Flyfisher
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- 10,236
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- Norfolk, UK
I know - I've only just got rid of the taste of soap out of my mouth.Penners said:
Does it need rewiring?
- Thread starter Karina
- Start date
Nigel
Member
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- 58
- Location
- West coast of Scotland
Karina
With regard to your original question our experience may help.
We bought a Georgian house (3 reception 6 bedrooms) that had the original 1915 wiring/sockets/light fittings/fuse boxes etc.
We were able to get a free, detailed, electrtical survey (we are in the West of Scotland) as the electrician saw this as a loss leader for the job in hand (and he got the job), so I would be pushing for a free survey.
The electrics had to be totally replaced but we did re-use all the period light fittings and most of the wall mounted light switches. It was a big job, taking a couple of guys several months and cost £10k (we used our QS to independently validate the quote). We put in a lot of sockets in every room and it included wiring for a new alarm, boiler, electric shower, cooker, extended central heating etc etc.
In terms of disruption it was not as bad as you might think. It was made a lot easier for us as we lived in one room for 5 months, with furniture in storage, as we had a lot of other work undertaken - so there was no furniture moving etc. Also we threw all the fitted carpets in the skip so access under the floor boards was easy. If you are moving all your furniture in day 1, on top of fitted carpets, it may well be a real pain.
Structurally most of the wiring was easily fed down behind the lath and plaster so there was less rebating into the wall than we expected. However, we repainted every surface in the whole house which meant that the odd bit of plaster disruption was easliy dealt with. If you have wallpaper you are hoping to keep manage your expectations, you may not get away with it.
Finally our house is Grade A listed but there were no problems with the planners. We used plain solid brass fittings and as stated above retained the light fittings. We even used nail varnish to remove the lacquer, so the brass switches will tarnish over time! The modern fuse box is hidden out of sight and we kept the original fuse box on the wall in the hall, as it dated back to 1915.
I hope this helps and good luck!
Regards
N
With regard to your original question our experience may help.
We bought a Georgian house (3 reception 6 bedrooms) that had the original 1915 wiring/sockets/light fittings/fuse boxes etc.
We were able to get a free, detailed, electrtical survey (we are in the West of Scotland) as the electrician saw this as a loss leader for the job in hand (and he got the job), so I would be pushing for a free survey.
The electrics had to be totally replaced but we did re-use all the period light fittings and most of the wall mounted light switches. It was a big job, taking a couple of guys several months and cost £10k (we used our QS to independently validate the quote). We put in a lot of sockets in every room and it included wiring for a new alarm, boiler, electric shower, cooker, extended central heating etc etc.
In terms of disruption it was not as bad as you might think. It was made a lot easier for us as we lived in one room for 5 months, with furniture in storage, as we had a lot of other work undertaken - so there was no furniture moving etc. Also we threw all the fitted carpets in the skip so access under the floor boards was easy. If you are moving all your furniture in day 1, on top of fitted carpets, it may well be a real pain.
Structurally most of the wiring was easily fed down behind the lath and plaster so there was less rebating into the wall than we expected. However, we repainted every surface in the whole house which meant that the odd bit of plaster disruption was easliy dealt with. If you have wallpaper you are hoping to keep manage your expectations, you may not get away with it.
Finally our house is Grade A listed but there were no problems with the planners. We used plain solid brass fittings and as stated above retained the light fittings. We even used nail varnish to remove the lacquer, so the brass switches will tarnish over time! The modern fuse box is hidden out of sight and we kept the original fuse box on the wall in the hall, as it dated back to 1915.
I hope this helps and good luck!
Regards
N
Penners
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- 17,294
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- Suffolk, England
Trouble is, if you get a free survey from an electrician, just what chance do you think there is that the results will be "no work needed"?Nigel said:We were able to get a free, detailed, electrtical survey (we are in the West of Scotland) as the electrician saw this as a loss leader for the job in hand (and he got the job), so I would be pushing for a free survey.
Thanks for all your thoughts - plenty to be going on with.
Nigel - when your new cabling was fed behind the lath and plaster I am assuming this means it was not inside any ducting. Was this an issue at all as far as regulations are concerned? I also think I might be quite wary of getting a 'free' survey as the report is unlikely to be truly independent.
Nigel - when your new cabling was fed behind the lath and plaster I am assuming this means it was not inside any ducting. Was this an issue at all as far as regulations are concerned? I also think I might be quite wary of getting a 'free' survey as the report is unlikely to be truly independent.
Nigel
Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- West coast of Scotland
Karina
Generally the wires were simply dropped down, with old conduit used where in situ.
Agree a quote could be ramped up but as we had a QS on Board for all our works our strategy was to get the best contractors on board and use the QS to keep the bids honest. Hence we did not do that obtain at least 3 tenders and choose the best stuff!
Regards
N
Generally the wires were simply dropped down, with old conduit used where in situ.
Agree a quote could be ramped up but as we had a QS on Board for all our works our strategy was to get the best contractors on board and use the QS to keep the bids honest. Hence we did not do that obtain at least 3 tenders and choose the best stuff!
Regards
N