Having bought a 4 bed house last year it has now come to light that the wiring was botched by the last owner.
Had a sparky out to look. He says the board is pre 1960 (House was built in 59).
He says that none of the light fittings/switches are earthed. No bonding on gas or water (no idea what that means). But sockets seem to be earthed but not to current standards.
Now having had new laminate put in and a total decoration of walls, I am not keen to rewire, but he has said this is my only option as no electrician worth his salt will touch it.
Is this true?
Clearly, safety is the priority, but I don't have £6k for the rewire and the extra needed to repair the damaged floor etc.
1. Can a rewire be done without destroying the floor? (Walls I can live with but not the floor). Somebody mentioned using echo switches?
2. How can it be that the sockets have earth but the lights do not?
3. Is it possible to replace all metal fittings with either plastic or double insulated ones to make the system safe (obviously not to current regs, but safe as it would have been in previous decades)
I have no desire to have wired in smoke alarms in every room and have never lived in constant worry of electrocution in other old houses I have lived in.
I welcome your thoughts on what you would do.
Thanks
Had a sparky out to look. He says the board is pre 1960 (House was built in 59).
He says that none of the light fittings/switches are earthed. No bonding on gas or water (no idea what that means). But sockets seem to be earthed but not to current standards.
Now having had new laminate put in and a total decoration of walls, I am not keen to rewire, but he has said this is my only option as no electrician worth his salt will touch it.
Is this true?
Clearly, safety is the priority, but I don't have £6k for the rewire and the extra needed to repair the damaged floor etc.
1. Can a rewire be done without destroying the floor? (Walls I can live with but not the floor). Somebody mentioned using echo switches?
2. How can it be that the sockets have earth but the lights do not?
3. Is it possible to replace all metal fittings with either plastic or double insulated ones to make the system safe (obviously not to current regs, but safe as it would have been in previous decades)
I have no desire to have wired in smoke alarms in every room and have never lived in constant worry of electrocution in other old houses I have lived in.
I welcome your thoughts on what you would do.
Thanks