'Bad news': Two teams 'floored' by shock discovery as the perils of buying an old house hit home on The Block 2023

It’s Week 3 on The Block, which means a new room and a whole set of new challenges.

Some challenges – as our contestants soon learn – only exist when buying or renovating old houses.

In a shock reveal from Monday night’s episode, Keith delivers a disastrous blow that will set back two teams as they begin their work from home spaces.

“I’ve got some bad news,” says Foreman Keith over at House 3.

SOLD - $3,035,000

18 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188

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“Now, you’ve inherited this house. Unfortunately, this house has treated pine stumps,” Keith explains.

Treated pine stumps do not meet code, which means Kristy and Brett have to rip out their whole flooring system.

“That’s quite a lot of work,’ warns the foreman.

Next door in House 2, Leah and Ash are faced with the same major problem.

SOLD - $3,125,000

16 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188

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“Ash, this isn’t good for you guys,” says Keith.

“You’ve got timber stumps too, which don’t comply. Which unfortunately means you’re in the same boat,” he confirms.

So exactly how much work does this setback involve?

House 2 and 3 will need to remove the sub-floor frame and take out the old pine stumps that support it. They will then need to dig holes for new stumps, fill them with concrete, bolt in the new stumps and allow time for the concrete to step.

Leah from House 2, explains it much simpler.

“The pillars are bad. You’ve got to take the old pillars out and put the new pillars in. That’s it,” she says.

“They’re not pillars, but anyways,” chips in a more concerned Ash.

On top of that, the teams will also need to build a new sub-floor frame in an already short work week with a public holiday that fell on Monday.

“It’s quite intense,” Keith adds.

The mammoth task will take time out of their weeks going forward, and cost them a lot of money too.

Kristy and Brett tackle the problem head-on.

“What that means for us, is now every single time we do a room, there’s a massive demo for the whole lower level,” reveals Brett.

“It’s never great to start a Monday chaotic, but that’s going to be a trend going forward now,” he says.

“It’s Tuesday today,” corrects Kristy.

Time flies when you’re on The Block!

This article was originally published by Nine.com.au. Reproduced with permission.

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