Help please! Sockets only working in half the house.....Argh!

Angeleyes1

Hi,

In a bit of tail spin at the moment as I've recently had a damp proof course done at my mums but had to organise for a plasterer to finish off (sand and cement and then skim). However, whilst sanding and cementing the walls he got a socket wet and the fuse blew.
Believing that it was just a replacement fuse wire that was needed, I didn't think anymore of it. The plasterer moved around some of the fuses at the time and he was able to plug his extension into a socket located at the top of the stairs.

It later transpired, once the plastering had been completed and the fuse wire replaced that only the sockets on the right hand side of the house are working and those on the left hand side (including the kitchen) are not.

As you can appreciate, I'm far from happy and I've held back some of the money owed to the plaster until it's rectified whose adamant it's not his fault. Blaming it on the old baker lite fuse box system.

I'm probably missing vital information of this post but I'm at a loss as to what the problem is. Surely the sockets in the entire house shouldn't be working and not just on one half. The fuse box is showing live so I don't know why this has happened. Lights and everything else is fine but I'm worried that this is gonna big and it wasn't my fault.

I'd appreciate any advice you may have to give on this.

I'm doing the house up for my mum who isn't well and she's living with me currently so, we don't have to live there.

Thanks in advance

penrhyn

If you have a fuse box as you describe it sounds like a very old system. You need to get a qualified electrician in to sort it out and probably replace the 'baker lite' fuse box. There may well be other problems with the wiring.

jalexa

Angeleyes1 wrote: »

whilst sanding and cementing the walls he got a socket wet and the fuse blew.

I don't believe the wall could be skimmed without the sockets being unscrewed and eased forward. It's entirely possible some (loose) socket wiring was disturbed. IMO disturbing (loose) socket wiring cannot be blamed on the plasterer.

Bite the bullet and get your old fuse-box replaced with MCBs (by a qualified electrician). That would have been a better (and safer) investment than smooth walls.

closed

The plasterer moved some fuses around - were they moved back, and is all the fuse wire sound?

EJG1982

most consumer units (fuse boards/baker lite box etc) will have circuits within them split around the house, hence half the sockets shutting down. on current style units, upstairs lights are split with downstairs sockets and vice versa, this is to allow at all times you have access to power and light in both areas should one circuit fail.

Clearly the circuit has blown and yes this system you have is very dated and defo not particularly safe. Personally i would say this is not the plasterers fault, sockets/switches/pendants are usually dropped off prior to plastering and connected back after. This would be done by qualified sparky.

The main point here that i will say is regardless of what the fault is, when you have a qualified electrician to sort this out, assuming he/sheis legitimate and professionally trained he should be suggesting the obvious that a dual rcd consumer unit replacement will be required to bring inline with current 17th edition regs. Costs are depending on works involved, properties of age generally require more than just changing the unit. dont expect it to be a couple of quid either. get quotes, although it is difficult for any electrician to do this without testing the house as probs are not always quite literally on the surface. personally i would suggest what they call a periodic test (although this again has recently changed to Electrical Installation Condition Report)

Prices vary on size/age of house and i guess location. Expect anywhere from £90-200 and aprx half a days work. They will test all circuits, fixtures and fittings and provide a recommendation report on the defects found and level on importance on repair, and i hope a free estimate on fixing any faults/recommendations that come up. Generally many of the faults that come up are related age of existing board and are eliminated with upgrading, they go into extreme detail and it can look very confusing! Expect min of a few hundred for works involving a board change and what they call upgrade works.

seems shocking (no pun intended) but i work in this industry everyday and see no end of bodge jobs causing major problems further down the line. if you've invested in the property with plastering etc then please consider safety before decor and make the house secure and safe for your mum. the last thing you want it to avoid it and cause anyone harm.

again, i know its frustrating that you may feel its the plasterers fault but he can not be held responsible for the current condition of your properties wiring. At the same time you are not at fault for be unaware of this, just part of life unfortunately and seriously consider getting this sorted prior to having other works done.

Do you have a budget for the works in the house?

Ben84

Despite all the advice to replace the fuse box, it doesn't appear from the description that the fuse box is likely to be faulty or that replacing it will make the non-functional sockets work again. To solve the immediate issue you really need an electrician to investigate and fix the fault, who can then advise you on what has actually happened to the sockets. I'm holding back judgement on if it's the plasterer's fault or not. He might well have carelessly damaged a wire, or perhaps it was old, brittle and waiting to fail at the smallest disturbance.

EJG1982

its not the board that is at fault no, you'd be right there but the moment a QE investigates what caused the fault they will shut down the circuit for testing and once reinstated a circuit needs re-testing, this is when the additional problems of an old style board may become apparent and current regulations kick in. all depends on works involved, any changes or install to a current circuit and they will be unable to provide a satifactory installation or minor works certificate based on their findings should futher faults pop up. no competent electrician should find/repair the fault and not recommend upgrade works to make the property safer, the least they should be doing is making a customer aware of potential problems and offering the solutions.

DevCoder

Should listen to EJG1982 as everything he has said is correct, an EICR should be performed even if the original issue is fixed by rewiring the fuses (assuming that the plasterer has either nicked a cable with his trowel or got the back-boxes wet which is causing a line to earth or similar fault.

Any work in the bathroom or outside is considered a special location and kitchens and most other major work is notifiable. Get a qualified electrician as stated, one who is in the usual schemes such as NICEIC, Elecsa etc.

Personally I'd ask for an EICR so I would be aware of the status of the entire electrical installation and not just the circuit in question.

Hopefully the plasterer swapped like for like fuses over

Owain_Moneysaver

Angeleyes1 wrote: »

The plasterer moved around some of the fuses at the time .... I've held back some of the money owed to the plaster until it's rectified whose adamant it's not his fault. Blaming it on the old baker lite fuse box system.

Since when did plasterers know anything about electrics?

It was working before he started, he fiddled with it, and it's not working now.

However if the plasterer pays for an electrician he will probably get a mate of his who'll say it's your fault, so you're probably better getting your own electrician who'll hopefully say it's the plasterer's fault. Then you deduct the electrician's bill from the final payment to the plasterer.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

penrhyn wrote: »

baker lite

EJG1982 wrote: »

baker lite

Not sure if this is some kind of electricians' in-joke that's gone over my head but for the benefit of the OP it's Bakelite.

Man_Overboard_2

If the plasterer has proper insurance, then he should leave it to his insurers to negotiate - it is unlikely that the plasterer will be liable for the complete re-wire that the property might need.

If he has no insurance, then your legal bills may exceed the cost of bringing the property's wiring up to current standards.