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WE’RE CRUSHED
Nick Knowles’ DIY SOS wrecked my home and ‘exploited’ my family – BBC’s offer of help won’t even begin to cover it
A MAN whose family home was "wrecked" by DIY SOS says the BBC's offer of financial help won't cover the damage.
Peter Chapman, 64, a full-time carer for his wife and daughter, says Nick Knowles and his crew caused £30,000 of destruction at his Gloucestershire home.
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He says cock-ups included wall bars on the loo for wheelchair-using wife Sarah, 59, and daughter Suzanne, 39, coming off on the first day.
And part of the hallway collapsed at their Cheltenham home after the works, he adds.
Both incidents could have been "fatal", Peter believes.
Following a three-and-a-half year row, Peter has now refused £15,000 in compensation from the BBC, claiming repairs would cost double.
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He said: "I wish I’d never heard of DIY SOS. They’ve literally had me in tears. They just don’t want to know.
“I have been trying to get them to understand the impact their botched attempt at helping me and my family has had on me.
“We’ve been used and well and truly exploited. It was all done for effect.
“There were too many people doing too much, too quickly in appallingly wet conditions."
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Other issues include a leaking roof, which now has buckets catching water, cracks in the patio decking, making it unsafe for Sarah to use her wheelchair and a ramp that is too steep for her wheelchair.
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.
He believed the build, which was hit by prolonged heavy rainfall, should have been postponed.
Sarah and Suzanne suffer from Myotonic Dystrophy, a genetic disorder that affects muscle function.
It claimed the life of the Chapman’s other daughter, Margaret, shortly before filming for the programme began.
Peter asked the BBC not to broadcast the programme because of the ongoing dispute but claims it did anyway.
And to add insult to injury, the full-time carer claims producers failed to return some of his precious family photographs, failed to install obscured glass in a bathroom and left a gap under a side gate that led to his dog running out and going missing for a while.
Reflecting on the BBC's alleged failure to support him, Peter said: "DIY SOS has robbed me of the last three years and the stress is killing me."
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.
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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.
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