1930s house fuse box

[patryk44]

Hi,

We are about to put an offer on our first house. As the house is 1930s, I had a look at the fuse box to see if the house was rewired in the past. I'm not an expert, but it looks quite old to me. I read some posts on that forum, and someone mentioned that if there is no earth that means is old and it needs rewiring. Looking at the fuse box I think it has an earth wire (yellow green according to wikipedia). I have attached pictures of fuse box and light switch in bedroom and outlet in recently extended kitchen.

Many thanks

fuse box

• patryk44
• 23 Apr 2011
• 1

bedroom

• patryk44
• 23 Apr 2011
• 1

kitchen

• patryk44
• 23 Apr 2011
• 1

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[Steve]

Top quality pictures mate.

Anyway, we can tell NOTHING from a picture of a socket or switch. The wiring behind could be shot to **** with a nice modern front on it.

Looking at the mains intake, I'd recommend a periodic inspection. Should cost about £120-150, take half a day. You will probably need the fuseboxes replacing with a modern unit, but also remedial work elsewhere. You have about 4 fuseboxes, of various ages. None are likely to be from 1930, but all should be replaced to offer you better protection. Budget between £500-1000 for the fuse boxes alone.

If any remedial work elsewhere is required, this will be far easier before you move in.

 

[sparkwright]

The fuse boxes in the picture are more recent that 1930s, and some of the cable looks PVC, which is good.

However, you should get an inspection done to see exactly what the state of the installation is in.

Can you send a photograph showing below the fuse boxes a bit more clearly?

The picture you sent sent looks like you may have ancient VIR cable below the dark grey board. And possibly the tails are too smaller. Hard to say with the current picture.

 

[patryk44]

Thanks guys. That's a bit of good news. I will take another picture tomorrow.

 

[ajrobb]

One problem with old wiring is that light circuits might not have an earth. I'd want this checked before being happy with metal light switches.

Given that you haven't put in an offer yet, I'd make your offer conditional. Get a full structural survey and an electrical Periodic Inspection Report. Then start negotiating discounts for remedial work.

The picture you sent sent looks like you may have ancient VIR cable below the dark grey board.

VIR cable has vulcanised natural rubber insulation and was intended to be replaced every 25 years. It is probably much older than that (50 years plus), it could even be original 1930s.

 

[Chri5]

I'd talk to the seller and see what milage there is for a discount on the sales price.

Tell them you will pay for a PIR and that you expect the cost of works required against the report to be offset via discount on the asking price.

 

[bernardgreen]

Definately arrange for a PIR to be carried out and reflect the results in your offer. Factor in the possibility of disruption to living in the house due to having the house re-wired if the PIR finds serious problems.

You could say to the owners they should pay for the PIR and you will then refund the cost if there are no serious faults found. Reluctance to accept that might indicate they are aware that there are faults / problems with the electrics. They pay and you select who carries out the PIR

Ignore any comments from the present owners about " all the electrics work " as they may well "work" but not necessarily be safe.

 

[iCraig]

Go for a PIR!

Having just gone through a rewire myself it'll pay for itself. Some of the wiring in my house was modern PVC, but there was VIR dotted around and about on lighting drops and some was even hiding in ceiling where it looked like it was PVC, but the PVC bit was just 'tacked' on the end.

Have you checked how many sockets are in each room? If theres only 1 or 2 sockets in each room then its a sure sign its possibly not been rewired atleast recently anyway. If you need lots of new sockets and things repairing, it soon mounts up as a rewire will cost from anywhere from £2000 upwards, I paid £3000 for a rewire in Manchester in a house that was fully furnished. And it was a top quality job too. So if a CU change costs £1000 plus new sockets and repairs etc your beginning to verge on rewire territory...

And having just gone through a full rewire I can tell you its not as bad as some make out. There is loads of dust everywhere and each room will possibly need redecorating. I got away with touching bits up as they were able to use the conduit already in the walls for the switches.

Btw, I'm not a spark or anything just someone whose gone through it.

 

[sparkwright]

As already touched on, it's not uncommon for a house to be only partially re-wired, there could be older cable lurking around somewhere.

A PIR done by an experienced should reveal more about the installation.

The fuse boxes are out of date, it's appears they don't offer RCD protection.

It would be useful if your electrician looks in the loft at the wiring, and inside a few random roses, switches and sockets.

 

[patryk44]

Many thanks guys. Great forum!! I went again to the house this morning and I took a closer picture of the fuse box and another picture of wiring for loft light where I could see the cables. If our offer is accepted we will definitely go for PIR. I have attached the pictures below.

Fuse box closer

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

loft wires 2

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

loft wires

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

 

[iCraig]

Many thanks guys. Great forum!! I went again to the house this morning and I took a closer picture of the fuse box and another picture of wiring for loft light where I could see the cables. If our offer is accepted we will definitely go for PIR. I have attached the pictures below.

Fuse box closer

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

loft wires 2

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

loft wires

• patryk44
• 24 Apr 2011
• 1

If the vendor would let you it maybe worth getting a PIR done as part of the offer maybe?

 

[sparkwright]

From what the pictures show, the wiring does look old.

The pictures of the loft LOOKS like PVC, and with earths.
But still looks old. The junction box with the bare earths twisted together outside is a practice from about 40+ years ago. The light switch in the loft looks very old.

It is impossible to say if the installation is safe.

The mains position photo does seems to show some very old VIR wires, and a very old metal fuse box.

Based on the limited photographs I would say a lot of remedial work is likely to be required at best.

A re-wire may be the best thing to do rather than trying to salvage, particularly if you want to redecorate and don't have enough sockets etc.

Ideally you need a report done.

 

[patryk44]

A re-wire may be the best thing to do rather than trying to salvage, particularly if you want to redecorate and don't have enough sockets etc.

I agree, this would be the best option if the vendor agrees to drop the price, however I'm, a bit worried that this may "open a can of warms". My understanding is that if I want to re-wire the house it will have to be re-plastered as well, and that will be an additional cost to re-wiring. I'm not even sure how much it costs, but based on some posts I read it looks like to re-wire and re-plaster two bedroom terrace in greater London area costs about 8K (4K each). Additionally we will have to move somewhere else during that time, which adds an extra cost. I'm not sure if we want to get involved in such a big job having a few months old baby. I think we get the report done and make the decision based on the results.

 

[seasickstevie]

What?
£4,000 to patch up chases and around boxes?

I know London prices are high, but surely not £4k for maximum four-day job for one man, and a few of bags of plaster.

 

[patryk44]

The 4K was to re-plaster the whole hose. I'm not an expert at all but I read a few different posts on the internet and people were saying that they had to re-plaster all house after they re-wired as the plaster in old house was cracked and there was a wall paper on the walls,. If this is not the case that's a good news, as re-wiring may not sound that bad after all.