X-Ray: Locals fix nurse's kitchen after extension issues

Work has resumed on the property after support from her community

A nurse has been overwhelmed by people's generosity after her kitchen extension plan turned into a nightmare.

Catharine Lewis from Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taf, hired a company to construct her extension, but the builders stopped before its completion.

It meant she had to wash dishes in a downstairs basin, mop up regular leaks in the bathroom and set up a makeshift kitchen in her lounge.

Others agreed to help after her story was shown on BBC Wales' X-Ray TV show.

Mrs Lewis had agreed a price of £57,000 with her builders to create a ground floor extension in January last year.

The work was originally expected to take 12 weeks, but it ran months over schedule, by which time she had paid out £61,000 and, by December, the builders abandoned the project, citing several issues.

"We have a completely open, exposed house and every time it rains it pours in," said Mrs Lewis in an interview for the programme last month.

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Catharine Lewis hired builders to construct her extension but they stopped before its completion

Supports have been installed to prevent Mrs Lewis's back wall from collapse

After it aired, she said she had been inundated with "amazing" offers of help.

"Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers, general labourers, tilers, everything possible to potentially get this finished," said Mrs Lewis, who had worked full time throughout pandemic at an NHS intensive care unit.

One building team has already strengthened the support under a bedroom, and a kitchen firm has offered to supply a kitchen at cost, and fit it for free.

Neighbour Nicola Wellman also set up a GoFundMe page that has raised more than £5,000.

And the community has rallied around offering to do everything from drying clothes to even doing her dishes.

Building work has resumed on the extension thanks to people's goodwill

"It feels like it's gone from a light at the end of the tunnel to floodlight showing me that I can make my house a home again for my family," said Mrs Lewis.

Nicky Middleton, from N&K Kitchens, told X-Ray it had dozens of happy customers who were satisfied with their work.

He said bad weather delayed work on Mrs Lewis' extension, with unforeseen building issues then leading to significant extra costs.

He claimed they walked off the job because Mrs Lewis owed them money for outstanding invoices, and that while he regretted the state her home was left in, he blamed structural issues at the back of the property on work done by a previous builder.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council trading standards officials are now investigating.

The last episode of X-Ray is aired on BBC One Wales on Monday at 20:00 BST, repeated on Wednesday at 22:30 and will be available on iPlayer, with the series coming to an end after 22 years