The cables for this are all buried in the walls, even the horizontal ones between the sockets.
So?
As i work my way down from the top decorating and having the floors up etc i am going to run the cables under the floor clipped to the joist so that the only cables buried in the walls will be the drops down to the consumer unit.
What about the cables to sockets and switches?
Would the best solution be one new ring main covering all three floors or a radial circuit per floor?
More granularity is better than less.
The ring/radial decision has nothing to do with how many floors each serves.
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=244268
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=244289
You really need to get an electrician. 1960's wiring? Who knows what else will need sorting?
Everything you're doing is
notifiable, and rewiring a house, installing a new CU, and anything else you get into like outside supplies, submains etc is not a trivial job, and I can assure you that it involves knowing far more than you think it does.
Asking questions here can be a useful part of a learning process, but they are not a substitute for proper structured studying. The key term there is "learning
process" - you cannot learn all the things you need to know just by asking questions here. It isn't structured enough - it won't provide you with a way to progress where each step builds on what you learned before.
You can't carry out a job of this magnitude by asking whatever random questions happen to occur to you. What if you get something wrong because you have no idea your knowledge is wrong? What if you miss something because you simply have no idea it even exists, and just don't realise you don't know it?
- For a circuit to supply a given load how would you go about deciding what cable and protective device to use?
- How do you calculate maximum demand and how can diversity be used?
- What are the 3 different types of domestic single-phase supplies provided in this country, how would you recognise them, and what differences do each make to the requirements for the rest of the installation, particularly any outdoor supplies?
- Can you correctly identify all components and connections of a circuit by method of testing or otherwise? In doing so can you identify or recognise anything wrong or dangerous with the circuit?
- Do you understand how the way in which you install cables affects how much current they can carry?
- What are the rules concerning cables concealed in walls, partitions and under floors?
- What are the rules for cables run outdoors, buried in the ground or overhead?
- Where cables need to be joined, how should this be done / not be done and in what circumstances are different methods acceptable?
- Can you identify extraneous conductive parts, and do you know the requirements for main and supplementary bonding of them?
- Which circuits should be RCD protected?
- How do you propose to isolate your supply so that you can connect up your new CU?
- Do you know what tests you would carry out on the installation - what sequence you'd do them in and at what point you would energise the installation, and for each test do you know what is being measured, why it is important, how you would carry out the test, and with what equipment, and what sort of results you would expect to get if everything was OK?
