Ceiling lights

johnandkymberley

Hi all,

We've just bought our first house for £78,500, 4 bed semi Victorian town house. It needs work though - hence the price! The house is three storey and the top two floors don't have any ceiling lights or switches. How much should I put aside for these? There is lots of plug sockets though which obviously means there is wires! Also do I go with a traditional ceiling light or maybe install down lights/LEDs? I'm looking for the best option at the best price - naturally!

Thanks for any advice/tips we really are clueless!!

P.s we are not attempting this ourselves and will be hiring a qualified electrician

phill99

I think lack of lights maybe the least if your problems. Are you sure the whole house won't need a rewire?

johnandkymberley

Nothing has really been said about the electrics as a whole, would the surveyor picked up on if it needs new electrics?

johnandkymberley

How much is a re wire btw?

phill99

A surveyor isn't qualified to determine whether electrics sre safe. However given the age of the house, it would be worth investigating. If yiu need to add new circuits, you may need to upgrade the consumer unit as a munimum.

A rewire us anything from £2.5 to £4k on average.

johnandkymberley

Thanks phill99, do you think it's worth getting some electricians round and getting quotes? Do I enquire about the ceiling lights or a re wire? I do to want to get ripped off

Quiet_Spark

johnandkymberley wrote: »

Do I enquire about the ceiling lights or a re wire? I do to want to get ripped off

You can't take a lighting feed from the power circuit that already exists so it will probably be a new circuit from scratch (unless he can pick up from an existing lighting circuit). Any sparks you get in would have to examine/test the installation before adding to it anyway, so you'll have your answer then.

dil1976

Quiet_Spark wrote: »

You can't take a lighting feed from the power circuit that already exists so it will probably be a new circuit from scratch (unless he can pick up from an existing lighting circuit). .

Of course you can pick lights up off a socket circuit.

OP, I would suggest as you have just purchased the house to get a EICR done by a electrician to find out what state the electrics are in before worrying about the lights. This should take about a day to complete but willing out if the electrics you have are satisfactory or not for continued use.

johnandkymberley

Thankyou for all your replies,

Whats a EICR? I think it's worth double checking it all though. We are trying to pull in favours left right and centre to get renovation work done!! I'm hoping to get 7 windows double glazed (2 frosted for bathroom) and a front and back door for £1700 from a family friend. Whether he will go that low I don't know!! I know a gas man who can fit me a combi boiler for £1400 so hopefully with the amount if money saved I will be able to sort the electrics out. The house done up though would be worth £115k-£120k so it is deffo worth the £7.5k-10k to do it up. We haven't got an exact budget just yet as we still have to factor in wages etc and we are going to do our finances to the last pound and then have a contingency amount too.

I hope it all works out!

macman

Post a pic of the CU-I suspect it's ancient and due for replacement given what you have already said.
If you are going to need a rewire, then that is the first thing to do after you have made the house watertight.
You're not seriously expecting to renovate an entire 4 b/r semi on a budget of less than £10K?

johnandkymberley

Hi macman,

Most of the renovation is cosmetic, it isn't as run down as it sounds, it sounds worse that it is I think! Here's the link
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/12-lower-orchard-street/stapleford/nottingham/ng9-8dh/17682620