Home improvements: from the dream to the nightmare | France 3 | Hors-Série

At the outset, doing work on your own home is always to achieve some wonderful project. Sometimes the dream comes true. But often, the wonderful adventure turns into a nightmare… Nordine and Rosa had the bad idea of extending their small house in the Paris suburbs, to provide more room for their two daughters, aged 9 and 19. Only to find that after having handed over 80% of their builder’s total invoice, he simply dropped them, leaving them with a building site riddled with shoddy work! To finance the upkeep of their magnificent 17^th century property, Hubert and Edith, who were about to retire, decided to restore a part of it to provide luxury B&B accommodation. They hired the finest workmen: men who take pride in a job well done. However, they still have to show up and fulfill their commitments. Hubert and Edith’s building work turns into a race against the clock with a veritable manhunt on top! But what if the work were also a form of therapy? At 56, Viviane has taken a hard knock. A life-long Parisian, she finds herself in the back of beyond in the Sarthe, in an uninhabitable barn and with dwindling savings in her pocket. Her life raft? A cheerful band of retired craftsmen, DIY enthusiasts, who have to convert her old barn in just a few months. Winter is fast approaching and, while waiting till the work is completed, Viviane is sleeping in a caravan. Isabelle and Didier, 38 and 46, live in the Paris region. For the weekends they have found the perfect happy home: a country farm that needs complete redoing. No question of using building companies. For them, the work is a way to create wonderful memories and pass on to their children the taste for effort. A difficulty gamble, you might even say, a risky one!