Scope of work after flood

spaceHopper

The platform holding the water tank in my mothers attic collapsed. The tank healed about 300ltr and , it took a hour to shut down water. Surprisingly it damage doesn't look to bad. For now the house is habitable. The insurance home assist were great. They sent out a builder who rebuilt the platform and fitted new tanks, getting the water and heating back up and running.

Mum is 80 and has advance Parkinson's, it's about quality not quantity of life now. I also couldn't easily move her out of the house.

The house is a bungalow that was buil in 1969 and was never rewired or plumbed. It done have a modern consumer unit. It has gun metal pipes in the heating. The damage is confined to a bedroom used by her carers. An old bedroom my dad used and an office, the hall and a corridor to two bedrooms that are a 1979 extension.

To fix what is damaged. The ceilings in the affected areas have to come down and be replaced with insulated plaster board. The insulation needs to be removed from about 50% of the attic.

The builder tells me five days to do that and plaster, the 10 days to dry followed by painting.

I don't want to delay things but we could rewire some of the sockets and all of the lights in the house. I know lights are a very light load. There is also a risk that an electrician won't want to marry old and new wiring. So full rewire could be the only option / forces on us if it's touched. However there will be a plaster on side and making good should be easy. Then put down 300mm of insulation.

The things is Mum could easily be dead in month or 5 years. It's grim but unfortunately true. I don't want to prolong the build work and keep her out of the house. Especially with Christmas around the corner.

What would you advise. Leave alone or go for it?

meercat

my advice is to do the electrical work now.

It’s a great opportunity

At least redo the sections that got damaged and put the new circuits separate trip switches

don’t forget every habitable room requires a smoke detector and possibly carbon if required

Lenar3556

Simply from an electrical viewpoint, I would concur with the above.

However, in the particular circumstances you describe, I think I would bring in a local electrical contractor to review, and do the minimum electrical work necessary whilst ensuring there is no major hazard.