Ready for reno battle

Rockingham residents will have a great reason to watch the latest series of House Rules, with two of their own vying to win the top prize of having their mortgage paid off.

Rob and Rose Plater will soon have their home turned upside down in the renovation series, which will provide the couple much-needed time together.

Rose said she saw the show as a chance to have a “working honeymoon” and potentially change their family’s life if they won.

As an Australian navy logistics officer, Rob has spent most of the past five years away from his wife and three boys — David, 7, Sampson, 6, and Teddy, 3.

“I’ve been away from the kids probably half their lives,” he said.

“We went into the competition after I was on a five-month deployment to the Middle East and there were numerous deployments previous to that.

“The boys are very proud of some of the things I’ve done but we have been far apart geographically.”

While they believe Rob’s military training and Rose’s people skills will give them an advantage in the game, they think their lack of experience in problem solving together may be a hindrance.

“We’re used to long distance, so there’s an unknown because we have never really worked together so closely,” Rose said.

Handing over their house to be renovated by strangers may be a big risk, but they say it will be worth it to finally have a home that will reflect their personal style.

“We’ll be doing our best on the other renovations and just hope the teams will do their best on ours,” Rose said.