How to get the best out of a builder? Not by serving endless pots of tea! CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Extraordinary Extensions

Extraordinary Extensions (Channel 4)Rating: Four stars out of five Homeowners come in two basic types - the ones who make endless cups of tea for workmen, and the ones who act as overseers, scrutinising every detail.I'm an extreme example of the former kind, much good it does me. Builders, plumbers, roofers, whoever it is, I know within minutes which ones take milk and who has how many sugars.Rationalising this to myself, I pretend it's bound to mean they do a better job. But the truth is I'm just pathologically over-polite, and it encourages people to take advantage.I'd do far better to copy Nadine, an economist working in healthcare, who has an Art Deco obsession. She and husband Chris were transforming the interior of their Edwardian terraced house in west London, on Extraordinary Extensions - and her standards were exacting.Nadine got what she wanted, and she didn't do it by asking, 'Would you prefer coffee?' and 'Shall I nip out and get you some biscuits?'Applying a microscopic eye to every piece of work, she spotted all the errors and compromises. Condensation in a double-glazed picture window was telltale proof of a blown seal. The wooden dividers inside her kitchen units were the wrong colour. Chris and Nadine pictured with Presenter Tinie, the former pop star known as 'Tinie Tempah' Nadine and husband Chris had 'exacting' standards, Christopher Stevens writes, while transforming the interior of their Edwardian terraced house in west London The results of the renovation 'were spectacular', Christopher Stevens says, with a '1920s ocean liner'Contractors weren't allowed to get away with anything, and consequently gave themselves hernias trying to please her. The terror on the faces of the kitchen fitters, as they struggled with £10,000-worth of marble weighing more than a ton for the island worktop, was comical to watch.The results were spectacular, mind you. Though the facade of the house was unchanged, the front door opened onto what appeared to be a 1920s ocean liner.A circular staircase spiralled up three storeys to a skylight that gave the impression of open sky. Acres of polished walnut and mahogany cladded the walls. There were walk-in wardrobes, koi carp ponds, even a home office faced in gold bricks.Presenter Tinie, the former pop star known as 'Tinie Tempah', loved it. 'You're going full Gatsby,' he cooed. Vintage motor of the night: The ever-intriguing PBS America (Freeview 84) marked the 73rd birthday of documentary maker Ken Burns with two of his films, including Horatio's Drive, about a road trip from San Francisco to New York. What's so special about that? It was 1903... He's a man with a taste for bling himself, of course, and gave us a glimpse of his Rolls Royce, with its sparkling Dubai interior. You can take the boy out of rap, but not the rapper out of the boy.The show itself is less lavish. Instead of whizzy 3D graphics and computer-aided design [CAD] to illustrate the architect's plans, we just see line drawings, with blocks of colour to indicate where the extra rooms will go.A second segment took us to Norfolk, where a family were extending their thatched cottage, using only recycled and renewable material, and tackling some of the work themselves to keep costs down.But Nadine and Chris, a fast-food franchise entrepreneur who drove a turquoise Porsche, were cutting no corners. They spent between £400,000 and half a million quid. For that money, you definitely expect the builders to make their own tea.