Rewiring a house

Macca206

We just had an electrician in to look at the bathroom light and he says that the whole house needs rewired. We had an electrician in 4 months ago who had a look at the house and said it didnt need rewired as it looked fairly recent.

Tonight the electrician was RECI registered whereas the other one wasnt. He said it would cost 3k to rewire (3 bed house in D12). We only bought the house in October and the the survey said that there were some old wiring downstairs and didnt mention upstairs. In fairness the previous sparky was only doing work upstairs. Is it possible the house was only half rewired i.e. upstairs only?

Im going to get more quotes tomorrow..what sort of questions should I ask or what accreditation is best? Although RECI is the best recognised isnt there a possibility that they can play up on this and "scaremonger".

Basically we want to get more rooms done upbut now dont want to if it means having to rip the house apart and rewire thus ruining any work already done. What would be the effects of not rewiring, whats the risks probability wise. Any electrician will err on the side of caution and suggest it gets rewired but how necessary is it?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

peter-pantslez

the effects of not rewiring depend on how old the wiring is that is in the house!

some of the old wiring can become brittle and oxidise and in turn break or the insolation can crack and fall off due to heat effects. also there could be too many sockets on one circuit that is not adequately protected it might work ok now but with all the gizmos and gadgets people buy now to put in their homes this can cause problems and in the worst case fire!

but like i said it all depends on how long its been since the last rewire (if any)

and it would be wise to leave ALL decorating till after the rewire if you choose to go ahead with it!

Macca206

I was told the RCD would kick in would that be right?

Also if it does oxidise can we not just patch it up as we go along and if not why not? (basically state the obvious pls if necessary)

Macca206

Also the survey report mentioned the downstairs wires "may be older so is it possibleonly only the downstairs needs rewired, is this common and if so would it be much easier fixed?

peter-pantslez

Macca206 wrote: »

I was told the RCD would kick in would that be right?

Also if it does oxidise can we not just patch it up as we go along and if not why not? (basically state the obvious pls if necessary)

the RCD if you have one would kick in but its a pain in the ar$e for it to keep tripping cause everytime it does all you socket will be knocked off!

patch it up as you go along......by this do you mean remove the fecked bit of cable and add in a new peice???

and if the wiring up stairs is ok and new enough than yes you could just rewire the down stairs.........but this will still mean making a mess in the up stairs rooms because floor boards will more than likely have to be taken up.

ZENER

I'm assuming that when you bought the house the electricity was still connected ? It's normal for the ESB to require a certificate of compliance for a new connection which is usually required when a new owner takes over an account on houses above a certain age. Did they request this ?

Can you describe the fuse board ? Is there an ELCB ? Is your meter inside or outside the premises in a cabinet ? How old is the house ?

ZEN

Andrea B.

I'm assuming that when you bought the house the electricity was still connected ? It's normal for the ESB to require a certificate of compliance for a new connection which is usually required when a new owner takes over an account on houses above a certain age. Did they request this ?

First I heard of this. When did this come in?

Tonight the electrician was RECI registered whereas the other one wasnt. He said it would cost 3k to rewire (3 bed house in D12). We only bought the house in October and the the survey said that there were some old wiring downstairs and didnt mention upstairs. In fairness the previous sparky was only doing work upstairs. Is it possible the house was only half rewired i.e. upstairs only?

If you are going to get problems resolved and sections re-wired bit by bit, you won't be long surpassing the 3k, without getting what you really want in terms of functionality.

I was told the RCD would kick in would that be right?

Also if it does oxidise can we not just patch it up as we go along and if not why not? (basically state the obvious pls if necessary)

An RCD is to protect against shock only. Oxidation, high-res terminations etc can lead to fire. Most electricians would be against the patching up option for the purpose of rewiring as they may be connecting in to existing circuits, the integrity of which they cannot guarantee.

Im going to get more quotes tomorrow..what sort of questions should I ask or what accreditation is best? Although RECI is the best recognised isnt there a possibility that they can play up on this and "scaremonger".

You need advice from a (hopefully recommended, trustworthy) qualified, experienced, competent, insured electrician.

IMO, RECI only guarantees the qualified and insured boxes. Seeing that you posted your geography you might get PM's from Boards users on recommendations?

ZENER

Andrea B. wrote: »

First I heard of this. When did this come in?

My current home was almost 30 years old when I bought it. It had been disconnected from the supply for more than 6 months and the ESB requested a certificate of ETCI compliance from a RECI registered contractor before supply was restored. I did the rewire myself and got a RECI contractor to inspect/sign for the installation. The tails feeding the house were also only 6 square so needed to be upgraded and the earthing and bonding was insufficient on the old install.

If you are going to get problems resolved and sections re-wired bit by bit, you won't be long surpassing the 3k, without getting what you really want in terms of functionality.

Very true. Particularly the bit about functionality. I know that what was in my house before I bought it definitely would not have satisfied my requirements.

An RCD is to protect against shock only. Oxidation, high-res terminations etc can lead to fire. Most electricians would be against the patching up option for the purpose of rewiring as they may be connecting in to existing circuits, the integrity of which they cannot guarantee.

Personally I'd walk away from such a job if the customer insisted he didn't want a full rewire.

You need advice from a (hopefully recommended, trustworthy) qualified, experienced, competent, insured electrician. . . .

IMO, RECI only guarantees the qualified and insured boxes. . . .

"RECI" doesn't guarantee anything !!

ZEN

Andrea B.

It had been disconnected from the supply for more than 6 months and the ESB requested a certificate of ETCI compliance from a RECI registered contractor before supply was restored.

That's different than change of ownership as I gathered you were saying originally. You were technically applying for a connection.

On a side note, an ECSSA contractor or a RECI employed inspector can give the cert. Does not have to be a RECI registered contractor.

Macca206

Thanks for all the input Ive an electrician coming to view it tonight to have a look. The fuse box is inside the house and looks fairly new if that means anything?