Dilemma, to have place re-wired or cosmetic job?

[Nefertari]

Hi,

The house I'm about to buy - probably a mid 70s 3 bed semi house, has not had any updating of any systems.

The seller said he thought it would need re-wiring. (the house was his parents before they died)

Had a sparky quote last week, he said it didn't need rewiring just updating.

His quote was to replace all the sockets with new, most sockets were singles and change to doubles. Fit PIR outside lamp. Rip out old tv and phone cabling. fit new lights in all rooms (lighting to be supplied by me) install 6 downlighters in bathroom and main spotlights, install power supply for digital shower.

take out old striplight in garage and replace with 3 new ones. fit 5 metal sockets in garage.

replace old fuse box with new consumer unit.upgrade main earthing conductor and main bonding conductor to gas valve and mains water stopcock, replace hall and landing pendants (all lights to be supplied by me)

take out room thermostat in hall and replace with wireless. install mains smoke alarm. All kitchen sockets to be installed - stainless steel ones to be supplied by me. fit 8 spots in kitchen (which i am providing) wiring for under cupboard lighting.

replace old llight pendants in all 3 bedrooms with new.

reckons between 7-9 days work and cost £2432.00

I think it's on the expensive side and don't see why it should take so long to do.

So, do I get another quote for the same thing from someone else OR, get a quote to rewire and be done with it on the basis that if it is going to cost me that much just to update; I might as well rewire instead esp as i'm having to supply a lot of the stuff anyway?

Opinions please if you don't mind?

 

[electronicsuk]

I'd say get another quote. The price sounds high, as a lot of those should be relatively quick and easy tasks. However, without seeing the job, we don't know what other hurdles there might be. A second and even third quote certainly can't hurt, but as you will see if you stick around on this forum long enough, the cheapest quote is often not the best!

 

[Taylortwocities]

I think it's on the expensive side and don't see why it should take so long to do.

How are we supposed to know, he has been to see the job.

Also, the price of a rewire in Stoke will be very different to a rewire in Stoke (sorry Stoke!). The UK is a big place. Where are you?


There are many things that may make it more (or less) expensive like:
is the house full of furniture or is it empty?
are all the floorboards easily liftable or are they tounge and grooved/chipboard sheets?
Is ceiling traditional plasterboard or lath & plaster
etc etc

Always get at least three quotes.

To be absolutely sure, get an inspection report done by an independent electrician (so he has no vested interest in making work for himself).

That will tell you what must and what should be done.

 

[wingcoax]

Should have thought that seeing you are providing most of the fittings £2000 would have been more in line.

 

[Johnmelad502]

How did he come to the conclusion that a rewire was not necessary?

For the price and time quoted, you could get a full rewire up here.

 

[Nefertari]

thanks for all your quick replies.

Tayloroftowcities, if you are in oxfordshire then I am just a few miles down the M4 from you.


the house is empty and when i complete on the sale, all my stuff bar 1 sofa and bed, is going in the garage. I'm having the windows replaced and 2 walls knocked down so it makes sense IMHO to get the messy stuff out of the way.

the floorboards are easily accessible upstairs and down. the ceiling is plasterboard. and i am going to clear off out of their way when all the work is being done so i am not going to be in their way or whingeing about the mess.

 

[sparkwright]

I think it's on the expensive side and don't see why it should take so long to do.

are all the floorboards easily liftable or are they tounge and grooved/chipboard sheets?
Is ceiling traditional plasterboard or lath & plaster
etc etc

A mid 70s house is a lot harder to re-wire than say a 1920s house usually as the floor is often t+g or chipboard and the plaster is rock-hard.

I would expect the ceiling to be plasterboard.

Generally, a mid 70s house wouldn't need re-wiring. One thing to check would be that green slime factor emerging from the cables, but I think that's more from 60s to early 70s wiring.

Once you have confirmed the wiring hasn't deteriated then you would just have to do the remedial work suggested - 10 mm earth and new consumer unit with RCDs being the most obvious.

 

[Nefertari]

johnmelad, forgot to answer your question

he unscrewed one of the upstairs pendant light fittings, looked at the wiring and announced it was current (no pun intended)

 

[ColJack]

7-9 days work? it wouldn't take that long to do a full rewire.. ( assuming spark and mate, 5-7 days.. lower end if unoccupied, no floorboards to put back down every night and furniture to shift every day )

as you say, best to get all of the wall bashing done now before you move in and decorate..

 

[flameport]

Mid 70s shouldn't need rewiring, that would be PVC cables which don't generally deteriorate (unlike older rubber insulated types).

However it may not have enough sockets, or sockets in places you want them. Given that the place is empty and other building works will be going on, you may as well get a quote for a full rewire, as there will be no better time to do it.

take out room thermostat in hall and replace with wireless

Why? If the cable is already there, why waste money and batteries on a wireless effort?

 

[Nefertari]

Hi,

I've spoken to another electrician who is going to have a look this coming week. He said he could do an inspection report for about £200. I don't know whether to go for it or not? At the moment he is booked to give me a quote for a re-wire.

However, I had some more gumpf through from the solicitors yesterday and notice that the house was first bought in 1978. so it's ever so slightly newer that I thought, it looks early 70s going by the decor.

One of my questions is, how often should a house be re-wired? Was the first sparky right to say it doesn't need a full re-wire just update?

If the latter, then I'll ask this second guy to quote me for the same as the first one.

many thanks

Christina

 

[Chri5]

The accepted rule of thumb is 40 years of use before rewiring should be considered necessary.

The cable does eventually break down, an IR (insulation resistance) test of the complete installation should be done. This checks the quality of the wiring and insulation between the cores of wiring in the cabling.

The quote does seem high for a job with minimal materials, and what appears to be mainly alterations to existing positions, update of sockets and switches and a new CU. More so when you are supplying a lot of the kit to be fitted.

What concerns me is that you might be handing an open cheque to the guy. What happens if post completing the work and when he does the full installation tests for the cert (EIC) certain circuits and cabling fail to be in tolerence ?

A pro would cover his back via a caveat in the T&C's or (best one) tell you he needs to prove via testing that the assumption that the cabling is 100% is correct. A PIR will indicate precisely that.

 

[wingcoax]

How long is a piece of string? They used to say 25 years but as you have been told pvc can last for a lot longer. It all depends on the conditions it has to live in. If your PIR is ok then go for the update.

 

[1john]

Personally, i would advise you to phone around for a few prices for Periodic Inspection Reports, get a feel for the going rate for them in your area, and choose someone you feel comfortable with. A 1978 installation should be perfectly servicable unless someone has been tinkering. I would think you would be looking at needing a new consumer unit and new main equipotential bonding conductors if your lucky, which, even with the PIR will come to alot less than £2.5k If there arn't enough sockets then it may be an idea to get more put in as you decorate each room if you are on a budget, or get them done in one hit and be left with the decorating to do all in one go.

 

[Nefertari]

Hello,

thanks for all your advice. I'll get a report done and take it from there.

the whole house will need decorating anyway so I'm not fussed about having all the sockets/switches done at the same time.

What I initially wanted to gauge from this forum was whether the first guy thought he'd make a bit extra from me since I know nothing. My own thoughts were that he is and that he'd priced himself out of the job. My view hasn't changed since so thank you everyone.