Rewiring a bungalow with loft conversion

[x60rsa]

Hi

My bungalow has a loft conversion using newer copper wiring done probably 25 years ago. Downstairs is aluminium?

How hard is it to rewire a bungalow with a loft conversion as regards access. I assume all upstairs boards will need to be removed?

There are 2 bedrooms upstairs, 2 downstairs, lounge, kitchen, bathroom, hall way and conservatory.

I'm looking at it and thinking it's going to be a hard and very expensive job?

Any ideas on the average cost? 8 grand perhaps?

Thanks

 

[SUNRAY]

Hi

My bungalow has a loft conversion using newer copper wiring done probably 25 years ago. Downstairs is aluminium?

How hard is it to rewire a bungalow with a loft conversion as regards access. I assume all upstairs boards will need to be removed?

There are 2 bedrooms upstairs, 2 downstairs, lounge, kitchen, bathroom, hall way and conservatory.

I'm looking at it and thinking it's going to be a hard and very expensive job?

Any ideas on the average cost? 8 grand perhaps?

Thanks

If the loft confersion is dormers with some roof left just above floor level, it may be possible or even easier to access by lifting of roof tiles

 

[flameport]

Downstairs is aluminium?

Desperately unlikely.

I assume all upstairs boards will need to be removed?

Some, certainly not all.

Any ideas on the average cost? 8 grand perhaps?

Depends on many things.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Any ideas on the average cost? 8 grand perhaps?

Properties vary widely wrt construction, access etc.
Nobody can give you even a vague idea on an Internet forum.
Needs a site survey.

You'll need to find (a few) registered, competent, recommended electricians to give you a quote.
If the upstairs is newish wiring it may be useable, modern wiring has a lifetime of many decades, a simple test can confirm.
Downstairs obv needs a rew-vamp.

 

[ericmark]

Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) caused a lack of copper in the UK, I can't remember the dates, but for a time in the 70's we did use some aluminium cable, and it caused all sorts of problems, we still use aluminium for large cables, but not the small cables found in a domestic home.

Cables can be accessed either going up or down, ceiling or floor, in my house ceiling would be the likely method. But for a complete rewire the old wires do not NEED removing, although better if they are, so it is down to the electrician to work out the best method. It may well be in some areas steel wired armour (SWA) is run outside, that is how I got a new supply into my kitchen.

But a rewire can be bare-bones essentials, or also include TV and LAN cables. I had the kitchen re-wired in mother's house, also the wet room, and I decided I may need to let the house out, so got a bare-bones rewire for the rest of the house, around 2016, and cost less than £3000. This was in North Wales, and it was just enough so it would pass an EICR and allow me to rent it out. This never happened, mother died and house sold, but how much over £3000 depends on area, size, and a lot more.

What however you do need, is to work out what you want, and write it down, so all estimates are for the same work. And also if your going to be in the house when rewired, and even if freezers with need power.

There are the questions as to risk you want to take, personally I would always go for all RCBO, and also would have a SPD, to my mind on the grand scheme of things the extra £200 is nothing, and that is with a big house, last thing I want is for a freezer to stop working. When my roof leaked, I lost one socket circuit, the 13 other circuits were still working. Had I gone down the RCD route, I would have lost a lot more.

 

[Adam_151]

caused a lack of copper in the UK, I can't remember the dates, but for a time in the 70's we did use some aluminium cable, and it caused all sorts of problems

I've actually seen very little alu wiring on installations this side of the meter, A couple of jobs with Ali cores to SWA submains, and one job that used Alumicc (alumimum MICC) which had a grey PVC sheath. All dating from the very early 70s, so 71/72 ish. Never seen domestic twin and earth in aluimimum, but seen plenty of it which was tinned copper, which would probably date from about the same time, the tinning was I beleive necessary to stop it reacting with the VIR, and that carrried on a little after the switch to PVC before they worked out it was no longer necessary. I've seen folk refer to it as aluminum clad copper (which makes no sense whatsoever), the reverse did exist Copper clad alumimum "Copper clad" (ali core plated with copper) and does still exist in cheap and nasty data cables, I am not sure I can recall ever seeing any in power wiring.

In contrast, over the other side of the atlantic, ali was much more widely used, and as a result, the problems were (and still are) widely expierienced

 

[crystal ball]

Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) caused a lack of copper in the UK, I can't remember the dates, but for a time in the 70's we did use some aluminium cable, and it caused all sorts of problems, we still use aluminium for large cables, but not the small cables found in a domestic home.

Cables can be accessed either going up or down, ceiling or floor, in my house ceiling would be the likely method. But for a complete rewire the old wires do not NEED removing, although better if they are, so it is down to the electrician to work out the best method. It may well be in some areas steel wired armour (SWA) is run outside, that is how I got a new supply into my kitchen.

But a rewire can be bare-bones essentials, or also include TV and LAN cables. I had the kitchen re-wired in mother's house, also the wet room, and I decided I may need to let the house out, so got a bare-bones rewire for the rest of the house, around 2016, and cost less than £3000. This was in North Wales, and it was just enough so it would pass an EICR and allow me to rent it out. This never happened, mother died and house sold, but how much over £3000 depends on area, size, and a lot more.

What however you do need, is to work out what you want, and write it down, so all estimates are for the same work. And also if your going to be in the house when rewired, and even if freezers with need power.

There are the questions as to risk you want to take, personally I would always go for all RCBO, and also would have a SPD, to my mind on the grand scheme of things the extra £200 is nothing, and that is with a big house, last thing I want is for a freezer to stop working. When my roof leaked, I lost one socket circuit, the 13 other circuits were still working. Had I gone down the RCD route, I would have lost a lot more.

Where was the UKs copper coming from at this time?

 

[Murdochcat]

You should consider going through the ceiling below to save having creaking floorboards for ever.

 

[SUNRAY]

You should consider going through the ceiling below to save having creaking floorboards for ever.

Just refix the floorboards properly

 

[Murdochcat]

Just refix the floorboards properly

Seen too many cut up into too many pieces ….

 

[x60rsa]

Thanks for all the replies. Have an electrician coming this week or next. The electrician who installed my hot tub wiring last week mentioned about wiring being aluminium downstairs, maybe I misheard but he did say it needs redoing whatever it is.

He will be changing the consumer unit as well.

I'll look into what floor boards are upstairs.

Have had some electrical issues in the kitchen already with some sockets tripping out the fuse box!

Is chasing out a very messy job. I'm thinking it's going to be hard to live in the house whilst the works happening!?

 

[SUNRAY]

Just refix the floorboards properly

Seen too many cut up into too many pieces ….

Just refix the floorboards properly

Even if they are small bits. There are those things called screws and screwdrivers

 

[Taylortwocities]

Floorboards are fine. The nightmare is those big sheets of chipboard..

 

[ericmark]

Where was the UKs copper coming from at this time?

Rhodesia, as it was called then. Or rather, not coming from.

Floorboards are fine. The nightmare is those big sheets of chipboard..

This is my problem, floors were some fibre board, which does not like getting wet, so it has been covered with plywood, so the floor is not coming up in a hurry, it would be accessed through the ceiling.

Consumer units today should be all RCBO's which is a MCB and RCD combined. Which means faults are limited to one circuit, as it should be, the whole idea of splitting a house into two circuits then re-spliting into more sub circuits was never a good idea, but all we could do at the time.

 

[crystal ball]

Rhodesia, as it was called then. Or rather, not coming from.

This is my problem, floors were some fibre board, which does not like getting wet, so it has been covered with plywood, so the floor is not coming up in a hurry, it would be accessed through the ceiling.

Consumer units today should be all RCBO's which is a MCB and RCD combined. Which means faults are limited to one circuit, as it should be, the whole idea of splitting a house into two circuits then re-spliting into more sub circuits was never a good idea, but all we could do at the time.

I don't recall Rhodesia ever being a major exporter of copper