For Sarah Beeny’s new tv series Help! My House is Falling Down, the production company turned to the experts at BRE to set up a series of demonstrations of what might happen to the houses featured in the show if urgent repairs were not carried out.
Using some of the largest test facilities of their kind in the UK, BRE's experts in structures, weathering action on buildings, timber, geotechnics and roofing created full-scale mock ups and reduced size models for the programme.

BRE's wind tunnel created not only a howling gale but also showed the effects of driving rain, letting the owners of a slate-roofed home see the devastating effects that poorly maintained flashing around chimney can have on the roofspace below.

Another demonstration showed the effect that huge trees can have on the foundations of a nearby home, causing ground heave and collapse - literally bringing the house down. In all, eight scenarios were recreated in the BRE labs and will feature throughout the series.

The six-part series Help! My House is Falling Down starts on today at 8pm on Channel 4.