Pool and terrace judging night arrived wrapped in a recap of the week, a pile of sponsor mentions and a deck that was somehow still not finished. The live thread greeted the lot with the weary good humour of people who have seen a lot of flamingo floaties this season.
The Judges Contradict Themselves, Again
The thread’s loudest complaint was the judges’ ever-shifting brief. One regular summed it up neatly: last week these were family homes with little kids falling in love with bedrooms, and this week they are party houses. Shaynna’s problem with a rose next to a palm tree drew a chorus of “it’s a plant”, and Marty’s outfit was nominated for most pretentious of the night by a thread that apparently treats this as a recurring category. The “very finite budget” comment about a $50k spend also got a good workout.
House 2 Can’t Win (Even When They Try)
House 2’s pool area copped it for a $14 inflatable flamingo, with several viewers noting you can simply take a floatie out of a pool. The thread’s sympathy for them was surprising: if they had gone full DJ-deck party house, the consensus was they would have been torn apart anyway. Wyatt’s expression during the “ugly like this” lyric earned its own round of applause, and the $55k-and-no-BBQ line did not help.
House 4 and the Case of the Missing Deck
Not everyone was convinced by the glowing feedback for House 4, with plenty of commenters grumbling about favouritism and a double fence that eats up deck space. Others pointed out that their outdoor space is double the size of the uptown houses and styled nicely. The prediction doing the rounds was a score in the tens even with unfinished bits, and the thread was braced for Jolene and Lisa to have views about it.
Pools: Small, Public and Facing the Road
Viewers could not stop noticing that the pools are tiny (one called it “5x3m”), the front-yard ones look straight onto the street, and the neighbours can see everything. Storage for cushions and pool gear got a mention, as did outdoor kitchens that look great right up until Melbourne’s weather turns up. “The view” came in for some stick when it is a view of a road.
Leftovers: Archery, Tradies and Product Placement
The week’s recap reminded everyone of the archery detour, the off-site lunch and the conspiracy theory that an army of tradies turned up the moment the cameras left. Rick and Tayla’s challenge win drew warm approval for Rick, a safe for watches provoked the question of who owns that many, and one commenter noted that “CSR stone” sounds suspiciously like a sponsor reading its own label. The AI count and the Lando segments also made their usual cameos.
The Verdict
r/TheBlock spent the night split between affectionate eye-rolls and genuine disbelief at the judges’ logic, with a clear preference for the houses that actually look finished. Two weeks remain, so it is now a race between the contestants, the weather and the judges’ ever-changing definition of a family home.
