Does replacing an ancient fusebox force you to have the house rewired?

fluffymuffy

The last house lived in had wiring from the early 50s. It seemed OK but when we stripped the wallpaper off the living room wall we found a big brown stain. An electrician told us this was where the wires in the wall had overheated. The wires were coated in rubber, not plastic, and it had perished. Had the whole house rewired then. Bit of a mess for a week but better than dying a fire.

fluffpot

Lack of earth in a lighting circuit doesn't always mean a rewire (I would always recommend, but in some cases like this one, the disruption might be unacceptable to a client). If there's no earth then all switches and lights must be plastic with a big note on the board to that effect.

The bigger problem might be cables that are deteriorating and therefore will cause tripping on the new board...

Having said that I have tested old installations before now and they've come out fine.... you just never know until you start checking. I still suggest the EICR is the first step

Fluff

paddy's_mum

cashferret wrote: »

She can't face having the house rewired because of the upheaval of having the whole place redecorated


she wouldn't want the wires enclosed in those plastic strips

Having survived being trapped in a burning house, I can assure you that having the house redecorated might one day suddenly become the least of your mother's worries.

I can also state - pretty much categorically - that neither would she like being "enclosed" in a coffin, another entirely feasible outcome of this kind of short-sightedness.

How silly to know what, and how grave, the risk is and yet decide to do nothing whatever about it. Is a bit of wallpaper really so blasted valuable?

Bella73

Our house is only 50 years old but the wiring was dangerous so had a total re-wire, it's not too bad, could your Mum stay with you or your sister while it is carried out?

Can appreciate she doesn't want the upheaval but could you live with yourself if there was a fire.

We knew it needed re-wiring as our survey advised it so were lucky as we had just bought and the house was empty but I would still get it done.