House Rewiring concern.

FatVonD

Could you call in your mum's electricity board to take a look?

dandelionclock30

Is that their remit?, I'm not aware that they do that.

FatVonD

I had my last house rewired by my electricity board, there's nothing stopping you getting one of your quotes from them and speaking to the person giving the quote about how much of an overhaul is needed.

I (rightly or wrongly) trusted them more than I did local tradesmen as I assumed they were on a wage and not about to make a killing by saying it was worse than it was.

Mojisola

FatVonD wrote: »

I had my last house rewired by my electricity board, there's nothing stopping you getting one of your quotes from them and speaking to the person giving the quote about how much of an overhaul is needed.

I (rightly or wrongly) trusted them more than I did local tradesmen as I assumed they were on a wage and not about to make a killing by saying it was worse than it was.

But they aren't "boards" these days - they are companies interested in making a profit.

FatVonD

Mojisola wrote: »

But they aren't "boards" these days - they are companies interested in making a profit.

Yes, but they are employees rather than the owner of a business.

Mojisola

FatVonD wrote: »

Yes, but they are employees rather than the owner of a business.

And may have targets to reach in order to get bonuses and so condemning equipment and getting a sale can be very lucrative.

If you can't get a personal recommendation, it's best to get several quotes and see whether they match up. If one says it's a spare part easily replaced and another says the whole house needs rewiring, then you need to judge who you can trust.

FatVonD

Mojisola wrote: »

And may have targets to reach in order to get bonuses and so condemning equipment and getting a sale can be very lucrative.

If you can't get a personal recommendation, it's best to get several quotes and see whether they match up. If one says it's a spare part easily replaced and another says the whole house needs rewiring, then you need to judge who you can trust.

As you can see from my first post I said 'rightly or wrongly' I trusted them more. I was very happy with the price, advice given, the job done and the guarantees from a company that would still be there for the duration of said guarantees.

I dont have the time nor the inclination to debate it further with you other than to say that I'm sure the OP can decide whether getting several quotes will include from different 'types' of companies.

dandelionclock30

Right another electrician is coming round tommorrow to have a look.

Maureen43

Glad you are getting a second opinion OP. Let me give you my story!

When I moved into my new house last year I found out by accident that none of the sockets were earthed. British Gas (from their Homecare service) insisted that the only solution was to have the house rewired at a cost of £5.5k. The house was built in 1960 btw.

I got my trusted local electrician round who agreed that the sockets weren't safe, the fuse box needed replacing and some of the circuits needed attention but the house did NOT need rewiring.

Everything above was done, the house has safe electrics and an electrical certificate to prove it, and all for a cost of £800.

Always get a second opinion!

Poppops

FBaby wrote: »

I would definitely get a second opinion, maybe even a third or fourth. I had to get my house all rewired. This came following a mortgage assessment (and was part of the agreement). The electrician that came quoted £2000 (strangely the exact same amount!). We manage to get a friend of a friend who is a registered electrician, did it all in one day, actually did extra bits too, including changing a huge neon light in the kitchen, all for £500.

I find this hard to believe for a full rewire and may be misleading to others.

Our house needed a full rewire and it is a massive job. We live in a three bedroom semi. Floorboards need to be lifted, the walls need chasing. Then the chases need replastered. The amount of wire that is pulled through is unbelieveable. We ended up having to replaster in the kitchen. Also, regulations had changed so we had to install a bathroom extractor fan and we had the smoke alarms wired in. We had to redecorate every room although could have patched in I suppose.

The guys that did ours worked flat out and it took three days. It cost £2,500 in 2010 and that was cheap compared to some of the other quotes.

Our son went to my parents house and for one night we had only one socket and the shower. I would say that if it needs done, they get on much quicker if you aren't living in the house.

We had nothing extra done. If your guy did it on his own, in a day, he must be Superman!