BBC The Repair Shop’s Rob Fraser issues warning over ‘heartbreaking’ restoration

BBC The Repair Shop expert says heartbreaking restoration is ‘not going to be easy’(Image: BBC)

The latest instalment of BBC’s The Repair Shop left viewers reaching for the tissues, as newcomer Rob Fraser was given the task of restoring an item with enormous sentimental value.

During Tuesday’s (August 26) episode, which recently saw one expert fret about their repair, heritage stonemason Rob Fraser was introduced to a couple, John and Margaret Ivin, who had brought along a fragment of plaster from their kitchen wall for restoration.

The damaged pieces of plaster bore writing on them, which prompted BBC favourite Dominic China to ask about its importance.

Margaret explained that during a kitchen refurbishment last summer, their builder had uncovered the message concealed behind one of the original cupboards. She said: “Where they’d taken one of the original cupboards off the wall, this was behind it and it was a complete shock to see it there.”

John and Margaret had an important item with them that needed fixing(Image: BBC)

The message had been penned by their late son Christopher when he was approximately 14-years-old. It read: “This is original wallpaper. Friday 4:15 8th December 1989. Please leave this wallpaper, Chris.”

Margaret, clearly emotional, explained that Christopher frequently left messages for them. She then disclosed the devastating news that their son had tragically passed away from a rare form of testicular cancer when he was nearly 35.

She said: “It was 18 months from diagnosis to when he died. When you lose a child, you never get over it, you get through it and we’ve just got through it.”

Discovering their son’s handwriting once again on the plasterwork proved deeply emotional, and it became apparent that Rob was facing an enormously difficult task ahead.

The broken plaster was found during their kitchen renovation(Image: BBC)

Taking a closer look at the damaged plaster, he said: “There’s so much going on, the paper is really fragmented, so that’s very risky. I’ll have to take my time, I might need some help.

“It’s not going to be easy. I need to get eyes on all these pieces and work out what condition each individual piece is in. I’m really nervous about handling this. This is gypsum plaster, which is very brittle.”

In the end, Rob successfully managed to restore the plasterwork and the time came to show John and Margaret the final result as the expert called upon two more specialists from the workshop to help.

When the big reveal happened, they were completely amazed as Margaret gasped: “That’s amazing.” Both were moved to tears as John could be spotted wiping his eyes.

BBC The Repair Shop expert says heartbreaking restoration is ‘not going to be easy’(Image: BBC)

She added: “What can I say? What can I say? It’s funny handwriting, he would be chuffed to bits to see that. I mean, he was what, 14? and he would’ve been 48 this year.”

John said: “He was a lovely boy, yeah.” Both thanked the experts for fixing the damaged plaster as they stressed how incredible it was.