Sometimes on The Block something’s got to give. And in the past when teams have been racing against the clock, they’ve made the tough decision to leave their rooms unfinished.
But in Ankur and Sharon’s case, their builder and chippy make that decision for them.
With less than a day to go before reveals, Liam and Scotty decide they will only take the stones on Ankur and Sharon’s fireplace feature halfway up.
A defeated Ankur and Sharon aren’t impressed that their builders have made the call without their approval.
“I think it hurts because we could’ve done it and we’re not doing it,” Sharon tells Scotty the chippy.
“I don’t even want to look at it,” Sharon says.
“It’s just gonna look so sh–“.
Foremen Keith and Dan roll around to House 3 and they’re not happy with the builders either.
“You’re the builder for the client, the client wants it all the way up,” Dan reminds them.
But Scotty insists the job can’t be done in time.
“There’s bad energy in there between client relationship and builder and that’s what’s affecting this,” Dan tells cameras.
“It can be done but they just don’t want to do it, they don’t want to put in the hours, they don’t want to stay back for their client to get them over the line.
“I’m fuming.”
Keith and Dan insist the builders complete the stone all the way to the top of the wall.
Sharon is over the moon with the result and has “full faith” in her tilers and building team.
Just as things are looking up for Ankur and Sharon, Keith returns at 3pm with some bad news.
“I’ve made a massive mistake,” Keith says.
“I forgot to give you guys some information that was very important this week: the scaffolds have to come down at 4pm.”
This is because the scaffolding has to be taken down by a licensed professional, which means Ankur and Sharon and Tom and Sarah-Jane won’t be able to finish their ceiling painting overnight.
Luckily Keith swoops in to fix his own mess.
“It’s my mistake, I’ll wear it and I can legally take this scaffold down,” Keith reveals.
“I’m gonna be here for as long as you need me to be.”
Keith spends the night in Tom and Sarah-Jane’s house and is on The Block site until 4am taking down the scaffolds.
Despite working through the night, when Scott Cam calls ‘tools down’, not all the teams are finished. Ankur and Sharon have their full stone fireplace, but it’s not grouted and their painting isn’t complete.
And with that the teams are off to Block HQ to hear the judges’ feedback.
“Wow, this is magnificent,” Neale Whitaker says walking into the space.
“I feel like I’m staring at a magazine cover.”
Neale loves the addition of the raw beams, he thinks they’re “elegant and rustic”.
But Shaynna Blaze isn’t a fan of the dining table and chairs and feels the couch was too small for such a vast space.
Darren Palmer spots a mess of cables on display and says they are a “huge eyesore”.
Their living and dining room didn’t give Shaynna the same feeling of cohesion that Tom and Sarah-Jane have previously delivered.
“There is so much scope to put more things in here, but I must say I like what they’ve presented us with,” Neale says.
After weeks of missing the mark, Shaynna is delighted when she steps into Rachel and Ryan’s room.
“YES!” she screams.
“They’ve done it, they have put home and personality and warmth into this place.”
Neale is quick to label their 10-seater lounge the “best sofa ever on The Block“.
Darren is a huge fan of the blackbutt floorboards on the ceiling and says they are “the perfect choice”.
Rachel and Ryan have finally won the judges over.
“I love it and you have done the best job,” Shaynna beams.
“It’s lively, it’s homely, it’s fun,” Darren adds.
And the judges all agree that the kitchen they branded “clinical” last week has come to life when paired with the complete living space.
Shaynna feels overwhelmed by the sheer size of the space and thinks the addition of the timber beams really warms it up.
Of course, the judges notice a lot of the unfinished parts of the room.
“What’s lacking here are the things that make a house a home, it needs book cases, it needs more artwork,” Neale says.
While he likes the artwork he feels it’s better suited to a commercial space.
“I feel like I’m in the lobby of a hotel.”
The judges see the amount of work has crushed Ankur and Sharon, and Darren can’t help but cringe at the painting which he says is “so bad”.
They immediately think this should be Ankur and Sharon’s redo room.
“They’ve got some great features but they’re not celebrating them,” Shaynna explains.
The judges take a moment after entering to soak in Dylan and Jenny’s space.
“It’s not what I expected at all,” Darren says.
The judges note that Dylan and Jenny’s “very traditional” living space doesn’t match their kitchen.
“I feel this is more suited for a period home,” Shaynna says.
Shaynna also points out the mix of contemporary and period pieces wasn’t working.
“It doesn’t feel connected,” she says.
Dylan and Jenny’s room fails to pull at the judges’ heartstrings.
Neale says the room “feels kind of ordinary” and Shaynna thinks the room will be improved if the couple take out some of the country elements.
Omar and Oz’s room surprises the judges in the best way possible.
“It has a real sense of grandeur, a sense of a surprise, a sense of elegance but also a sense of casual comfort,” Shaynna gives the space a glowing review.
The compliments keep rolling until the judges reach the $36,000 baby grand piano in the room.
“Where are they getting the money from?” Shaynna wonders.
Back at Block HQ, Scotty wants to know the same thing.
Omar explains that piano dealer John Martin sold them the piano for just $7,500.
But even so, the boys are in breach of a very important Block rule – you can’t purchase an item for less than 50 per cent of its retail price.
Even after the boys try to talk their way out of trouble, Scotty comes down hard, disqualifying them from Living and Dining Room Week.
“You can’t go and spend $7,000 on a piano and stick it in a room and expect me to let that slide,” Scott tells Omar and Oz.
To add insult to injury, Scott promises to deduct a further three points of the boys’ score.
And on that note, it’s time to tally up the scores.
Rachel and Ryan take out their first room win of the season. And their two 10s, rounds up their total prize money to $20,000.
“We needed that,” Rachel admits.
A bit of extra cash in their pocket will go a long way, especially with Hellway Week coming up.
The teams must complete all connecting rooms including hallways, toilets, laundries and mudrooms.
And while the Blockheads should be focusing on what will be “a massive week”, many of them are still hung up on Omar and Oz’s disqualification.
“It would’ve been nice if someone came up to us and said that couldn’t be done,” Omar tells cameras.
But Ryan says everyone else knew the rules and they would’ve known too.
“If they’re happy to go about it and not play by the game rules, which is technically cheating, it’s not fair for people who are doing the right thing,” Tom says.
Tom suggests a financial audit on everyone.
“If you’ve got nothing to hide you should not be worried about a financial audit,” Sarah-Jane says.
“It’ll be interesting times ahead.”
This article was originally published by Nine.com.au. Reproduced with permission.