House Completed. Sockets don't work downstairs

buggle13

Hello,

The purchase of our first property completed yesterday. We got the keys and moved our possessions in but the downstairs sockets do not work.

The first time we plugged something in no power was coming through the sockets.

We checked the fusebox and one fuse labeled 'sockets' is off. When we move it to on there is a loud 'bang' and a green flash and it goes back to off immediately.

We have no idea what to do. Because we have literally just moved into the property should we contact the estate agents to see if the vendors know about this problem? Or is it down to us to fix as we now own the property?

Thanks for any advise!

Wyndham

Call an electrician. Today. It may be off but it really doesn't sound safe, and you need to get it sorted out. You don't want a fire or electric shock from things, I assume?

I'm afraid that as it's now your house, it's your problem. But I still think I would ring the agent to check as the vendor must have known. But if they won't admit anything, then there is little you can do which doesn't involve court cases.

James_N

buggle13 wrote: »

Hello,

The purchase of our first property completed yesterday. We got the keys and moved our possessions in but the downstairs sockets do not work.

The first time we plugged something in no power was coming through the sockets.

We checked the fusebox and one fuse labeled 'sockets' is off. When we move it to on there is a loud 'bang' and a green flash and it goes back to off immediately.

We have no idea what to do. Because we have literally just moved into the property should we contact the estate agents to see if the vendors know about this problem? Or is it down to us to fix as we now own the property?

Thanks for any advise!

You could check that nothing is plugged in, but as the previous poster said, it sounds serious. Another thing you can do is to inspect EVERY socket for exterior damage. If this was for me, I would examine each one with a tester, but there again I know what I am doing, and the son's an electrician.

Since you posted here, I guess you are unsure and then the best advice is LEAVE IT ALONE and call an electrician. The situation calls into doubt the rest of the installation, so the best advice is to isolate the whole house.

Don't reset the fuse until you think you've found what is wrong - they are not designed to take a hit repeatedly. It would be "best practice" to consider changing the affected fuse - which I guess is a breaker, not a fuse.
Did you have anything over a "value" survey done?
it sounds as if there was a fault that the seller knew about.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

"Did you have anything over a "value" survey done?"

A point to be aware of - Homebuyers and Structural reports specifcially exclude 'electrcial installation', 'gas installation' and 'mains/sewage drainage'.

This is because the RIC's qualifications do not cover these areas.

It is unlikely that a higher level survey would have identified this issue (even if it existed at the time of survey - which is probably a couple of months ago).

We are sending a local/trusted qualified electrician/plumber and handyman in just before exchange to do an overview inspection and produce report/recommendations/rectification quotes more and more often for our clients where they are buying in our local area (that he covers).

buggle13

James. We had a homebuyers report conducted.

Yes. I think The switch in the fuse box is a breaker.

Do electritions charge extra for a Saturday call out?

We did not stay at the property last night as we still have the bedroom furniture to move but I will have a look at the sockets for signs of damage today.

Thank you both for the replys.

Jack_UK2

I am a niceic registered contractor, you really need to get this checked out by a qualified spark. It could be something simple, but where safety is concerned you are best getting someone who knows about electrical installations rather than searching for a fix on the internet.
Did the bank not ask for a periodic inspection report before giving the mortgage? I'm in N. Ireland but over here the banks seem to insist on this before handing out the mortgage... If you have got the report I would give the company who did it a ring, more than likely they will come out and fix it for free... I know I would

HappyMJ

Yes they charge extra. You can call them today to come out Monday if you or someone you know is off work to let them in. It's not that urgent...just annoying. Make sure nothing is plugged in at all on the circuit.

amcluesent

The first time we plugged something in

Could be your own appliance has been damaged in the move and is shorting out so the fuse-box trip is going?

Jack_UK2

One other thing, as already stated, unplug everything to verify it is not a faulty appliance rather than the installation itself

Strapped

If it's an older house as well, you might find that you have an appliance that trips it. We have a microwave that we can't use because it trips it every time. (And yes, we have had it checked for safety and it's OK but we will be upgrading at some point).

googler

If you bought in Scotland, there's standard clauses in the missives clarifying the seller's responsibility for leaving systems and appliances in working order.