Quotes for complete Rewire- Fair?

[chanakyapundit]

Hi,

I am a complete novice, trying to find my way, as I muddle through my first property purchase and will appreciate some help from this forum.

I am buying a 1930's semi-detached in Petts Wood (1200 sq ft, 2 rooms+kitchen+WC downstairs, 2 regular and one small bedroom upstairs, with family bathroom).

I have got a couple of quotes from local electricians (both of them came recommended) for a full rewire before we move in, but they seem quite expensive (one of them has quoted £5k, another close to £4.5k), cost of material is about £1500, the rest is for labor. I can really do with some help here. I get the feeling that, either I am asking for too much or the electricians are asking for too much. The details of what I am looking for are below:

Installation of about 45 lights and 40 double sockets (plastic ones). Details below (for each room i have provided the number of normal lights, down-lights and double sockets i have requested for)

Ground
------
Entrance-------2, 0, 1
Living Room----0, 6, 8
Dining Room----0, 6, 4
Kitchen--------0, 4, 8
WC------------0, 1, 0
Under Stairs----0, 1, 0

First Floor
-----------
Landing Area---0, 2, 1
Bedroom 1-----0, 4, 4
Bedroom 2-----0, 4, 4
Bedroom 3-----0, 2, 2
En Suite-------0, 2, 1
Bathroom------2, 0, 1

Others
-------
Loft-----------2, 0, 2
Exterior-------6, 0, 2
Garage--------1, 0, 2

In addition, I am also asking for the installation of 2 Exhaust Fans (for the bathrooms), Sky connection to the rooms, TV & CAT 6, electrical connections for a new megaflo and a new Consumer Unit.

Many thanks in advance.
Sunil

 

[ChrisRogers]

with the amount of downlighters I'm not suprised.

I'd expect around 3k for a standard basic rewire, but with all the extras the prices sound more than reasonable.

 

[RMS]

Downlights require quite a bit more installation time compared with a standard centre light.

The prices seem reasonable for what your asking. personally I would scrap the downlights as this will reduce cost. Any I've installed in my houses in the past i've always regretted.

 

[kevindgas]

depends on the spec.

cheap materials or top notch chrome/gold plated ? fire rated or normal downlighters? chased or surface wiring? the list could go on.

£5K for a basic is over the top but 35k for all singing with bells on wouldn't be!

 

[ChrisRogers]

looking at it further I'd probably price it around 5-6k plus VAT depending on how good access will be around the building.

If they've got good recomendations go for them. Life isn't about going for the cheapest quote

 

[chanakyapundit]

Downlights require quite a bit more installation time compared with a standard centre light.

The prices seem reasonable for what your asking. personally I would scrap the downlights as this will reduce cost. Any I've installed in my houses in the past i've always regretted.

Personally, I am not too keen about downlights either. Its something one of the electricians mentioned and then my wife liked it and thereafter it took a life of its own.

Any particular reason for the regrets ?

Also, if I were to scrap the downlights, can i expect to hit the £3/3.5k mark? Or do I need to drop a few sockets as well? That was my original budget and I would like to stick as close to it as possible.

 

[chanakyapundit]

looking at it further I'd probably price it around 5-6k plus VAT depending on how good access will be around the building.

If they've got good recomendations go for them. Life isn't about going for the cheapest quote

Thanks a lot !! Clearly, looks like its my ambitions that need downsizing... I had budgeted for something like £3.5k, so I am keen to find ways to get close to the target. Based on what I have read so far, replacing the downlights with normal lights and using fewer sockets may get me close.

 

[vv2806]

Next time you see downlights, pay attention how well they light the room (or rather how badly they do it). That's why I personally decided against them, although my original idea was to have downlights in the kitchen. Thanks to this forum I had a closer look at them and reconsidered.

I am not an electrician so can't comment on the price but congratulations about buying your first property and best of luck with the renovation.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Also think about how much it's going to cost you to light the rooms using downlights.

Only a few years ago most rooms were adequately lit by a single 60watt pendant with a tungsten filament lamp.
The green police have seen to it that this is replaced by a 13watt energy-saving lamp (we can query if that gives adequate light)!

You'll probably need 6 x 50 watt downlights to light an average sized room, so that is 300watts a room when 13watts would do, where is the sense in that? I'm not sure how much you pay for electricity, but its real expensive where i live!

 

[pjcomp]

Looking at your socket numbers I wouldn't cut back on those - with all the plug-in stuff we have these days you can never have too many sockets, and Sod's Law says that how ever many you have, the one you want is six feet away behind a sofa!

PJ

 

[phatboy]

The prices may be more than you hoped, but don't cut back on the sockets, I think you have carefully considered where you want them to be, so removing any is only going to come back to haunt you later down the line.

It does sound like a big job, so I would stretch out to the quotes if you can, or speak to the electrician and see if he will reduce his costs a bit. Its a buyers market in most things, so to win the job they may be willing to reduce labour a bit.

 

[Lectrician]

It does sound like a big job, so I would stretch out to the quotes if you can, or speak to the electrician and see if he will reduce his costs a bit. Its a buyers market in most things, so to win the job they may be willing to reduce labour a bit.

That's where I am completely different.

If I quote for something, I use my standard hourly rate with expected time on site plus materials, or on a per point basis, depending on how much time I have to quote!

Once a quote is done, it's done. If someone tried to knock me down on price I would only consider it if I had NOTHING else in the pipeline, and even then I would think more than twice! Hourly rates not only pay us, but they cover all the overheads of running a business. If we are not doing your rewire, we would no doubt be elsewhere.

I think those prices are very reasonable for what is required, especially if making good is also included.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Which, maybe, shows the difference in workloads beween Aberdeen and Devon?

 

[flameport]

What is listed plus light switches is well over 100 items, not including the consumer unit.

£5k is therefore well under £50 per point.

If the materials are really £1500, that leaves £3500 for labour.
If you assumed 100 hours to install (which is about 1 week for 2 people, or 2 weeks for one), thats a rate of £35 per hour, which hardly seems excessive, particularly for Kent.