. However, the builder they employed disappeared with 28,000 pounds in cash and left behind only a handful of days' work. While Melinda tries to secure funds to finish the extension, Dominic sets out to find and confront the culprit.

Camberley

Dominic Littlewood and Melinda Messenger are in Camberley, on the trail of a builder who has a history of praying on vulnerable families, taking their money and vanishing without a trace. For Pam Carter getting a loft conversion wasn't just a matter of home improvement; it was all about starting a new life. After 23 years of working in an office Pam gave it all up, took redundancy and started out all over again. Pam lost her mum to cancer 2 years ago and decided to use her new start to retrain as a massage therapist. To make the change financially viable, she decided to use her redundancy money to convert her loft into a self-contained flat. The builder said the job would take 8 weeks. But 8 months and nearly 21,000 pounds later he vanished.

Glasgow

Melinda Messenger and Dominic Littlewood head to Glasgow to help a family of four whose timber extension came to a halt when the builder suddenly disappeared. While Melinda tries to sort out the mess left behind by the rogue tradesman, Dominic is forced to chase him over the entire county and even resorts to rooting through rubbish bins in search of clues.

South London

Dominic Littlewood and Melinda Messenger head to south London, where they help a family whose Victorian home was left with structural damage following a botched renovation job. The ambitious project required the homeowners to double their mortgage, but the builder damaged the house, leaving the family's lives in peril.

EPS06

Dominic Littlewood and Melinda Messenger revisit some of the program's most memorable cases, travelling to Eastbourne, Bedfordshire and Cardiff to find out how the families they helped have fared. They also learn whether the rogue builders exposed via the show have been brought to justice.