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  • 5/8/2025
Chateau DIY Season 10 Episode 15

#ChateauDIY
#PrimeUSTV

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😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00France is home to thousands of chateaux
00:05with many left derelict and unloved
00:08we're not standing in the swimming pool area
00:11some courageous individuals
00:13oh my word
00:15are reviving these old buildings
00:18all this is gonna go boom
00:20and bringing them back to life
00:23it's just unbelievable
00:25it isn't always a smooth ride
00:28what if i fall through phil
00:30when restoring historic castles
00:33i think we just realized there's no easy way to strip where it is now
00:36into fairy tale homes
00:38this is like surgery isn't it
00:40and thriving businesses
00:42our first wedding is in a week's time
00:45and i'm going ah
00:48but those who have the ambition and drive
00:50to see the final results it's worth every every second
00:54often get to enjoy the rewards
00:56oh it looks amazing in here
00:58oh wow
00:59as they get to live out their dreams
01:02i could never have imagined chateau life would be this much fun
01:07as keepers
01:08well done
01:09of their very own french
01:12palace
01:13today you've really got to be very quick with it
01:20one chateau owner takes on a risky pool terrace job
01:24we want to be a bit careful that's a hundred euros a square meter
01:27and we don't want to waste too much
01:31tempers flare for this couple with a guest kitchen project
01:36that's an up there type club isn't it
01:39yeah it's pretty gross
01:43whilst these two need to work delicately on their biggest renovation yet
01:49these panels are over 200 year old we have to treat them basically with respect
01:54oh you broke it
01:56in the region of occetanie in the south of france is the charming chateau de la fard
02:10set in picturesque woodland it boasts 35 rooms
02:18and is built around an imposing 12th century tower
02:22since 2012 it's been owned by australian born janet and husband philip a former head coachman at buckingham palace
02:35who are gradually bringing it back to life
02:38we love the fact that we're actually uh restoring and maintaining french history along with
02:46sharing it with guests and seeing the amazement on their face when they walk in and they say
02:52you mean this is all for us that's fantastic that's what inspires me and i hope janet too to carry on
03:05located near the city of nîmes janet and philip bought the chateau for 318 000 pounds
03:14and run it as a boutique b&b
03:16last year they transformed part of the derelict medieval tower into a stunning master bedroom
03:29now they're renovating the rest of the floor
03:32to create one giant suite okay ready ready setty
03:42almost
03:43so far they've cleared everything out
03:50and begun to construct a bathroom
03:55i'm pleased with that now i can visualize more what's going to be like with that wall yeah but
04:00there's a mountain to climb yet
04:04today okay let's go upstairs come on puppy they're turning their attention to the kitchen dining room
04:14and philip is eager to configure the layout using newly bought cupboard doors
04:20so that's that's that's an up there type cover isn't it yeah it's pretty gross i am not a fan of these
04:29doors in their current state although janet doesn't appear to be convinced i think we need
04:37to position these ones first you tell me what you think actually only only two drawers is not much you
04:44know no i know it's not it's not fantastic it's not actually what yeah maybe we need to go about the
04:49same width yeah so come along to the end so let's just lay that out there
04:56we can rearrange this however we want to yeah of course
04:59as soon as i start to see it you know you start to worry about enough space that's where you keep
05:08your domestic what would you put over here then do you think well it depends on the type of
05:13cabinet we find to go there i kind of like the idea of actually having some cupboards above and we
05:20could have a shelf in here too to put the microwave on so i'm thinking of open shelving type stuff
05:27okay it's it's really hard to imagine right now yeah it's really it's really hard isn't it
05:33okay so you just do it and then we'll try and make it look good yeah we'll dress it
05:40okay i can't get hold of a vision for this this new kitchen it's got to have
05:47a sense of elegance and it's got to have an ambience as well as being a practical room but right now
05:57ah well i'm just not feeling it
06:08it will come together it's what we add to it that will make it look right
06:15there's no going back now all philip can hope for is to win janet over
06:25in the dardaigne in southwest france is the delightful 14th century domain de la barde
06:43this former hotel has 18 charming rooms and sits in 10 acres
06:54which includes a formal garden and a swimming pool
06:59since 2020 it's been lovingly restored by tim and chris who live here with owen and baby ollie
07:13this has always been my dream having the big house in the country it was quite amazing to see that we
07:17could have the perfect family home i love this place and this is for my kids our family is gonna
07:25stay for the longest longest time i do hope until our hair turns gray
07:30i don't want to move anymore you've still got hair it's going gray now it has a cheek of it
07:38located 90 miles from bordeaux the couple run the chateau as a luxury bnb
07:50and tim's taking advantage of the off-season by building a giant pool terrace
08:02we want it to be opulent we want it to be grand it's a shadow isn't it you have to scale it up
08:07it has so far proved to be an epic challenge lovely and heavy these ones aren't they especially as tim
08:14is also adding a grand staircase perfect enough to do
08:23with the summer season just two weeks away tim is finally ready to start laying the floor
08:31this is kind of the point where it all starts to transform we've done all of the prep work
08:36the terrace is compacted now we can start actually putting the stone down it's suddenly going to gleam
08:42i would start in that front corner put the first one in there and then go over that way
08:47with help from builder and friend steve they need to lay 250 sandstone slabs bought from a local quarry
08:58these are just layers and layers and layers and layers of stone that have been formed over
09:03millennia um so you know you're tapping it they can quite easily sort of break into two halves
09:10we want to be a bit careful it's 100 euros a square meter and we don't want to waste too much
09:18yeah all good all good ready to rock having mixed the cement it's all hands on deck
09:27once we've committed to it oh do you want to get here
09:29all right my job here is done i'm off ah mine's a pint
09:41that'll do
09:46because the sandstone's so porous when we put it in contact with the concrete it'll
09:49suck the moisture out of that very quickly so it's one of those where you've really
09:54got to be very quick with it
10:05it's starting to look good so i'll take shape
10:07we've come to a point where we need to cut a block
10:09uh the blocks aren't all perfectly straight um kind of the key thing is to make sure you don't
10:16really have any crosses you don't want kind of four stones that all meet and you end up with a big
10:20cross in the middle and then it's a look like a manufactured terrace or it'll look like it
10:24you know has come out of the mountain and then puts back together kind of thing it is a natural
10:29beautiful thing
10:34not even thinking about it what is it out of fuel or no i don't know what's wrong with i have to use the
10:41other one
10:44are you gonna swap saws yeah we're done for the day if we can't get a saw working
10:54yeah but of course it doesn't fit without this we're kind of stuffed
11:04we have got a hand saw we can cut this with you know it's brittle it will cut easily
11:09but with a big petrol saw 30 centimeter blade it'll cut through it in 10 seconds hand saw two minutes
11:16the quicker we can do it the more we can get done in a day um the better
11:20it's far from the ideal start oh that's gonna take a while to cut all these stones in a minute
11:29and with just the two of them doing all the work it's set to be an extra long job
11:42still to come this couple get floored by a massive new project
11:47where did we start this terry why are we doing this today why are we doing this at all and the
11:54scale of tim's problems hits home we're no one of the way through you might have to put that one on
12:00give it a bit of welly
12:08amidst the lush countryside of normandy stands the beautiful 18th century chateau de la laselle
12:17with 25 majestic rooms and 21 acres it stood abandoned for four decades until it captured the
12:30hearts of former pet shop owner terry and fiance ashley from middlesbrough terry is the designer terry is
12:40the dreamer the way you see things i can't see i i don't have the ability to do that i can see what's
12:45in front of me and that's it ash can see a hammer and a wall and it needs to come down
12:51no i'm the more practical one you are
12:59situated an hour's drive from le mans the couple bought the place in 2021 for 250 000 pounds with a
13:09plan to run high-end holiday lets keeping them company are terry's mum tracy ten-year-old nephew
13:19jonathan and dash hunt patrick you put the wrong pictures in the wrong frames shut up terry they
13:28recently completed a year-long transformation of their first opulent guest suite which included a
13:37lavish edwardian salon
13:40and elegant bathroom
13:43to see the final result it's worth every every second
13:46today they're starting all over again only this time in the west wing where they want to create a
13:57grand two-bedroom apartment a massive amount of work it is it is but now we've learned so much from doing
14:04the first guest suite that we know the rest is going to sort of follow suit with it we have to do better
14:09than that now play the room yep it's another huge project for terry and ashley and this morning they
14:24want to get cracking on the apartment salon we've realized that there was originally a fireplace in here
14:30and it is the only room in the whole chateau that actually hasn't got a fireplace in it yep so we've
14:35managed to pick a fireplace off the internet and hopefully we can reinstate that the major job
14:41that we need to do now is to lift up this floor we have to take these up get a fireplace in relay them
14:49with no damage just a small job then just a small job right now there's lots to do as some of the floor
14:56also needs repairing
15:06we'll do it together just to ease it up
15:15take it didn't you take it that i can't
15:22we have to take all of this bottom section of the paneling off now because we can't get the floorboards
15:27completely out so yeah another job leads on to another one as always as always
15:33these panels are over 200 year old so we have to treat them basically with respect with the age of
15:39the yard just so they don't fall to pieces oh you broke it no well i'm thinking about
15:47keep that one off anyway for when the fireplace has gone there
15:50having to remove the floor and the wall panels the task has become a whole lot tougher
16:04but we need to get to here yeah just where the line finishes you can clearly see where the original
16:14fireplace was where they've just blocked it up so i've got that section here and then in the floor
16:20boards you can see a clear line where obviously the square half used to be so looking at it we've
16:26only got about 15 more to go and yeah we'll be able to start laying them back down again come on let's crack on
16:36why did we start this terry
16:40well you do think when you get to this stage why are we doing this today
16:43yeah they might have discovered the fireplace but with more flooring to raise panels to reconstruct
16:58and an entire apartment to decorate terry and ashley have an almighty job on their hands
17:13over in the dordogne at domain de la barde it's taken 10 days but the sandstone tiles for tim and chris's
17:22pool terrace have finally been laid if you get one side i get one and today along with steve they're
17:34preparing for their next big challenge yeah i'm really happy that the terrace is finished but um because
17:41it's a raised terrace there's chances people might fall off the edge so i need to put some sort of
17:44security on it i've managed to source a load of railings i had to go to the volcanic mountains of
17:51clermont fran to collect them but um it was well worth the drive there and back because i got an
17:57excellent price there that's where they want it just there eggs marks the sport but in order to fit them
18:07they first need to drill through the expensive sandstone tiles without breaking them 100 dead straight
18:21now we're nowhere near all the way through do we lift this out
18:42the slab has come loose which probably makes it easier for us to build the concrete with no harm done
18:51you might have to put that one on give it a bit of welly they can access the more secure concrete wall
19:09we don't want to use the sandstones as the anchoring point because these are too brittle
19:13so it's got to go through that into this this is where the strength is
19:16all tim can hope is that it fits i'm guessing it will but you never know do you
19:30okay that's great it's a case of so far so good but with a further six to add it's set to be a long job
19:55and eager to check on progress is chris and baby ollie they are doing very well
20:09him and steve they're brilliant team i think they started with just dirt
20:15and he's always really proud of telling me how much um he's saved in doing all by himself
20:20hey it's looking lovely i'm very very pleased with it 14 there but with railings to finish steps to
20:30complete and the pool to clean tim and chris's terrace isn't ready for guests just yet
20:39over in the south of france at chateau de la farre having painted the room janet and philip have come
20:54up with a new layout for the tower suite kitchen we have come to a conclusion about how the design will
21:04look uh and in the end we decided that chance idea was the best now we've communicated a bit more i'm
21:16going to have a dresser and i think he can now see that how good a dress is going to look we're a bit
21:22more on the same page so i'm going to sand the top of this yep sand those cupboards just please get the
21:29shiny bits off yeah hopefully get the bird marks out of here wax it second coat of paint start painting
21:43janet is hoping the dresser will be the main feature of the room
21:51with an old sideboard that someone had painted bright white and silver
21:56now we're going to change it back to a slightly more original state with a waxed top and sort of
22:03a nice soft green finish that we've chosen for our color palette in here we can make a fantastic dresser
22:09out of this i think with a nice bit of beeswax on this it's going to look lovely meanwhile philip is
22:20building the dresser shelving after coming around to janet's way of thinking jack and i try hard to
22:29make sure we inject character back into the building and much i hate to admit it chap was right in terms
22:37of character because the dresser will inject character back into the building and make it look so much
22:43better and he's hoping to add some charm of his own with help from his trusty bucket what i've done is
22:53i've marked out where the shelves are going to go and there's three shelves plus the top and i want to
22:59cut a curve into this just to give it a bit more shape a bit more interest but i've got to make sure
23:05these curves are evenly spaced all up the shelves hopefully it works we'll see we'll see
23:14so it's a good starting point
23:29what i'm going to do now is route the edges just to give it a bit more character
23:34well another coat bobby it'll be better back in the kitchen janet's trying to add more character
23:49to philip's cupboard doors actually i am really pleased with the way this paint has dried
23:57thank you i thought it was going to look really scrappy but it's not too bad
24:05i will give it a second coat at some stage but right now at least it shows me what it's going
24:11to be like so it's a good start the kitchen is slowly coming together janet just hopes the dresser
24:20will be its centerpiece i've picked out just a clear wax because i don't want to change the color
24:27i just want to protect it and sort of enhance the woodwork and look at the difference that makes
24:38what is really nice is how the beeswax actually enhances the grain of the wood
24:42i think that looks fantastic it's an encouraging start but with the rest of the dresser still to
24:49construct and the whole room to decorate janet and philip's tower suite kitchen is a long way off
24:58coming up perfectionist terry gets frustrated it was all going so well having a gap there that's
25:11almost five mil it's just not right while philip faces a hazardous new challenge i am guiding
25:18the tree as it falls hopefully it comes towards me
25:25in the beautiful dardouin departement
25:32splendiferous steven tim and builder steve are beginning to make progress with the pool terrace
25:43railings it's lovely and strong but today chris and seven month old baby ollie want to play their part
25:55i'm going to be planting some daylilies by the swimming pool so it's the best way for me to
26:01help tim and also it's the best way for me to show i care about what he's doing being a full-time mum
26:09means chris can't always get involved in the action you can see me there right
26:20normally it's me and tim doing projects together but now that we've got ollie
26:29is taking so much of my time which i'm very happy because i love being a mom
26:36this is my dream i have always wanted a big family so in little ways like this
26:42i still feel like i'm helping him i love love love love my life in france i never imagined it to
26:53be like this owning a chateau and running a business from home like this and i'm just so lucky that i
27:01met tim because this was originally his dream and he sold it to me and it's my life now and
27:11it's also become my dream so it's now our dream
27:14it's um for us and for our family
27:23i'll be finished soon i've got three to go all of that
27:28hey y'all i'm coming just need to water this
27:39go big and strong be happy now look after all of you yay we've done it
27:57that felt good
27:58all she needs is ollie's seal of approval do you want to see what i've done here
28:07do you want to see what i've done look mommy planted all of this look over oh wiggity
28:17that was lovely i miss that feeling i just miss that rush of being active so yeah that's good that
28:23felt good it's been a lovely lovely time it's a nice added touch but with the pool terrace far from complete
28:35and the summer season around the corner tim and chris will need to get a move on
28:41in the region of occitanie oh darling i'm thrilled to bits yeah philip has finished janet's dresser
28:55for the tower suite kitchen it looks so good if it looks good here and now in its fairly raw state
29:03imagine what it's going to look like as that second part of the dresser i am i'm pleased with it yeah
29:08wow okay the challenge is going to be putting it in place hang on hang on i don't want it to fall
29:27and come my way a little bit that's it perfect
29:32wow it looks amazing and when it's painted it's just going to bring that whole thing together
29:43it feels great to be one step closer to producing what i think is going to be a dream kitchen
29:51it's been a job well done and with the kitchen taking shape today they have a more urgent job
29:58that needs tackling outside we have a number of trees close to power lines that need to come down
30:06we've been eyeing off these trees for ages thinking we need to do something about them
30:12and they're just a little bit beyond the height i'm comfortable with
30:16knowing my luck it'll take the power lines down
30:20in the hope it's done safely they've hired tristan
30:24a local tree surgeon to do the work for them so we're going to cut the trees off and you are
30:31obviously aware of the power lines here yeah yeah we don't want the power lines coming down no no and
30:36it's easier for you to manage to manage it yeah yeah okay okay you're the boss okay let's go
30:44it's all very promising tristan is it going to fall this way is it you have to say to us where we can stand
30:51uh not under it stay there or there okay yeah
31:03i think once all three trees are down then i can relax
31:20not one to shy away philip's eager to get involved
31:24i am guiding the tree as it falls hopefully it comes towards me
31:41uh it's all looking good so far but that one was close
31:58i actually i'm just looking at the direction the tree is going to fall
32:09yeah and the palm tree and my plants
32:12it's starting it's starting it's starting that looks good it looks good
32:22not one squash daffodil
32:24it's nice to see it's all come down when i have been contemplating the best way to approach this
32:33for probably weeks if not months so yeah it's a dream come true
32:39with the view from the kitchen window restored they can turn their attention back inside
32:46and with the decorating and dressing still to do janet and philip have no time to waste
32:54that's fine
33:02in normandy terry and ashley have finally created a space for the fireplace in the new apartment salon
33:13that's fine so the next problem we've got to face is relaying the floorboards
33:18all the boards are the same size so it just depends on how we lay them really
33:24on how we lay them in the new apartment
33:26having pulled them up they're just hoping it's easier to put them back down
33:32having a gap there that's almost five mil it's just not right
33:51we'll get there it's all good little glitch but it's only a couple of mil difference isn't it tes
33:56yeah five mil
34:01being a perfectionist terry is leaving nothing to chance
34:09it's far better now nice and level
34:13it was before how can it be the same when there's difference the three mil three mil difference
34:18problem solved they just want to ensure that they have enough
34:24left over oh is that one as well sure is that one yes we're gonna have enough
34:31that one can finish off that part there we literally should just just have enough down to the
34:38last couple of drinks but there's much left over yeah about five mil
34:49while terry fits the remaining boards ashley hopes they won't have a similar problem
34:56with the antique tiles for the fireplace you never know it might be five mil out
35:02but it wasn't near cali the next town along was belgium so it was like i think it was a 14-hour
35:15round trip to go and pick up some tiles they're in keeping with the the rest of the tiles that we've
35:20got in the chateau i think they'll just look absolutely beautiful in this room they'll really finish it off
35:24after ensuring the tiles fit ashley can start adding the adhesive
35:36thailand always great fine after what we've been doing here this is just
35:40superb it's nice and easy goes straight down it fits so i'm happy
35:49it's absolutely amazing i can't believe how well it's turned out
35:54can you ash i'm impressed and with the old type tiles i think it's just so in keeping with
36:00everything that we're doing yeah it's so rewarding and with a reconfigured floor also in place
36:08their vision for the apartment is moving a step closer i'm over the moon with the floor and once
36:15it's all sanded and vanished it'll be amazing yeah superb yeah good job good day's work it's been an
36:22excellent start but with a fireplace to add and a further two rooms to renovate
36:30terry and ashley are going to be busy for a long time yet
36:36still to come philip feels the heat in the kitchen the last thing we need is for things to go wrong
36:50and tim brings in the muscle to help finish the massive terrace tap it with your big hammer and try
36:57and try and get it flat not too often
37:06in the south of france janet and philip's new dresser for the tower suite kitchen has now been
37:13painted and they're hoping to add more grandeur to the walls
37:17i think what will make a huge difference in this room is if we we create that effect of panelling
37:24i have a dado rail which will go roughly that height and i'll frame either end and then we'll
37:31have a beading which we can then create little wooden panels with it's putting character back into
37:37the room by adding details like panelling snippets of wallpaper it is a practical room but it's got to
37:45still look elegant and beautiful philip just hopes it will be a straightforward job the last thing we
37:56need is for things to go wrong so i'm sort of checking as i go just to make sure
38:08oh look at that that's strong strong strong we're happy with that nail in here and we're done
38:15with the dado rail up the bigger challenge is to ensure the panels have an equal space between them
38:30that's not right look that's not corners is it uh oh let's start again shall we
38:39i felt usually very good at measurements large gap there narrow gap there how is that so
38:45i'm totally confused the middle one's fine that's fine so i'm going to add up whatever that
38:57size is there and that size and double it then i'll have then i'll have the right sizes
39:02with the puzzle solved spot on philip can at last start the panelling
39:16it's looking good already i think
39:24i think it looks pretty smart i do and once that's painted hopefully it gives the effect of wood penelling
39:36my measurements were correct bravo sweetheart bravo
39:40to add a touch more glamour janet's eager to test out some lavish wallpaper
39:52what do you think
39:55i think it's okay for some reason i had to measure it was longer and narrower
40:00maybe you're right actually longer would be better
40:03oh gosh i'm so glad we put it on the wall because otherwise i would not have even thought of that the
40:10concept is still great by making it longer i think will retain more elegance and thank goodness we've
40:16got another five rolls of wallpaper janet and philip's kitchen is heading in the right direction but with the
40:25salon still to renovate alongside a second bedroom their huge tower suite is still far from being grand
40:42over in the dark dying tim and seven-year-old son owen are on the final leg of the mission
40:50paul terrace is all but finished we're all set we're all ready for summer uh today's not the most
40:56summery day ever but it we're nearly there the season's beginning and tourists are arriving so we've
41:03got to put the last piece of the jigsaw the last piece of the jigsaw of the pool i've kept one block
41:10back for owen to put in so in uh 30 years from now he can tell his kids that he built this
41:16it's a big milestone as tim is hoping owen will follow in his footsteps
41:25which way do you think it goes that way
41:31actually yeah from the sides here
41:36there you go
41:38it's like cement like this i love cement all right that's probably enough
41:44all right now can you put that block
41:48owen the honor is yours that in there and then tap it with your big hammer and try and get it flat
41:58there you go she can point it in now there you go
42:04there you go i feel very satisfied that's very satisfied now this is a monumental day for our
42:15terrace perfect i think we did a really good job owen did an excellent job uh he's gradually learning
42:24all of the important skills uh to one day take the chateau on for himself uh so i can retire yeah
42:31it's the plan isn't it yes yeah
42:36two months ago all that existed here was an overgrown unloved and unused muddy bank
42:44now it's been transformed into an inviting leisure space with stylish sandstone tiles
43:00elegant furniture and a grand entrance giving the area a real sense of luxury while the addition of
43:10tasteful railings pretty planting and a freshly cleaned out pool make it a summer paradise for all the family
43:26so i can dangle ollie's in as well does that feel good wow wow
43:42it's been a big old job really big old job solid solid graft um but it's beautiful i love it it's uh it's a nice
43:51nice place to be it's so nice to have a beautiful pool because for the longest time it wasn't beautiful
44:04it's not a bad life is it
44:16a big white oil
44:18the fun and games have well and truly begun and with the summer season upon them
44:30chris and tim's guests can relax in style
44:34next time we left the chateau glorious sunshine 40 minutes later it's like this one chateau owner's
44:46worries that their event weekend will be a washout right let's go
44:52another couple's plans for a wedding get out of control
44:59this is the gazebo that we bought and they've been blown up in in the air and been bent
45:04ah i've got a wedding in three weeks i'm stuck and a few nasty surprises the wood is rotten
45:11it's in better days there's no doubt for philip and janet's attempt to rebuild their kitchen okay
45:22so
45:24so
45:30so
45:34so
45:36so
45:42so