Electrical rewire and building works information.

[Deano3]

Hi everyone, we have had electrician out today and bottom line is we need full rewire In our new home, built In 60s and lots of original wiring, can't add anything to original board and no earth on lighting circuits etc.

We will be getting some qoutes next few weeks for the rewire what we will try go to my mothers for a week to get done. Trouble is we also want some building work / possible extention done but I am pretty sure we can't afford extention that wife wants with the money we have saved, she wants rear kitchen extention and conservatory knocked down. If that is unaffordable we will get the wall knocked down in beetween kitchen and dining room and wall added to block off living room and some bifolds etc and get the conservatory knocked down as would never use and starting to look a mess.

I am thinking to get works done before rewire would you advise to get seperate pricese from electricians and builders or looks for company who does it all ? Obviously will need plasterer aswel to fill in the runs up the walls.

Also where is best place to look for trades as I normally go off good reviews on check a trade.

Any help would be great
Thanks dean

 

[^woody^]

A builder will only sub the electrical works out, so you may as well go straight to the electrician.

 

[mrrusty]

Plan ahead! Work out where you want to end up eventually, and draw some plans - don't have to be building plans - just do them yourself. Work out roughly where you will eventually need light switches, sockets, etc. It's easy enough for a sparky to make provision for future extension, and terminate cables for future use.

While they are chasing walls out, also consider if you want any network cable run anywhere - it's much more stable e.g. to have a smart TV running on the end of a hardwire than rely on wifi. If you don't use it, it costs peanuts so little lost.

If you struggle to afford your extension, and want some inspiration, and as this is a DIY forum....https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/slow-going-my-double-storey-extension-build.545117/page-9#post-5803689

 

[Murdochcat]

Avoid check a trade is my advice.

Lots of reviews are false and you can’t leave a poor review

 

[noseall]

It's easy enough for a sparky to make provision for future extension, and terminate cables for future use.

Not especially, no.
The job were doing now was priced earlier by a client's Sparks. He would not get anywhere near that price once the steel beams were all fitted and the smoke and heat detection and the new metal consumer unit, were taken into account.
None of the above was apparent until a Building Regulations drawing was produced.
He would have been out of pocket by several thousand.

 

[mrrusty]

Not especially, no.
The job were doing now was priced earlier by a client's Sparks. He would not get anywhere near that price once the steel beams were all fitted and the smoke and heat detection and the new metal consumer unit, were taken into account.
None of the above was apparent until a Building Regulations drawing was produced.
He would have been out of pocket by several thousand.

Fair point - you may not capture everything, but if you have a plan, at least you have a good chance of minimising future problems. I was basing on my own experiences where I've had wiring done and anticipated future extensions, so I've had SWA run in to a second CU in an outbuilding to be converted at a later date with free slots for future circuits, and with a free slot ready for a further SWA extension to a future outbuilding connection. Failing to plan this on the original first fix way before all the future work was done, would have left me in the poo!

 

[martygturner]

Do not get a sparky in to quote for a rewire until you have decided your budget and what you can achieve for that budget, if the house is working now and is not unsafe leave it alone until you need the work doing. So its got no earth in the lights, loads of houses still do, only becomes an issue when you fit metal switches, lights etc. Just because the wiring is from the 60's does not make it unsafe.

Quotations and estimates are different, a quotation is for a defined plan, an estimate is a ball park figure. Its the level of detail required, if you are at the planning stage ask for an estimate and see which option fits your budget, rough outlines are good enough. Once you have something you can afford, get some plans drawn up and get a quotation from those.

work out where you can lower the bill, taking down a conservatory is not difficult... nor is chasing out walls or cutting socket holes...or lifting floor boards. Work out what you can or are willing to do..

 

[Deano3]

Thanks for the help. There was a lot of issues not just the earth, I want extractor and extra sockets and unable to do any of that with current fuse box and that can't be changed due to wiring etc so not worth getting house how I want it then doing the rewire so getting that done first seems best option then I can decorate.

Also going to get builders out to qoute the other work aswel then will work out full price. Been using checkatrade with a lot of good reviews as don't know any other electricians near me.

Thanks dean

 

[Murdochcat]

My advice is draw up a spec , room by room, of what you think the electrical requirements will be and ask for prices

Be aware that smoke and heat alarms are mandatory, as are extractor fans that vent OUTSIDE for bath / shower rooms, cloak rooms and utility rooms - the later needs to be humid stat

And unless your CU is fairly new then that would probably need to be updated too. Go for RCBO / SPD versions

I always asked potential clients about outside lights, sockets, circuits for sheds and EV points in the future - these all add up but sometimes adding them later may not even be feasible