The Worst House on the Worst Street

Todd and partner Jeff have been at the renovation game for nearly twenty years, but they’ve only ever been able to afford the worst house on the worst street. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been hilarious.

In The Worst House on the Worst Street, Todd chronicles their journey from optimistic home buyers to self-taught, weary home renovators. Beginning with humble rental refreshes, they’ve tackled and transformed collapsing apartments, damp-infested terrace houses, acres of overgrown vineyards and off-the-grid homesteads – with a growing tally of injuries, floods and menacing neighbours thrown in.

But nothing could have prepared them for the very worst house: a small-town, dilapidated fibro shack on the wrong side of the tracks. Asbestos, mould, rotting timber, vermin, crumbling walls, shoddy repairs, holes in the roof, floors and windows . . . This house has it all. Amid Covid-19, near-bankruptcy and multiple DIY-related hospital visits, Todd and Jeff put their hard-won knowledge to the test. Jeff brings his dogged determination, obsessive quest for perfection and super-human DIY skills, while Todd brings a sense of humour to his roles of Jeff’s labourer, painter, shopper, cleaner and site health and safety manager.

Part inspiration and larger part cautionary tale, Todd Alexander’s The Worst House on the Worst Street will help any home renovator keep laughing along the way. It’s a comedy, a book of how-to (and what-not-to) and a bloody good yarn for anyone who’s survived a renovation or those who don’t even intend to lift a finger.