New CU and Kitchen rewire considerations

Today I am supposedly getting the final go ahead on the property we have been trying to buy for the last 5 months. Now that we are finally getting the damn place I thought it about time to start getting an idea of what I want/need for the kitchen rewire and CU.

First some info. The entire ground floor is concrete, bathroom directly above the kitchen but carpet/flooring can be ripped up to get to anything as needed since it all needs to be replaced.

The kitchen will contain the usual appliances, fridge, dishwasher, washer dryer and a duel fuel range cooker.

As I understand it (and for here on please correct me if i am wrong), standard practise would be to put in a radial for the cooker and a ring (seperate from downstairs ring) for the rest of the kitchen.

The cooker also needs an accessible isolation switch which would be 45A?
The Washer Dryer and Dishwasher are all in one corner and I planned to have a 2g socket under the worktop for these to plug in to. Do I need another accessible isolator to turn the power off easily and if so I assume I dont need switched sockets?

I also want two seperate light switches, one single from the hall into the kitchen and one double from the kitchen into the garden.

The single I would like wired to turn on the main lights, under cupboard lighting, kickboard lighting and in cupboard lighting. My questions for this are a) is that ok or am I going to need to change my plans? b) how does kickboard, undercupboard and in cupboard lighting "work"? I mean am I going to need to get a spark in again to connect them all up once I have fitted the kitchen?

The double socket from the kitchen into the garden will turn on two exterior lights. One of these lights i would also like controllable from a switch in the dining room. I would like both lights to be motion sensitive but I would also like to be able to override them to make them stay on. Again my questions are a) is that possible and b) can anyone reccommend a couple of decent lights, preferably CFLs.

Not related to the kitchen, but while I have a man in I also wondered about power to the shed. Does power to external buldings have to be buried in the ground? I ask since surrounding the shed is a delightfully grotesque slab of concrete which I would rather not dig up unless it is the only allowed option.

Before I go calling a few guys for quotes, what details would it be handy for me to have ready? The current wiring in the house will all eventually be extended to add many more sockets so would it be an idea to let the guy know the length of runs etc for when he is adding the CU?

Apologies is some/any/all of that seems somewhat trivial. I'm 24 just got married and this will be our first place (3 bed semi, god bless the house price crash) and the prospect of doing the whole place up while exciting is also a smidgen daunting.

Hi Darren, please be aware that this is a DIY advice site rather than an on-line electrical planning and consultancy facility.
That is a very long list & much of it will be answered by the people you will get in to quote.

All of them will want to see the site, look at your existing electrical supply and where cables are. These items will all have a bearing on price.

Please, please remember that all electrical work in a kitchen must be notified to the local authority. As you are not doing the work yourself you MUST use an electrician who is registered to certify and notify his own work. A list of these can be found at www.competentperson.co.uk . Type in your postcode and away you go.

This is the best way to start. Do come back if you have specific queries that you aren't sure of after you've had a quote or three.

"As you are not doing the work yourself you MUST use an electrician who is registered to certify and notify his own work"

or use a non registered electician but you must still pre notify in the same way as if you did the work yourself (If a domestic property in England or Wales)

DarrenThomas said:

Apologies is some/any/all of that seems somewhat trivial. I'm 24 just got married and this will be our first place (3 bed semi, god bless the house price crash) and the prospect of doing the whole place up while exciting is also a smidgen daunting.

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I know that you are keen to get on and do it up, but unless it's an unsanitary and dangerous hovel I would say do the minimum now, and live in it for a while before you have any major work done, and before you decorate it and thus make changes to the infrastructure an unpleasant prospect, otherwise there's a real risk that in 6 months time you'll find yourselves saying "if only we'd thought about <whatever> a bit more"....

And you have a lifetime of property ownership ahead of you - give serious thought to properly learning electrics and plumbing at evening classes.

The people that you get to come and quote will be able to give you a much better idea of what you need, as they will be seeing the property and do this day in day out. For the work on the CU, kitchen and external power, this is all notifiable work and as already mentioned the person you choose will need to be registered with a competent person scheme.

Appliances under the counter need to be able to be isolated, this will usually be done with a FCU above the counter. If you are having the entire kitchen done, you might want to consider getting all the isolator switches in a single location for neatness (Some like this) Yes to a radial for the cooker, size depends on the rating of the cooker, so you might want to check out the power draw of the type of appliance you require. Many advocate putting a separate radial circuit for your freezer in case something trips the ring main while you are on holiday, your freezer will say on.

Get at least 3 quotes and even be prepared to pay for a quote. A good quote takes time to prepare and price.

Hi Darren,

Id just like to echo most of whats already been written above.

There are legal restrictions placed upon electrical work in the home. There are a few ways to comply with those restrictions.

My advice to you would be to sit down, with the missus and take time to talk through what you want as a finished article before you get involved in anything major. When you finished, go over your plan again.

Always remember the five P's !!! (or is that six?)

The amount of times people just start doing things randomly, then when about 75% of the way through, they start to realise that they should have done this first, it would have been better if we did it that way etc.

I understand that as a first timer, worrying about invisible wires is probably low down your list of priorities, compared to decor/kitchen and the like. But PLEASE PLEASE do not fall into the trap of 'ill do it then get a spark in to sign it all off for £50'.

ban-all-sheds said:

...but unless it's an unsanitary and dangerous hovel I would say do the minimum now, and live in it for a while before you have any major work done...

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Very good advice.

It'll all be being done by a nicieiceiece (sp? lol) spark as i know its all special work because its in the kitchen.

I realise that the guys coming in to quote will be able to give me more in depth info but i would just like an idea if the things i have asked about are even possible. I have been planning the various things to do to the place for the last 3 months including the things we need for the kitchen.

The kitchen is the only thing we want to get done before we actually move in just because of the upheaval it'll cause. A door needs blocking up and a larder cuboard needs removing so the only options we have are to buy appliances now and have to re buy when we do the kitchen or just do it all now. We have the money put aside (about 17k to walk in with and redo the kitchen, rest of the wiring, decorate, furniture etc) so it just seems more logical to do the kitchen now since we are living with the in-laws.