EXCLUSIVE: Pictured: The DIY SOS ‘bodges’ blighting the lives of a vulnerable family who featured on the BBC show including leaking ceiling, cracks in the wall and huge gap in gate – as they reveal they are going to MOVE to escape the ‘hell’
A family that claims the BBC’s DIY SOS programme did a bodge job on their home are so fed up they want to leave Britain and have revealed the alleged issues with their house.
Peter Chapman and his ill wife Sarah, poorly daughter Suzanne and autistic brother Steve live in a bungalow in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, that was revamped by the programme in February 2020. But although everything seemed to go smoothly at the time, Mr Chapman said several issues with poor workmanship emerged as soon as they were able to move back into their home.
He claimed, after being in a dispute with the BBC for three-and-a-half years, that potentially fatal errors were made.
And Mr Chapman told MailOnline the family is so fed up they will be moving house – and continents. He said they don’t feel comfortable at home anymore so are planning to join his son in the US and make a fresh start.
He said: ‘DIY SOS has robbed me of the last three years and the stress is killing me. My wife Sarah and daughter Suzanne have not been able to use the outdoor facilities that were built by DIY SOS because it is now in a dangerous condition, which they were made aware of and they acknowledged over two years ago but nothing was done.
Left to right: Peter’s brother Steve, wife Sarah, Peter and daughter Suzanne outside their home in Cheltenham
Cracks in the wall in the hallway of Mr Chapman’s home that they now want to move from
The ceiling of Suzanne’s bathroom where water apparently leaks from
Mr Chapman with buckets collecting water in the house due to the leaking roof
‘On the first day after taking possession of the house from DIY SOS, Sarah nearly fell in the bathroom, which could have been fatal, when the wall bars around the toilet came away from the wall while she was using them.
‘Also, part of the floor collapsed in the hallway, while I was walking on it, which again could have been fatal for my wife or my daughter.’
The BBC insisted that the work on the house complied with building regulations and said Mr Chapman had declined its offers of help.
It allegedly offered to give him £15,000 to help him get the work he was worried about done but he turned it down, insisting that it would cost about £30,000.
Mr Chapman has kept quiet about his battle with the corporation until now, realising that it will not be offering the money he says he needs to fix things like a leaking roof, which means he uses buckets to collect dripping water.
Other issues include cracks that have appeared in the decking on the patio, making it unsafe for Sarah to come out onto in her wheelchair, and a ramp leading to the back garden which is allegedly unsafe for her to use because it is too steep.
The 64-year-old also blames the programme for laying a driveway that ‘sank’ and had to be re-laid, cracks in some of the bungalow’s walls, a lack of insulation in two ceilings and installing a slippery hard floor in the lounge when he wanted to keep carpet.
His wife and daughter suffer from a serious genetic disorder that affects muscle function. It claimed the life of his other daughter, Margaret, shortly before filming for the programme began.
Mr Chapman outside his home, which he now wishes had never been touched by DIY SOS
Mr Chapman had to install blinds because this bathroom window was not fitted with opaque glass
Mr Jenkins claims the driveway had to be re-laid after parts of it sank
The ramp leading to the back garden, which Mr Chapman claims is too steep to be safely used
Mr Chapman kneeling by a gate that he blocked up because it was allegedly left with a gap that allowed his dog to run off and get lost
Nick Knowles outside the Chapman’s home during the DIY SOS big build
Mr Chapman, who is a full-time carer for his family, is also fuming that the revamp saw an expensive bed, special medical mattresses and a new walk-in hydrotherapy bath thrown away and replaced with ‘inadequate’ replacements.
Read more: How disabled family at the centre of DIY SOS row believed late daughter was watching over the rebuild in tearful tribute to the crew
With the BBC allegedly telling him earlier this year that it considered the matter closed, and unable to afford to take legal action against the corporation, Mr Chapman decided to talk publicly about the dispute for the first time.
He said he was embarrassed by people who saw him out and about in Cheltenham and referred to the programme, which was broadcast in June 2022 despite his alleged request that it not be shown.
They had no idea the problems that it had caused him and so he wanted to take his family to live in the USA.
His plan is for them to join his son, who has been living there for 20 years, and for them all to make a new start.
He added: ‘We’re so fed up with it that we will eventually be moving. It’s a difficult decision but I feel so wronged at what they did to me.
‘They just put their foot down on me and said ‘no’. I just don’t feel comfortable here any more.’
Peter Chapman claims he was left with various building jobs that needed doing because of ‘faulty work’ carried out by DIY SOS
Mr Chapman with some of the ‘faulty’ decking he says he has had to replace
The main thing he wanted the programme to do was to fix his leaking roof but he said it did not do so, meaning he would have to spend about £2,000 on getting it fixed, after already having spent nearly £4,000 for the drive to be re-laid. He has also put insulation in the ceiling and carpet back on the lounge floor.
He added: ‘They were just making a programme out of it. People will think I’m ungrateful but I’m not, I’m really cross.
‘I wonder whether other DIY SOS families have had their lives affected like this. It can’t be just me, surely.’
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘DIY SOS is a heart-warming programme that brings communities together and helps improve the lives of those in need thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who give up their time to participate. As with all of our previous projects, the Charlton Kings build was planned and completed in accordance with the necessary required regulatory approvals and signed off onsite by building control.’
The corporation said that it sought impartial third party advice to assess the property when Mr Chapman declined its offers of help. It claimed it offered him various solutions, though Mr Chapman denied this had been the case.
The BBC added that it was aware that Mr Chapman had made his own home improvements since it finished filming, which it had no involvement with. It said it took its duty of care to its contributors very seriously, offered Mr Chapman support and returned personal items to him.
Peter Chapman, 64, said he has been in dispute with the Beeb about the allegedly faulty work for three-and-a-half years
The DIY SOS team in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham with the Chapman family
The DIY SOS team at the Charlton Kings property, Cheltenham
Mr Chapman had initially been full of hope about the work
The BBC said it took its duty of care to people who went on the show very seriously
‘As with all of our previous projects, the Charlton Kings build was planned and completed in accordance with the necessary required regulatory approvals and signed off onsite by building control,’ the BBC said
The bathroom was adapted for the Chapman family
Mr Chapman said a section of the hallway has collapsed, which he said could have been ‘fatal’
The 64-year-old carer added: ‘I wish I’d never heard of DIY SOS. They’ve literally had me in tears. They just don’t want to know’
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