Rewires

[beinerts]

OK, new question. The electrics in my place are old. Not black-rubber-cable old, but Wylex fuse board old.

There isn't anything "obviously" wrong with the electrics, but the wiring is old, there are no MCBs and no RCD protection. That in itself is a cause for concern.

I have now decided on a re-wire, so that I can be confident that the house is safe for me and my wife to live in (what price for peace of mind?!). So I have a few questions:

1) Roughly how much does it cost? I need a new consumer unit as well, of course. I live in a 2 bedroom, split level maisonette in Greater London (Zone 3, South London). Downstairs floor is concrete, upstairs if toungue-and-groove floorboards. Is £2000-£3000 in the right ballpark? I'd want them to do all of the electrical work - including laying cable - so they could sign it off. I would do the re-plastering and decorating afterwards.

2) How long would it take, roughly?

3) Assuming the work takes several days, can you live in a house mid-rewire? Can the spark turn part of the circuits back on and is he even allowed to?

4) Will it effect the time/cost if I move furniture around so the sparks don't have to? I can only really "empty" one bedroom at a time, due to the amount of stuff.

Any thoughts welcome.

 

[Chri5]

1) Roughly how much does it cost? I need a new consumer unit as well, of course. I live in a 2 bedroom, split level maisonette in Greater London (Zone 3, South London). Downstairs floor is concrete, upstairs if toungue-and-groove floorboards. Is £2000-£3000 in the right ballpark? I'd want them to do all of the electrical work - including laying cable - so they could sign it off. I would do the re-plastering and decorating afterwards .

Depend on fittings, circuit volumes, lamp arrangements etc.

Your figures seem sensible for 2 rings, 2 lighting circuits, cooker, water heater, shower type system.
Sounds like the main problem area will be the solid ground floor, but existing routes (in conduit?) might exist.

2) How long would it take, roughly?

Without seeing the property thats a difficult ask. Guess at 2 men 7 days including testing- but that could vary by 5 days !

3) Assuming the work takes several days, can you live in a house mid-rewire? Can the spark turn part of the circuits back on and is he even allowed to?

Yes, old and new can be teed in, the old system should be tested and it's prudent to use the new board for the temp connections due to the extra safety of the rcd's

4) Will it effect the time/cost if I move furniture around so the sparks don't have to? I can only really "empty" one bedroom at a time, due to the amount of stuff.

The more you do to make the job easy the less time the job will take.

Best client I had- moved the bulky furn to storage and went on holiday for 2 weeks !
Most electricians will include time in the quote for carpet removal, furniture humping about, since frequently the customer doesn't move the stuff at the correct time.
If you have fixed flooring such as tiles (kitchen and bathroom) or laminate consider how a light or socket cable (if needed) will run under these without damaging the floor.

 

[beinerts]

Thanks for the reply.

Depend on fittings, circuit volumes, lamp arrangements etc.

Your figures seem sensible for 2 rings, 2 lighting circuits, cooker, water heater, shower type system.
Sounds like the main problem area will be the solid ground floor, but existing routes (in conduit?) might exist.

That is more or less what the set up is. I am not sure if there are routes in conduit. I know a lot of the lighting cables are metal sheathed and plastered straight in. Doesn't mean the ring is the same, of course.

Without seeing the property thats a difficult ask. Guess at 2 men 7 days including testing- but that could vary by 5 days !

I'll prepare for the worst!

Yes, old and new can be teed in, the old system should be tested and it's prudent to use the new board for the temp connections due to the extra safety of the rcd's

Good, no hotel stay required, then! Makes sense about using the new board for temp connections.

The more you do to make the job easy the less time the job will take.

Best client I had- moved the bulky furn to storage and went on holiday for 2 weeks !
Most electricians will include time in the quote for carpet removal, furniture humping about, since frequently the customer doesn't move the stuff at the correct time.
If you have fixed flooring such as tiles (kitchen and bathroom) or laminate consider how a light or socket cable (if needed) will run under these without damaging the floor.

Well I am going on holiday this weekend for 2 weeks, but sadly I don't have time to sort all of that out beforehand!

 

[ColJack]

as said.. £2500-£3500 ( it is london were talking about ) seems about right..

duration would be 7-10 days for 2 blokes if it's occupied, or 4-7 days if it's vacant..
the reason is as you stated.. can't start early, can't work late and must have lights and power back on, and floorboards back down at the end of the day.. then pulled back up the next day.. all of which takes time.. about 1-2 hours each day depending on the complexity..

you can't really do it "one room at a time" as you need to pass cables from room to room.. unless you opt for 1 x 20A radial per room and star wiring for lights from a central point..

storage heating etc will take extra time..

 

[beinerts]

I'd like to go away for a week to let the sparks get on with it, but unfortunately I've no more holiday to take this year and I want it to be done before then. But I could book into a hotel or B&B in London with the wife to get out of their way. Especially if it saves time and cost (presumably they'll factor that time in to their quote?). Alternatively I could gate-crash the in-laws, but I'm not sure they'd thank me!

Is there any advantage of having a 20A radial per room, other than installation considerations?

 

[ColJack]

one fault doesn't take out the entire floor..
add any new sockets when you want without worrying if it's a spur off a spur..

 

[beinerts]

Thanks. That makes sense. But I have a little study (with one socket) off the landing which I haven't counted as a room as a) It's tiny and b) it doesn't have natural light. Also, there are sockets on the landing and in the hallway downstairs. Would they all need their own radial?

I think the ring is the way to go in any case for me. I'm also growing used to the idea of staying in a hotel/inviting myself around somewhere!

 

[ColJack]

might not need to be a whole week.. could be a long weekend somewhere.. go on thursday night so you're gone friday through to monday or tuesday..

 

[beinerts]

That sounds even better. I'm sure there are loads of people we could invite ourselves round to over a long weekend.

 

[comms]

I've just done a re-wire (all circuits were in vir & lead) in a 3 bed place, fully occupied.

Day 1 = Split the tails & put in a new cu & MEB's + sso below cu & 20amp radial in small bedroom above cu (going to be an office), tested & started cert.

That evening I got customer to move all carpets (rolled to one side of room) & furniture from downstairs rooms into garage + lifted landing carpet.

Day2) Run in new kitchen ringmain & downstairs ringmain test & add to cert

Day3) Run in upstairs ringmain + radial for boiler upstairs & run in to first ceiling rose upstairs + LNE for smoke upstairs. test & add ring/boiler radial to cert. (had to work round bed furniture)

Day4) complete all upstairs lighting inc loft & smoke + run in for 3x downstairs smokes & downstairs hall lighting.

Day5) complete downstairs lighting & smokes. test all lighting & add to cert.

Day 6) run a 6mm submain to garage with small cu + 2x metal clad sockets & 1x light.

Day 7)Connect submain & test garage adding to cert.

Day8) remove 3x storage heaters heaters & cabling & remove 4x old now redundant cu's

Day 9) quick visit to fix down boards & have a general tidy up
As I connected new circuits I disconnected old circuits

 

[beinerts]

I've just done a re-wire (all circuits were in vir & lead) in a 3 bed place, fully occupied.

Day 1 = Split the tails & put in a new cu & MEB's + sso below cu & 20amp radial in small bedroom above cu (going to be an office), tested & started cert.

That evening I got customer to move all carpets (rolled to one side of room) & furniture from downstairs rooms into garage + lifted landing carpet.

Day2) Run in new kitchen ringmain & downstairs ringmain test & add to cert

Day3) Run in upstairs ringmain + radial for boiler upstairs & run in to first ceiling rose upstairs + LNE for smoke upstairs. test & add ring/boiler radial to cert. (had to work round bed furniture)

Day4) complete all upstairs lighting inc loft & smoke + run in for 3x downstairs smokes & downstairs hall lighting.

Day5) complete downstairs lighting & smokes. test all lighting & add to cert.

Day 6) run a 6mm submain to garage with small cu + 2x metal clad sockets & 1x light.

Day 7)Connect submain & test garage adding to cert.

Day8) remove 3x storage heaters heaters & cabling & remove 4x old now redundant cu's

Day 9) quick visit to fix down boards & have a general tidy up
As I connected new circuits I disconnected old circuits

Wow, that seems pretty good. Do you feel you could have done more on some days if you hadn't needed to keep the place livable in the meantime?

 

[comms]

It helps if you can get an early start & late finnish.
And yes having to make the place livable at the end of each day does take time, so you could offer to do this & give more time to your sparky.