It was Rumpus and Laundry Week, which sounds harmless enough until everyone on the site is also carrying the fallout from the community challenge. After last week's shared-project chaos, this lot did not exactly need another reason to side-eye their neighbours.

A Borrowed Tool Turns Into A Blow-Up

Courtney and Sev had their own deadline panic when a paint colour turned out to be a terrible fit for their rumpus room. They changed it late, leaving Courtney to get through six coats before tools down. It was stressful, but at least their problem stayed paint-related.

Over at Houses 1 and 2, a request for a tool used by Chantel and Wyatt's tilers became the latest neighbourhood flashpoint. Wyatt was annoyed that Adam and Jolene had not come to him directly, then learned the tool had been taken without permission anyway.

When Wyatt confronted Adam, the dispute quickly circled back to Jolene's earlier clash with Wyatt and Adam's view that she had felt intimidated. Wyatt pushed back on the criticism, Adam told him to pull his head in, and the conversation went nowhere useful from there. Adam eventually walked away, which was probably the closest thing this argument had to a cooling-off period.

By the time Scott Cam called tools down, it was a relief to talk about rooms. He also added a $50,000 art package to the Plungie prize pool, while Lisa and Rosco collected the $10,000 CommBank Better Budgeting Award.

The Rumpus Rooms Split The Judges

Adam and Jolene opened the judging with a textured rumpus room, a substantial entry and a laundry that the judges found surprisingly impressive. Darren liked the stone benchtop, but he and Marty were not sold on the oversized Grafico image, which they felt fell short of the luxury expected at that price point. Shaynna also found not one but two tiny plants placed in corners, a styling choice she has made very clear she does not enjoy. They landed on 26.5 points.

Chantel and Wyatt's neutral-toned rumpus had some strong ingredients, including the curtains, couch, rug and television unit, but the judges could not see a proper family space coming together. The lack of a coffee table, side tables and enough amenity made it feel more like a second TV room than a genuine rumpus. Their laundry recovered some ground on function, but 23 points left them at the bottom of the ladder.

Lisa and Rosco made a remarkably similar-sized room feel much more generous by shifting the cabinetry to the side wall. Their dark cabinetry, kitchenette and sink gave the rumpus a relaxed, usable feel, while the laundry's stone, dark appliances and copper tapware continued the polished look. The judges had very little to complain about, and 28 points put them in second place.

Rick and Tayla had the opposite layout problem. Their rumpus was huge, but the judges thought the furniture, rug, pendants and artwork had all been squeezed into the wrong places. The room was not written off as a disaster, but it never found the easy, liveable rhythm the strongest rooms had. Their laundry was a much happier story, with the judges praising its design despite a less-than-perfect paint finish. They scored 24.

Courtney And Sev Come Within Half A Point Of Perfection

Then Courtney and Sev walked the judges into a room that had them fizzing. Their large rumpus had a hidden TV behind rolling timber doors, a proper kitchenette, coffee machine, drinks fridge and even a mini dishwasher for glasses. Every detail seemed to make the room feel more considered, more expensive and more complete.

The laundry followed through on the same level of finish, right down to the curved ends on the cabinetry. For a moment, it looked as though the pair could collect the first three 10s of the season. A small unfinished section of skirting board spoiled that particular dream, but it barely dented the result.

Courtney and Sev finished on 29.5, with two perfect 10s. They took the $10,000 Chery win and moved further into frontrunner territory at exactly the point in the season when nobody can afford to coast.

The Final Scores

Courtney and Sev finished first on 29.5 points, followed by Lisa and Rosco on 28, Adam and Jolene on 26.5, Rick and Tayla on 24, and Chantel and Wyatt on 23.

Next up is a major milestone: the final indoor room, plus a redo room that gives every team another chance to fix a space the judges have already picked apart. That is two rooms and two reveals, so serenity is probably not on the materials list.

The Block continues tonight at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now.