1970's bungalow does it need a re-wire?

[mred]

hi, i have inherited a 2 bedroom bungalow from my auntie i ve been told it was built in the 1970's and it is in need of doing up. i am going to live here myself and i want everything done spot on and before i start decorating i was wondering if i am going to need a re-wire, i am going to have some extra electrics put in the kitchen and the cooker socket moved and i was thinking if i need the whole house re-wired, and how much i am going to be looking at to have it done? Any help i would be very thankfull.

thanks
mr ed

 

[ericmark]

It is recommended that domestic electrical systems are checked every 10 years or on change of occupant.

You don't normally know what people have done before you arrive and some one could for example have been using a welding machine of a spurred socket with a bolt instead of fuse in the plug. Or been into loads of DIY.

The PIR as it is called will not find all faults but will high light many. And it is possible other than up-grading to new regulations by including RCD's in system there could be no difference in original wiring to that found after a re-wire.

1970's will be PVC so unlikely to find perished rubber cables but you are likely to find ring mains which are no longer rings and spurs from spurs and where faults in the ring are found you may also have damaged cable. Plus missing earth cables and all the other items found when they investigated the women's death in Cornwell which has recently been reported in papers and discussed on this site.

So get a PIR done then take it from there. No point is guessing get someone in to test it.

 

[mred]

It is recommended that domestic electrical systems are checked every 10 years or on change of occupant.

You don't normally know what people have done before you arrive and some one could for example have been using a welding machine of a spurred socket with a bolt instead of fuse in the plug. Or been into loads of DIY.

The PIR as it is called will not find all faults but will high light many. And it is possible other than up-grading to new regulations by including RCD's in system there could be no difference in original wiring to that found after a re-wire.

1970's will be PVC so unlikely to find perished rubber cables but you are likely to find ring mains which are no longer rings and spurs from spurs and where faults in the ring are found you may also have damaged cable. Plus missing earth cables and all the other items found when they investigated the women's death in Cornwell which has recently been reported in papers and discussed on this site.

So get a PIR done then take it from there. No point is guessing get someone in to test it.

cheers i will get on and get someone in to check it through, on the off chance would you have any idea how much i am looking at for a re-wire if it is needed?

cheers
mr ed

 

[Taylortwocities]

Information on PIRs available here: http://www.esc.org.uk/find-an-electrician/consumer-guides/domestic-condition-reports.html

Info on who to ask for an inspection is here: http://www.esc.org.uk/find-an-electrician/inspection-reports.html

 

[Adam_151]

Just to point out that if the PIR recommends a rewire, then you probably didn't need a PIR to tell you that, the guy probably had a pretty damn good idea after 15 minutes before even getting the test kit out, and the rest of the time gathering evidence of this to put in a nicely bound folder to tell you that... (of course it does become usful if you decide to ignore his recommendations and instead ask for remedial works on the defects highlighted)

Of course, it could be one of the few that looks alright until you start testing, but they are not in the majority... you usually can tell

Classic example, place wired in the late 1960s, wooden framed wylex board, undersized bonding not very much in the way of provision of points, insulation resisance was down, lighting earthing seemed hit and miss with some points wired in T+E and properly earthed, others wired in DI singles with no earth in, but an earth borrowed from the ring, some spurs off spurs, etc, The guy also wanted a lot of points changing round in the kitchen that he was totally gutting, and also the bathroom lighting redoing as he was gutting that as well, in my mind after you have put in a new fuseboard, bonding, found the IR fault, fixed the other issues, done the alterations, you may as well have rewired it and have a brand new installation...

 

[mred]

Just to point out that if the PIR recommends a rewire, then you probably didn't need a PIR to tell you that, the guy probably had a pretty damn good idea after 15 minutes before even getting the test kit out, and the rest of the time gathering evidence of this to put in a nicely bound folder to tell you that... (of course it does become usful if you decide to ignore his recommendations and instead ask for remedial works on the defects highlighted)

Of course, it could be one of the few that looks alright until you start testing, but they are not in the majority... you usually can tell

Classic example, place wired in the late 1960s, wooden framed wylex board, undersized bonding not very much in the way of provision of points, insulation resisance was down, lighting earthing seemed hit and miss with some points wired in T+E and properly earthed, others wired in DI singles with no earth in, but an earth borrowed from the ring, some spurs off spurs, etc, The guy also wanted a lot of points changing round in the kitchen that he was totally gutting, and also the bathroom lighting redoing as he was gutting that as well, in my mind after you have put in a new fuseboard, bonding, found the IR fault, fixed the other issues, done the alterations, you may as well have rewired it and have a brand new installation...

i think i will end up doing a re-wire as i am looking to change a fair bit so it might be easyer, does anyone know how much i will be looking at to do the full re-wire roughly, so i can get an idea on how much it will cost?

cheers
mr ed

 

[Adam_151]

About the same as a second hand car....

Perhaps get someone down to quote, tell them what additions you want, and get them to have a five minute look at the install and ask them whether they'd recommend a PIR + remedials + alterations, or whether it looks like rewire is going to be the best option.

The problem with PIR and remedials is:

A) you don't know what is involved until you have forked out for the PIR and some of them might be imposisble for the guy to quote for (ie. low IR and might have to be done on dayworks)

B) You get an old installation thats 'patched up'

C) It might still cost a bit

 

[mred]

About the same as a second hand car....

Perhaps get someone down to quote, tell them what additions you want, and get them to have a five minute look at the install and ask them whether they'd recommend a PIR + remedials + alterations, or whether it looks like rewire is going to be the best option.

The problem with PIR and remedials is:

A) you don't know what is involved until you have forked out for the PIR and some of them might be imposisble for the guy to quote for (ie. low IR and might have to be done on dayworks)

B) You get an old installation thats 'patched up'

C) It might still cost a bit

ok mate cheers i am a complete novice to this and i am just trying to work out how much it will all cost.

cheers
mr ed

 

[Taylortwocities]

"How much it will cost" is very difficult. Have to see it to quote it

SO

Your best bet would be to use a well recommended electrician or get a few quotes from local registered electricians here www.competentperson.co.uk

 

[mred]

"How much it will cost" is very difficult. Have to see it to quote it

SO

Your best bet would be to use a well recommended electrician or get a few quotes from local registered electricians here www.competentperson.co.uk

cheers i will get on the case as soon as.

cheers
mr ed

 

[ColJack]

between £1500 and £3000 depending on :
what you specify ( brass or stainless sockets are more expensive than white plastic )
the scope of the work to be done and the difficulty ( if it's engineering brick or poured concrete it's a lot harder to chase than if it's thermalite ),
whether or not they have to make good ( if you're getting a plasterer in anyway to re-do half the walls it's not worth patching the chases up )
and whether it's currently occupied ( takes longer if they can't start 'til 9am and must finish by 5pm and have all the lights and electrics back on and all the floorboards and carpets put back down etc... )

 

[mred]

between £1500 and £3000 depending on :
what you specify ( brass or stainless sockets are more expensive than white plastic )
the scope of the work to be done and the difficulty ( if it's engineering brick or poured concrete it's a lot harder to chase than if it's thermalite ),
whether or not they have to make good ( if you're getting a plasterer in anyway to re-do half the walls it's not worth patching the chases up )
and whether it's currently occupied ( takes longer if they can't start 'til 9am and must finish by 5pm and have all the lights and electrics back on and all the floorboards and carpets put back down etc... )

ok cheers that gives me a rough idea, the place is a empty carcuss at the mo and i will be having the walls and ceilings re-plastered after its all done and i was going to do all the chasing out myself to keep the cost down and my friend works for screw fix so can get all the all the sockets etc cheap so really all i will want is the labour to do it all.

cheers
mr ed

 

[Goldberg]

You don't normally know what people have done before you arrive and some one could for example have been using a welding machine of a spurred socket with a bolt instead of fuse in the plug. Or been into loads of DIY.

But it was his aunt living there.

The PIR as it is called will not find all faults but will high light many.

Doesn't that make it inappropriate to do a PIR?

you are likely to find ring mains which are no longer rings and spurs from spurs and where faults in the ring are found you may also have damaged cable.

But it was his aunt living there.

So get a PIR done then take it from there.

But you've said that a PIR won't find all the faults.

 

[mred]

You don't normally know what people have done before you arrive and some one could for example have been using a welding machine of a spurred socket with a bolt instead of fuse in the plug. Or been into loads of DIY.

But it was his aunt living there.

The PIR as it is called will not find all faults but will high light many.

Doesn't that make it inappropriate to do a PIR?

you are likely to find ring mains which are no longer rings and spurs from spurs and where faults in the ring are found you may also have damaged cable.

But it was his aunt living there.

So get a PIR done then take it from there.

But you've said that a PIR won't find all the faults.

cheers goldberg , my auntie had lived there for the last 30 years on her own so my family know a fair bit of its history, i know for defo there was no welder being used. i think i am going to get a local well known electrian in and see what he has got to say.

cheers
mr ed

 

[ebee]

Not wanting to pre-empt but consider this.
Even if it was wired correctly in the first place,
even if nothing has been damaged in the first place (those are two big ifs).
Purely because of changes in standards some remedial work will need to be done as upgrading.
You will probably want more points and probably in different places to where they are now.
So the most prudent course of action, bearing in mind the other works you need doing, might just be to rewire from sctrach and this might be just the opportinuity to do it.
A registered competent person might be happy for you to do the chasing and boxes and help with running cables etc, so you might get a reasonable price for the best solution.
Good luck