Two electricians telling me different things, confused and a bit concerned

[sparkwright]

"old rubber" in 1977 ?

Kind Regards, John

I see what you mean - I thought Murdocat was generalising about any installation, but clearly he meant this specific one.

 

[JohnW2]

I see what you mean - I thought Murdocat was generalising about any installation, but clearly he meant this specific one.

Maybe he was generalising, but that was not how I interpreted it.

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

The latest I have seen rubber cable was in a 1968-built house and even then, it was only on the cooker circuit.

I suspect that was the last of that spark's old rubber cable.

 

[JohnW2]

The latest I have seen rubber cable was in a 1968-built house and even then, it was only on the cooker circuit. I suspect that was the last of that spark's old rubber cable.

My experience is obviously pretty limited but, at least for the past 40-50 years, I don't recall having seen any rubber cable still in service in domestic installations. However, I've seen plenty of houses (including my present one) which has a fair bit of out-of-service VIR cable still lurking under floorboards and in roof spaces and walls!

Kind Regards, John

 

[TONY1966]

Are you certain it is polystyrene and not vermiculite? Take a sample to someone who could verify it for you. A local builder may be able to help.
If there is insulation between your ground floor ceiling and your first floor floor boards, it may be easier, (certainly cheaper), to remove the insulation and allow the warm air from below to help heat the air above.

No, it just looked like polystyrene

We had a plug socket moved some years back so that the gas cooker met regulations (the socket had previously been above the cooker)

The electrician cut a massive hole in my ceiling which at the time i wasnt overjoyed with but i had a look to see what i could see and it seemed the whole ceiling was full of an extremely soft off white (a cross between white and grey) board material that looked like polystyrene.

It was a real pain because it took 2 weeks to get it plastered up and in the meantime i had a constant 'snow' of tiny white bits dropping though the hole and onto the kitchen floor and cooker.

 

[TONY1966]

Unless it's done in old rubber, then i wouldn't bother testing.

Definitely not rubber, my colleague who had a good look said it was pvc and the bits he examined were in good condition but that it was 'old colours'

 

[conny]

Grey and white material doesn't sound like polystyrene to me. Can you lift a floorboard upstairs and take a sample?
Maybe post a pic of it on here. Someone may just recognise what it is.

 

[securespark]

the bits he examined were in good condition but that it was 'old colours'

As it would be, until around April 2004.

 

[Murdochcat]

FWIW if it was built in 1977, and has white twin and Earth on the sockets it’s almost certainly 2.5 mm / 1.0 mm

 

[JohnW2]

FWIW if it was built in 1977, and has white twin and Earth on the sockets it’s almost certainly 2.5 mm / 1.0 mm

Maybe, but ...

The visible wiring (grey, flattened pvc) ....

 

[TONY1966]

Maybe, but ...

There are two types of wire visible around the house, one is grey and the other is green and yellow. I am not sure but i think my colleague said the green and yellow is the bonding that should be upgraded

All the visible wires are like one of these, the green and yellow are attached to my pipes etc. The wire i saw above the kitchen ceiling was the same as the first pic.

 

[Notch7]

The latest I have seen rubber cable was in a 1968-built house and even then, it was only on the cooker circuit.

I suspect that was the last of that spark's old rubber cable.

My house was built in 1969, it has pvc cable everywhere that I’ve seen

Ive had a lot of floorboards up on the 1st floor to do plumbing and none of cable I’ve come across has started to break down as far as I can tell.

 

[securespark]

That's as I would expect.

Tony, the green and yellow conductor is later than the date of the build.

Before 1 January 1978, solid green was the colour for earth and bonding conductors.

Murdoch, the 14th Edition (that the house was wired to) went metric in 1970 or 71 (can't remember which and don't have my regs to hand to confirm), so I would expect 1977 installed cables to be metric CSAs.

 

[JohnW2]

Murdoch, the 14th Edition (that the house was wired to) went metric in 1970 or 71 (can't remember which and don't have my regs to hand to confirm) ...

1970 ....

FOURTEENTH EDITION Issued in 1966.

Reprinted incorporating Amendments, 1968.​

Reprinted incorporating Amendments, 1969.​

Supplement on use in metric terms issued, 1969.​

Amendments issued, 1970.​

Reprinted in metric units incorporating Amendments, 1970.​

Reprinted 1972.​

Reprinted 1973.​

Amendments issued, 1974.​

Reprinted incorporating Amendments, 1974.​

Amendments issued, 1976.​

Reprinted incorporating Amendments, 1976.​

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

Very good advice. I agree.

Sorry John I do not agree "anybody saying a rewire is required without doing any testing needs be shown the door".

First of all, the most important piece of equipment to use - the Mark One Eyeball. Sometimes can indicate it needs a rewire, sometimes indicates it might not need a rewire (although might indicate a few fixes or sometimes indicates it looks ok so far). That equipment is the first thing, a look around at what is.

Then, again the Mark One Eyeball and this time we will open a few things up to have a better look (sockets, switches consumer unit). Again we might think one of the three options above might apply.

Either of these might lead us to confirm or suspect it might well need a rewire.

If we need further info then testing occurs.

I do not do much in the way of PIRs/EICRs but on occasions I have there are a few I have cut short and reduced my fee accordingly because I have concluded a rewire required in full or in part, without any testing.