The Block 2021: Josh and Luke lawyer up as their 'illegal' master en suite problems drag on

Josh and Luke‘s indoor-outdoor master en suite is one of the defining features of House 5. But when creating the beautiful space they broke a few rules. Instead of constructing screens, the twins built walls.

The issue is walls were never on the plans and now it’s a big problem. So the twins have called in the big guns and lawyered up.

“It’s an illegal building. It compromises the entire site. So these walls have to come out,” Scott Cam told the pair.

A major problem is that if their outdoor bathroom area is to have walls, it will likely be considered an actual bathroom.

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This means the area will need to have the tiles ripped up so the whole space can be properly waterproofed. It’s a process that the twins would struggle to both fund and find the time to complete.

While the walls have been taken down, Josh and Luke haven’t given up hope, and enlisted Steve, a property lawyer.

Their hope is he can help them find a way to keep their walls rather than build screens. Steve doesn’t come cheap; he charges somewhere between $450 and $700 an hour.

“It’s always good to talk to architects and surveyors, but a lawyer, they can interpret the law in a certain way that maybe a surveyor won’t see,” Luke said.

“The lawyer is going to be able to look into the grey areas,” Josh added. “So we’re just going to see what kind of areas of the law can be bent towards our favour.”

It’s a bold move.

As Steve arrived on site he made a beeline for the plans. He could see there were issues and Luke said Steve needed to “have a bit of a think about things”.

Josh and Luke appeared to have faith in their lawyer, calling Steve “the man”, and revealing that they might keep him on for other matters.

“If people cross us they’re going to get served,” Josh joked.

“If in doubt lawyer up,” Luke added.

Luke is also planning on going to council again to see if there’s a way he can get his bathroom walls across the line.

Time will tell if the twins are able to find a solution, or if they need to accept that a screen is the only way forward.

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