The Block 2020: Tradies tell all about what goes on behind the scenes

They’re the hi-vis wearing, unsung heroes of The Block: the plumbers and plasterers, concreters and chippies, builders and bricklayers and a swag of other trades, all slogging it out to deliver quality rooms and outdoor spaces over a gruelling 12 weeks.

This season had the added pressure of a global pandemic to contend with – but the show must go on, and it did (in a COVID safe manner, of course) – making it one of the most unique and challenging seasons to date.

“COVID changed everything, a lot,” says Adrian Cursio, of Cursio Tiling, about his second appearance on the show.

Cursio and his team worked on Jimmy and Tam’s 1950s Palm Springs-inspired house and later took on Harry and Tash’s 1920s property.

“It changed everything in terms of workload, trying to get the work done without having as many people on site.

“For example, we redid Harry and Tash’s bathroom upstairs – we redid the whole bathroom in 24 hours. It was a big, big ask, especially due to COVID. We were only allowed to have two people in the room at one time. We’d have two people in, two people working outside, cutting the tiles and mixing the glue. It was very difficult but we managed to get it done.”

To avoid having too many people on site at one time, days were split into two shifts, with a night shift crew coming after hours. “We’d get people in after hours to do work that didn’t require power tools – grouting, waterproofing,” Cursio says.

After first appearing on The Block in 2019, tiling for Matt and El’ise and Luke and Tess, Cursio says the workload didn’t get any easier the second time around, and it all comes down to who you’re working with.

“It really depends on how structured and organised your team is, for example, Jimmy and Tam were very structured, had a good game plan, everyone knew what was going on. It’s all about project management.

“Harry and Tash weren’t bad at project managing,” Cursio said. “There just seemed to be a lot of little hiccups along the way that set them back. It was a snowball effect that just got worse and worse.”

Travis Fernee, of Fernee Air and Electrical, was the electrician for Harry and Tash and struck up an instant friendship with the dad from House One.

“It’s been a lot of fun working for and alongside Harry and Tash. They were really great people and we got along really well.

“Harry did have a good understanding of what was needed and how it should be done, I reckon the time constraints and sometimes the budget made it hard for House One.”

Committing to work on The Block isn’t for the faint-hearted, with contestants and tradies spending long days and nights on site, battling high emotions, setbacks and the often miserable Melbourne weather.

Fernee says the working conditions were “fine, but a little hectic at times”. “The late nights were the hardest. The site does look like a bomb has gone off sometimes, but it all seems to work.”

• View The Block properties for sale
• House 1, Harry and Tash: 364 New Street, Brighton
• House 2, Sarah and George: 362B New Street, Brighton
• House 3, Daniel and Jade: 362A New Street, Brighton
• House 4, Luke and Jasmin: 360B New Street, Brighton
• House 5, Jimmy and Tam: 360A New Street, Brighton

Cursio describes it as “controlled chaos”.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest pressure cookers I’ve ever worked in. The environment was unbelievable, but you always go the extra mile to help your contestants – you become part of the team.

“You start working off adrenaline. Some people pay money for thrill-seeking, working on The Block is very similar.

“It’s not fake that’s for sure, it’s all real. I was a sceptic myself and thought there must be hundreds of tradies working after hours – it’s not the way it is, it’s actually just hard, hard work.”

What about all those cameras and film crew roaming around? How does that effect the day to day work of a tradie on The Block?

“You quickly forget about the cameras and the film crew, they just become part of the job,” Fernee says.

Cursio adds: “You forget the cameras are around and that your mic’d up. Sometimes, you might say something that’s a bit silly that makes it to air and it’s like ‘wow, I completely forgot about that’. You don’t realise that it actually is reality TV until you see yourself on TV.”

And, what do they think about the feared foreman Keith and Foreman Dan?

“They’ve kicked my a*** before,” Cursio says with a laugh. “But that’s part of the job, they’re absolute legends.”

“Not only are they keeping the high standard of the build at all times, but they’re also making sure everything is done to the building code. It’s important for the people buying the homes to understand that the home is built to a high standard – not only is it done quickly, but it’s done properly.”

“They were always up for a laugh behind the camera,” Fernee admits.

Despite all the hard work, long hours and encounters with Keith and Dan there’s something that draws these tradies back.

“First of all, we are crazy,” laughs Cursio. “Second of all, it’s good to showcase our work, and to show the public there’s still good tradies around.”

Matt Menichelli, of Elevate Building Group, is somewhat of a Block veteran, making his first appearance in 2015 and again in 2017 and 2019, and says it’s a “life-changing experience” and something he would “100% do again”.

“As a young business owner, there’s no better opportunity to prove yourself.

“Sometimes, tensions run high but the majority of the time it’s all good. You always have a laugh and share a beer at the end of a day.

“I’ve made life-long mates with the contestants. It’s a funny dynamic, going from complete strangers, and in the space of three months, close friends.”

“I would definitely do it again,” Cursio says. “I feel like part of The Block family. I love it.”