The Block team called out for using 'illegal' product: 'Get rid of it'

The Block’s Maddy and Charlotte faced a major dilemma in Sunday night’s episode when they discovered that an item they planned on using in their backyard was ‘illegal’. While the sisters and professional house flippers thought they had lucked out by purchasing engineered stone benchtops within their budget for their outdoor kitchen, they were quickly told that the material is banned in Australia.

Foreman Dan and site manager Simmo were the ones to deliver the bad news, explaining that the benchtop is made of a banned product that's no longer produced or sold in Australia. Maddy and Charlotte asked if they could keep the benchtop installed for the next day’s room reveal and replace it later on, however, they were instructed to “get rid of it” right away.

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“Any product with a high percentage of silica in it has been banned, and this benchtop has like 70% of it in there,” Dan explained in his piece-to-camera interview. “It’s no longer produced, manufactured or shipped into Australia, so I don’t even know how the girls got it here, surprisingly.”

Why is the material banned in Australia?

Silica, also known as silicon dioxide, is one of the most abundant minerals found in the earth’s crust. Glass, sand, silicone and granite are all silica materials, and the most common type of crystalline silica is quartz.

When products containing silica like stone, rock and manufactured materials are crushed, cut, drilled, sawed or polished, they can generate crystalline silica dust which can cause silicosis when inhaled. Silicosis is an irreversible and often fatal lung disease causing inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue.

According to Safe Work Australia, there were 551 accepted workers’ compensation claims for silicosis between 2010-11 and 2021-22.

Work Health and Safety (WHS) ministers unanimously agreed on 13 December 2023 to “ban the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone from 1 July 2024”. The ban only applies to engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs.

What did Maddy and Charlotte end up doing?

With the news coming just a few hours before Maddy and Charlotte were expected to present their finished backyard to the judges, the sisters decided it wasn’t worth paying their tilers to temporarily tile their outdoor kitchen when they’d only end up ripping it out.

Instead, their builder suggested they paint over a plywood base and focus their energy on finishing everything else.

“It sucks because like, you just completely take yourself out of winning,” Maddy said through tears. “The boys had put so much hard work in and you want to do everyone proud and it sucks.

“ I can't afford this mistake. We’re gonna have to replace it anyway and I just can’t afford it. And like, I drove four hours away to get [the benchtop]. I'm just sad for everyone who's put so much work into this.”

Thankfully, the judges were quite pleased with the finished result and Shaynna Blaze commended them for keeping it “really simple”.

“It looks incredible,” she remarked, while Darren Palmer added, “It ties in beautifully with the exterior of the building, and it looks good!”.

Maddy and Charlotte ended up receiving 37 points out of 40 for their backyard, finishing in second place to Courtney and Grant who scored 39 points.

Fans point out important detail

Following the episode, many viewers took to social media to point out that the backyard reveal was filmed before the engineered benchtop ban came into place in July, so Maddy and Charlotte should have been allowed to install the material in their backyard.

“Why I am seeing so many comments slandering the girls’ use of stone? They filmed in May which was clearly before the ban on July 1. Pisses me off that people can come to quick conclusions that the girls were cheating when it’s so far from the truth!” one person wrote on Facebook.

“It would have been installed before the cut-off of 1st July. Channel Nine creating drama where there was none,” another added, while a third said, “I feel so sorry for Maddy and Charlotte”.

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However, others said it was likely that Channel Nine wanted to prevent any potential controversy around the use of the material seeing as the episode was always scheduled to air in the final quarter of 2024.

“I think [Maddy and Charlotte] got hoodwinked by a shonky operator that knew this ban was coming hence it being so cheap. There was most probably grace periods for certain things but a month wouldn't cut it,” a fan shared. “Producers knew when this was going to air and so Dan and other foreperson was alerted.”

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