On the grounds surrounding his home, Dominic Chinea has been cultivating wildflowers and constructing a pond, though he appears to have encountered difficulties
Dominic made the comments after giving fans a glimpse of the work underway at his home(Image: BBC / Ricochet / Guy Levy)
A BBC Repair Shop favourite has issued a “sad” update and apologised to fans following a setback at his Cornish workshop. Metalwork specialist Dominic Chinea shared the news while offering supporters a peek at ongoing projects at his Cornwall residence.
On the grounds surrounding his home, he’s been cultivating wildflowers and constructing a substantial pond, though the project appears to have encountered difficulties – a discovery he made upon returning from filming commitments.
In a recent upload to his eponymous YouTube channel, Dominic confessed it wasn’t “good news”. He revealed that upon his return after time away, he found the pond was “completely empty”.
He explained: “A pond update, which unfortunately, as you may well have guessed, is not good news. It’s emptied itself. The pond is completely empty. The first try was just filling it with the soil that’s here.
Dominic admitted it was not “good news”(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Express)
“That emptied very quickly. I’ve put a layer of puddling clay on the bottom. Sprinkled that around, filled it, and it did last for a good few days, but then it’s drained away. “
Dominic remained uncertain whether the problem stemmed from leakage or drainage, though he suggested some water loss might be attributed to evaporation during the recent heatwave.
“I’m not completely sure whether it’s leaked and drained, or I guess some of it is due to evaporation because it has been so hot the last few weeks, but also this clay was very dry when I put it in.
He went on to outline his method for rectifying the issue and how he’d try “packed down clay” to see if it makes more of a difference than “loose sprinkled-in clay”.
Dominic was left “stumped” by one problem in particular(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Express)
Dominic added: “I’m convinced we’re going to get this pond full because at the moment I’ve just got a massive hole in the field with some very expensive clay in the bottom of it. I’m sad to say the pond is empty once again.”
Later in the video, Dominic continued work on a Land Rover, tackling the vehicle’s rear tub. But the problems sadly continued. Dominic was left “stumped” by one problem in particular.
He said: “Well, I am well and truly stumped with this rear tub. I’m struggling with this corner. To be honest, it’s both corners. There’s three or four layers of the material that are all overlapping and spot-welded together.
“They’re all corroded and rotten and need repairs. I can’t really do a nice job of repairing this area with it all built up like it is.”
As the video concluded, Dominic issued an apology to viewers. He said: “I’m sorry that there’s not been tons of progress, but I do need to give this corner some thought. I’ve spent too long sitting on my stool staring at it.”