‘Absolute bulls**t’: Block star’s huge blow up
There were two contestants under extra pressure in this episode.
The ever-cheerful Taz finally showed his dejected face when the insulation in his main bedroom and walk-in robe was repeatedly rejected.
The first fail came when on-site building inspector Gmac noticed Taz had forgotten to insulate around his skylight well.
That mean pulling down plaster that had already been placed, and – safely – getting into the roof cavity to fix the problem.
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Taz’s over eager plasterer leapt into action, but when Dan noticed him in the roof he ordered him to get down immediately and dobbed on him to the site safety supervisor.
“I noticed one of the plasterers up in the roof trusses. That’s not safe and we can’t have it on site,” Dan explained.
“If he had fallen he would have hit through the ceiling grid and fallen through and the whole Block could have been shut down”.
Taz and Britt’s plasterer and the site safety officer have it out.
But the unrepentant plasterer protested that he’d seen other trades – namely airconditioner installers – doing the exact same thing
“It’s a joke. F***ing w***ers,” he said, stalking off site after arguing with the safety boss.
Luckily, Taz was finally able to use some of his existing skills to calm the situation.
“There’s not much I can do on site in terms of building, but I can bring some of what I’ve learned from policing: conflict resolution,” he said.
Appealing to the plasterer’s empathy, Taz pointed out that he and Britt would be helpless if he walked off and the plasterer agreed to not just stay but to “keep my mouth shut”.
But then it was Taz’s own handiwork that brought him undone. Until now in the series Taz’s ignorance of building jargon had been the source of comic relief, but this time even Dan felt too sorry for Taz to make jokes.
He had used “insulation tape” to secure his insulation batts in place, not realising that insulation tape is used by electricians to insulate wiring and had nothing to do with actual insulation. As Gmac pointed out, the insulation tape would melt and warp in the heat of the roof, and the batts would fall out of place.
“This is the flattest I’ve ever seen you,” a producer noted of Taz, who almost seemed near tears.
Taz finds out his plasterer could be kicked off site.
“It’s just the relentlessness of it,” he agreed. “You hear about other houses that just cruise through and aren’t making any mistakes. We’ve got to limit our mistakes.”
Can and Han weren’t having a better time.
Their carpenter needed an extra pair of hands, with no chance of finishing their main bedroom without one given their grand plans for another curved insert feature wall, bench seating, fireplace and VJ panelling, but there was none to be found.
Han lost her cool with Can when she suggested Han approaching some of the other contestants’ trades for possible names.
“Why do I have to do. I’m struggling. Please just help me!” she said.
But the bad news just kept coming when Dan noticed Han had made a change to her laundry mudroom/pantry plans without running it by him.
Han had moved some cabinetry from one wall to another, which would leave a waste pipe exposed. After a plumber told her the waste pipe could be moved she forged ahead with her cabinetry order, but Dan pointed out that the structural engineer did not want any changes to the concrete slab the waste pipe was sitting in because it would reduce the integrity of the pantry floor base.
“This is what happens when contestants don’t come through me. I’m their foreman,” Dan said, noting that random plumbers had no authority on site.
Han blows a gasket with Dan when he tells her hasn’t had a key aspect of her plans properly approved.
Han was in no mood to hear it, claiming Dan had approved the plans and that given the plumber had no objections to the change she should have been fine to carry on.
“I’m sorry but this is absolute horses**t,” she spat at Dan. “You stood here with me and said good, great design, we’re done so this is just for the cameras. This is absolute bulls**t. It’s an absolute stitch up, Dan. I’m trying to do my best job.”
With all that tension going on, it was a relief to turn to Block rays of sunshine, Robby and Mat …. only to find both of them in tears.
Robby was weeping because his baby boy had uttered his first word – dad – and he’d missed it.
“It’s been 30 something days and it feels like a year,” he said.
Then when Mat tried to explain how important their friendship was, it was his turn to cry.
Han crying as the pressure to find a last minute carpenter gets to her.
“It’s just being there rather than words. I’m getting emotional,” he paused. “I’ve had some really shocking health through my life – I had half my lung removed – and Rob was in the waiting room when I woke up from surgery. Then I had my spine rebuilt, and Rob was there in the waiting room again, and so we look after each other and we’re there for each other better than a lot of relationships.”
“We are family,” Robby agreed.
It was a nice change from their niggling one another in yesterday’s episode, and the pair cheered up even more when they returned from a slightly odd clay shooting challenge (at which first time shooters Emma and Ben outgunned the trained cops Britt and Taz) to find the enormous hole for their secret wine cellar had been dug.
“Our hole could win us the Block,” Mat declared.
MISSED AN EPISODE? HERE’S ALL OUR RECAPS SO FAR
Episode 1: Why no NSW applicants were good enough for The Block
Episode 2: The worst day on The Block
Episode 3/4: ‘Tear them off’: teams forced to rip tiles from walls
Episode 5: Judges feedback leaves one contestant vomiting
Episode 6: Dan and Dani’s heartbreak
Episode 7: The big problem with the Block house designs
Episode 8: Robby and Mat’s drunken blunder
Episode 9: ‘An up-market nursing home’
Episode 10: Can faces the wrath of Han
Episode 11: Han micromanaging from her sick bed
Episode 12: Sonny cops a spray from Alicia
Episode 13: Brutal feedback leaves Block team confused
Episode 14: Han and Can are in trouble with Dan, and other contestants
English (US) · 