The Builder was called in by Nick Tilsley and Leanne Battersby to give them a quote after wet rot was found in the Viaduct Bistro. The discovery was made when Debbie Webster came to sell her share of the business and her buyer's builder came across the problem when he surveyed the premises. Debbie hid the discovery from Nick and Leanne as she gleefully accepted their low offer of £20,000 under the asking price - the most that they could afford.
Nick and Leanne’s builder confirmed the problem though he was able to break the good news to them that's the rot hadn't affected anything structural connected to the Metrolink train line above the premises, but the woodwork would need to be replaced with specially treated timber. His rough estimate of the cost was also £20,000 and he refused Leanne's offer of free food for a month to bring the quoted price down. Later on the same day, Ed Bailey confirmed the estimate when he carried out a separate inspection.