rewire

[rotterman]

Hi all

The electrics in my house are very old, and am planning of getting some electricians around to quote me for a rewire soon. The thing is, I am redecorating the house at the minute (doing it room by room, replacing ceilings, replastering etc.). It seems a shame and a awaste of money for a sparky to rewire the house and chase in all the cables and plaster over them when i'l just be tearing the ceilings down and ripping plaster from the walls in the near future anyway.
Does anyone know if it's possible/legal/acceptable for an electrician to surface mount the wires (inside trunking) on the walls during the rewire and then i'l chase them in/plaster over them on a room by room basis as I redecorate?

Thanks for reading, any help appreciated

 

[fingers1]

Just joined. First post so bear with me.
Nothing wrong with that in principle. However just a couple of thing spring to mind, surface wiring socket/switch boxes are plastic patresses and are not suitable for burrying in plaster so will eventually have to be changed for metal back boxes which means disconnection and reconnection of sockets and switches. The circuits will then have to be retested before they are powered up. Also with the room under renovation plasterers and live sockets don't get on.

 

[phatboy]

Why don't you chase them all now, and just not bother plastering over it until you do the rest of the work?

 

[Chri5]

You would have been better of with the spark already working side by side with your already started refurb.

Why not get a contractor to change over the cu straight away and ask them to work alongside your work.

The existing set up can only be better on a safe new board with rcd, correct main bonding and correct met feed and tails.

The contractor may want to do a condition report first just to make sure the half way house of some old and some new is within testing tolerances.

You should ask yourself if there is any sense in doubling up the work, as in the sparks doing a job and you undoing it afterward ( no sense at all).

 

[RMS]

Don't think you should go down the surface mount route. This will add a ridiculous amount of time to the job.

I would have the whole electrics first fixed. Use the existing electrics until its time for second fix. Make your plans for all positions of accessories. You can plaster each room as you go along.

 

[sparkwright]

There's no tactful way to say this.

YOU ARE DOING IT THE WRONG WAY ROUND.

The facts are;
You do not want your new plastering and decorating damaged.
You do not surface mounted boxes and trunking, because it looks awful in a home, and there is no need if you do the chases before you plaster.

Stop all this making good until you have been rewired.

 

[rotterman]

thanks for your replies guys. Sparkwright, I think you've missunderstood what I meant. Im not plastering,and then having the electrics done, I want the electrics doing first, and then redecorating (so im not doing it the wrong way round). the fact isn't that im worried about my new decoration being damaged, I never said that, thats not an issue at all, as the electrics will be done before each individual room is plastered etc. im trying to plan ahead (the bit im doing decorating at the minute doesn't have a wiring issue). What I was trying to say was there seems little point in a sparky coming round, rewiring and reinstating the rooms if shortly afterwards I'l be tearing the room apart.

Quote;:"It seems a shame and a awaste of money for a sparky to rewire the house and chase in all the cables and plaster over them when i'l just be tearing the ceilings down and ripping plaster from the walls in the near future anyway."

But, anyhow, thanks everyone for your replies, much appreciated
[/quote]

 

[sparkwright]

thanks for your replies guys. Sparkwright, I think you've missunderstood what I meant. Im not plastering,and then having the electrics done, I want the electrics doing first, and then redecorating (so im not doing it the wrong way round). the fact isn't that im worried about my new decoration being damaged, I never said that, thats not an issue at all, as the electrics will be done before each individual room is plastered etc. im trying to plan ahead (the bit im doing decorating at the minute doesn't have a wiring issue). What I was trying to say was there seems little point in a sparky coming round, rewiring and reinstating the rooms if shortly afterwards I'l be tearing the room apart.

Quote;:"It seems a shame and a awaste of money for a sparky to rewire the house and chase in all the cables and plaster over them when i'l just be tearing the ceilings down and ripping plaster from the walls in the near future anyway."

But, anyhow, thanks everyone for your replies, much appreciated

[/quote]


I must RTFQ properly
I must RTFQ properly
I must RTFQ properly
...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It seems a shame and a awaste of money for a sparky to rewire the house and chase in all the cables and plaster over them when i'l just be tearing the ceilings down and ripping plaster from the walls in the near future anyway.

In that case have the electrician chase the walls for the cables but not do any making good, and give him free rein to pull down parts of the ceilings as required but not replace any of them.

Sorted.

I really don't see the problem.

 

[ebee]

I must admit that when I read this I thought you were doing it arse about face (back to front) too.

Like Ban says get the rewire done first .

as for chases etc I`d recommend that at least a little new plaster (bonding or one coat) is placed on your new cables to both protect them and hold them in position whilst you remove the old plaster and reskim - just make sure that this will still be below your finished surface once completed.

I won`t comment upon the advantages/disadvantages of capping cables on this one.