Word on The Block: Week 2

Two weeks down, ten to go.  What could possibly happen in such a short amount of time?

A Blockton! Okay okay we’ll stop with the cheesy jokes.  We swear!

Week 2 - Guest Bedroom Week

With Bathroom week over, it’s straight on to Guest bedroom week.  And this week seemed to be all about styling to the judges and challenges alike. While most of the teams are hitting the ground running, high on the praises from the judges, Kerrie and Spence and Hayden and Sara have a bit of lack of confidence due to finish at the bottom of the leader board. 

Kerrie and Spence took some space from the guest bedroom to increase the size of their bathroom, and they still managed to fit a large walk in wardrobe into the space, plus a reading nook and kingsize bed.  Spence’s craftsmanship showed in the book shelf he built for the nook and Kerrie took the judge’s suggestions of rich tones in the styling, which did not go unnoticed.  But it still didn’t quite cut the mustard as they squeezed a bedhead into an already small space and hadn’t quite yet achieved “warmth, spirit and soul” with the room like the judges were hoping for.

Source: The Block Official YouTube

But you know what, Kerrie and Spence certainly showed their maturity throughout this week.  They fell off the horse but got right back on and really showed they wanted to improve their game. Yeah yeah you might be thinking here that’s all because of the prize they got in the safe to meet with the judges for three hours to learn as much as they can about styling and blah blah blah, but hear us out. Did they cry their eyes out? Did they say the game was rigged?  Did they walk a very fine line between bending the rules and cheating? No.  But Hayden and Sara did.

Now Kerrie and Spence still have their work cut out for them after still not pleasing the judges at the 48 hour challenge, their bathroom and guest bedroom, but they’re learning.  On the other side of the block, there’s Hayden and Sara.  Hayden takes the reigns and starts calling the shots while Sara has lost her confidence in styling after having their bathroom ripped apart by the judges (#brasstapwarefail). Sara is so in the dumps that she has a heart to heart with a wallpaper saleswoman, in hopes of trying to find herself while also getting assistance from an outside source on colour choices for her guest bedroom.  Then come the 48 hour challenge, they again fall short of winning, even though judge Neale Whitaker actually liked their room. What do they do? Have a whinge and claim the game is rigged and the penthouses always win (well, Sara does).

Source: The Block Official YouTube

Boohoo buttercup.  There’s a saying in construction, and it’s all too appropriate on this occasion.  Head to your local hardware store, buy a bag of concrete, and harden up. This is The Block. It’s a competition, where there’s one winner.  No participation awards here! You had a chance to pick a penthouse, and you didn’t. Quit whining and move on. 

It seems like Sara and Hayden took a page out of Courtney and Hans’ bathroom book this week by creating a coffered ceiling with lighting to make it float, while also going for a much simpler and softer style instead of having several hero pieces within the room.  Unfortunately the judges still found the room bare, dull and predictable, liking it to a hotel room about to get an upgrade. And as predictable as the room was, Sara starts her tyrade against the judges instead of taking notes and learning.

Source: The Block Official YouTube

While that hot mess is happening, Norm and Jess have dramas and dreams of their own.  They’ve embraced a challenge and in an attempt to get a leg up on the competition (because they understand that this is a competition after all), they’re trying to see if they can install a pool on the penthouse terrace.  We’ll be happy to bring the barbeque and snags if they succeed in that challenge!  All the while this is going on, they discover that they have had a credit card stolen when they see someone has been having a good time ordering charcoal chicken and fishing tackle.  And, they don’t know how much they’ve actually spent.  Rule #1 about a renovation. Know your budget. Know what you’re spending and what on, and always have some on the side for incidentals.  The last thing you want is to have a surprise cost pop up and you don’t have any wiggle room.

To smarten up the room and get a leg up even further on the competition, Norm and Jess installed smart switches and home automation tech so that to control the lights, you don’t even need to use the switch.  However even this tech didn’t wow the judges, who were stuck on the fact the light switch was near the door and the bedhead was so wide that it covered the power points.  Always have your power points easily accessible, not just for styling reasons but for safety.  If they’re covered and the power shorts, you’re running the risk of starting a fire.

Source: The Block Official YouTube

Hans and Courtney seem to still be down on their luck.  They lose a day because they literally have no floor, and they do a rookie error by pouring their screed (floor leveller) in the morning instead of overnight. While they’re watching screed dry, they begin planning out their “industrial luxe” guest bedroom. That is, until Scotty Cam points out that their ceiling is uber warped. So warped, it has to come down. Turns out that corners were cut and not enough hangers were installed, causing the ceiling to sag in places, nor was any insulation added.  Tsk tsk tsk!  Hangers hold the steel track that your plasterboard is fixed to.  Once installed, you can adjust the hangers to give you a level grid to put your ceiling in place. Keith, Dan, Norm and Ronnie from last season came in to lend a hand in ripping the ceiling down and putting a new one up as Hans scrambled to get a new plasterer in to finish up.  It was down to the wire for the Perth couple, who were painting the ceiling well into the night, using fans and heaters to help speed up the drying process.

Hans and Courtney still pleased the judges with their “industrial luxe” room.  It was missing a few things here and there like a second coat of paint and perhaps some drapery, but the judges weren’t overly displeased with the style.

Bianca and Carla seemed to be on top of things at the beginning of the week, coming up with a plan at the start and sticking to it.  Although it was essentially painting down to the last second for them, they still managed to finish and wiped the court with the competition when they won the room reveal challenged.  The judges singing hallelujah when they walked into Bianca and Carla’s room should have been an obvious sign that they had won the room reveal!  The netballers brought in the same wood panel feature ceiling into the guest room as they had in their bathroom, which made for a nice spot for the bed and floating bedside tables.  Features like the lights underneath the tables, black on gold in the walk in wardrobe simply brought the room together so well the judges could forgive the ladies for not painting underneath the bedside tables. Well done Bianca and Carla!  To make the job easier, here’s what the dynamic duo hired:

• 12500 BTU space heater to help get things dry
• Scaffold to reach the 4M ceilings
• Industrial vacuum cleaner to clean the room up
• Plasterboard sander to level out the walls and ceiling
• Powder actuated nail gun to fasten walls and frames
• 5.4M x 7.2M and a 7.2M and 10.58M tarps to keep items covered and protected to paint and dust
• Hand trolley to help with large or heavy loads

Here's the points tally thus far!