My wife and I viewed a property yesterday that was a post war built property in Bletchley (or at least I think it is from that era).
It was nice but I noticed that some of the electrical sockets were the older non-switch type. Some sockets were the more modern switch type.
There is no need to have switches on sockets. You can still buy sockets without switches it is just personal preference.
So I'm guessing that some of the house needs new wiring fitted. The vendors were an elderly couple.
They had a modern TV, an old fashioned phone with dialling ring and boiler with a modern digital display controller so it was a mix of old and new.
Again pulse dial phones still work, there would be problems using automated payment systems but nothing wrong with it. As to boiler there are condensating (economic) and Combi (requires no hot tank) but having other functions really does not matter they can all be added latter.
Is it safe to buy a property like this (providing we get it checked out)?
Would anyone recommend a full house re-wire or just partial?
The IET have for many years stated an EICR was called PIR should be completed every time the occupier changes. This is in the main to highlight DIY to low standards but will also highlight any other items which do not comply.
I know the consumer board is the old pop out botton type rather than the flip switch type.
There is nothing wrong with the old Wilex board I still use two in my house and until end of this year is all complies with current regulations. The main problem with older boards there is not the room to fit RCD protection although I have added it exterior to the boards this is unusual. In real terms it means any alterations become more expensive but nothing to stop you using as it stands. To swap will likely cost around £500 but that is not enough money to ever change your mind about which house to buy.
The central heating/radiators were fairly old too so we'd need to replace those in time but they did have thermostatic valves on them and were working ok.
Any help appreciated.
Old does not mean no good. Where a house has rubber cables yes it needs a re-wire but most houses re-wired or built after 1965 will still be OK today. It is not the fuse box or distribution unit which is important or types of socket what is important is are there earths to the lights and is the cable PVC. Having no RCD or even completely smashed sockets does not matter they are easy to fix. It is ripping wire out of the walls which costs money.
Pre-war houses would have two sockets one up-stairs and one down stairs. By 1952 houses would have 5 sockets and had moved on to having a ring main. By 1980 sockets had increased with most rooms having two sockets could be 15 sockets in the house. Around the 1995 mark we started to fit two rings and two separate lighting circuits.
Up until the latter it was common to have just 4 fuses. In general if you have more than 4 fuses in a 3 bedroom house it has been wired after 1980 and so will have PVC wiring.
The problem is if we take my mothers house as an example my father thought he knew it all and extended those 5 sockets in the main using spurs with spurs from spurs and unless one selects one of the original 5 sockets you may not see the rubber cable. Even the fuse box has been replaced with a modern consumer unit and the old cables would not reach so a junction box was fitted and cables extended. So even looking in the consumer unit may not identify it has rubber cables. However a look into the loft and seeing the lights are using rubber with no earths is the give away.
For an old electrician who knows where to look he can identify old wiring quickly. For younger electricians they may not know where to look but even a full re-wire will likely cost around £3000 and it is hardly a reason not to buy a house.
At around £300 to get an EICR done if you get it done with every house you look at very soon you will spend the £3000 for a full re-wire. No pre-war house is likely to have original wiring. So it is houses built between 1950 and 1964 which you need to be careful with. They are old enough to have rubber cable and no earth to lights but young enough not to have been rewired.
