When it came to their master bedroom wing, The Block contestants Luke and Josh had always shared a dream.
They wanted a huge bedroom, a luxurious walk-in wardrobe and an ensuite like nothing ever seen on The Block before – complete with an outdoor bath.
It was a grand plan that nearly got them the win, beaten only by Ronnie and Georgia when they played their bonus Block Gnome worth an extra point. But the twins’ dream becomes a nightmare when foremen Keith and Dan recheck the finished work this week and discover a problem.
“The boys were given a boundary of where their build had to end, and their design went beyond that boundary,” Keith tells TV WEEK.
“We told them they could use a screen to form that part of the wall, something that isn’t a permanent structure. But they went ahead and built a timber frame, and clad and rendered it, which made it a permanent structure and not allowed. So, to alleviate the situation, we simply tell them to remove the structure. Entirely.”
Already fuming after losing out to their rivals in House One, that’s not what the brothers want to hear.
“That was just piling on the misery!” Josh, 27, says.
“We’d already lost, then they pour salt in the wound by saying we have to figure out what on Earth we can do to this section that we just love.”
The brothers call in a property lawyer to see what they can get away with.
“We’re prepared to fight 100 per cent,” Josh says. “We really don’t want to pull down those walls, because to us it seems perfect the way it is. Obviously, we’ve bent the rules a little bit and we’ll cop that on the chin – some rules we weren’t aware of coming in, which was our own fault.”
What they quickly learn is that Keith is right: the walls they have built mean the outdoor area would be classified as an additional room and need council approval to remain.
“To be honest, we think we’ve kind of pushed our luck with council already and don’t want to go back there,” Josh says.
“But we want to make sure the bathroom ends up being just as beautiful as it already is. We need to think outside the box.”