Plumbing leaks, contestant waterworks and rain clouds all hit The Block just in time for the inaugural Waterproof Wednesday of season 21.
Just two days into their Block experience and the contestants are discovering it’s not all rainbow parades.
An emotional Taz declared it his “worst day on The Block”.
That’s not saying much given he’d only been on site two days (the first of which involved joining the local Chill Out festival).
“Gone are the days of dancing in my budgies in the back of a float,” he sighed wistfully.
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“It’s just the twists and turns which get you. You think you are going well one second. The next, three curve balls are thrown at you. You have just got to be ready for everything.”
Adjusting to the new hi-vis uniform is proving to be a work-in-progress for the West Australian cop, who mistakenly referred to his limited DIY experience as a “DUI” (that’s police speak for drink driving).
Taz with his trusty sea horse, ready to cut some vanilla boards.
The father-of-two has already developed a reputation for his worksite lingo slip ups, referring to Villaboards as “vanilla boards” and the Speedhorse as a “seahorse” to the great mirth of wife Britt and Foreman Dan.
“Look there might be times where I am calling something the wrong tool or using the wrong terminology,” he laughed, acknowledging that he’s got more experience negotiating with crims than carpenters.
The lead-up to The Block’s most notorious deadline (Waterproof Wednesday) wasn’t plain sailing for Britt and Taz, who had to move their showerhead to be compliant.
Britt considers the implications of moving her shower head.
It was a similar story for their neighbours Sonny and Alicia who likewise had to adjust their vision. Firstly, Alicia was fearful that their bathroom would be “basic bitch” with a vanity too large to accommodate fancy lighting either side of it.
Then, with limited glass supplies available, they were backed into a corner and forced to move their shower head to no longer need a screen to be compliant.
“I am just not used to working like this because I am not in the trade,” Alicia said through tears about having to make decisions on the fly that compromised her artistic vision.
“I am pretty sure that we will be the only team without glass.”
Alicia with the first on-camera tears of the season.
Having gotten past that speed bump, the couple then hit another when their waterproofing team got waylaid for five hours by an onsite safety training session.
Thankfully, their inspections went off without a hitch.
As did Can and Han’s efforts along with Emma and Ben’s bathroom. No mean feat given the experienced house flippers had fallen well behind the pack all day.
Their slow start earned the Victorians some tough love from host Scotty Cam.
But Emma and Ben were nonplussed by the fuss.
“What’s the point of worrying,” Ben shrugged, even after Scotty revealed there would be no Hipages army of tradies coming to the rescue in an emergency this year.
Another big change is the emergence of Gmac as a major player. With Foreman Keith hanging up his toolbelt, it now falls to Site Supervisor Gmac to step into the void and conduct the gruff inspections.
Comparing the inspector to Harry Potter’s Professor Snape, Mat said G Mac made him nervous because he could literally bring a wall down with one look.
And so he did, forcing the boys to remove plasterboards and replace them with Villaboard before they could get his tick to start waterproofing.
There’s a new Keith in town: Gmac channels his inner Snape.
It was otherwise confidence central over at House Five where Mat wasn’t letting a water leak dampen his spirits.
Shunning traditional fans and heaters, Mat turned to his tool of choice to eradicate moisture from the floor: his trusty hairdryer.
Mat had another secret weapon at his disposal for this week’s room reveal.
Enthusing to a sceptical Robby: “I’ve got the superpower of being gay so I know how to style things.
“I know how to pick good things. I’ve got great taste. I can style a tile. It is a super power. There’s not many gays with bad fashion.”
Mat whips out his tool of choice to help hurry the waterproofing along.
The best buddies are also playing the long game. And so, it was already full steam ahead on their plan for their wine cellar, having already ticked off two of the three approvals needed to start digging their hole.
With just the council left to sign off, the biggest hurdle would now be finding a spare $100k to fund the underground plot.
And Mat mused: “If we spend money on the cellar and don’t win anything we are just going to end up with a big mud hole.”
English (US) · 