Extension or Rewire first?

pollyannaL

Hi,
I am in the process of buying a 1950s property. It needs a full rewire, CH etc.
I also want to extend the kitchen at some point.

Would I be financially better off if i extend kitchen first & then rewire whole property.
Or, could i just rewire house as is, & tell electrician i am planning to have extension at some point so the new fuse box can cope with the bigger kitchen?

Obviously I don't want to pay out for rewire twice.

Ideally i would like to move in and decorate house etc get sorted and plan the extention once saved a bit more in a years time!

Thanks

Doozergirl

Decorating the house doesn't really go with building an extension a year later.

You probably want to extend and rewire at the same time. It will be cheaper and there won't be any confusion.

Rewire now and you'll have to rewire your kitchen again and run new cables out to the extension at a later date, pulling up floors and making holes in ceilings on the way.

Build the extension and the electrician may want to complete the full re-wire to sign everything off anyway.

pollyannaL

Thanks for advice!

Think i will put my money into the extension/ rewire/ CH and then have to do the rest of the house up slowly. Makes sense!

Does this seem about right in terms of planning once I move in:
- Contact structural engineer to do plans/ calcs/ steelwork costings/ planning permission etc- £800
- Approach builders, get at least 5 quotes. (hoping single story extension & kitchen can be under £20k)
- Get independent electrician to work alongside the builders (hope this can happen?)
- Start to finish 12 weeks? (haven't a clue on this actually!)

FreeBear

Not much point in decorating until the rewire is done - The walls will probably need chasing, and if you have flush mounted sockets & light switches installed, there will be more mess. Fitting new central heating will also cause quite a bit of disruption and it is quite likely that plaster will get damaged.

If/when the floorboards are lifted, take the opportunity to plug any draughts in the void. Assuming the ground floor is suspended timber, it might be worth looking at insulation under it.

Doozergirl

Architects do plans, not structural engineers.
The structural engineer will just calculate steels required on a small job.

The bad news. You're never going to get an extension and a kitchen for £20k . I'm not sure how big you're planning the extension to be, but for £20k even without the kitchen, I'm hoping the answer is 'tiny'.

If you do go ahead knowing that you're going to be spending a lot more, you'll be lucky to get 5 quotes, let alone more. The lowest price is not what you're aiming for. You want a rapport, someone that you feel you can work with in very close contact for at least several weeks and someone with a track record who is VAT registered and will provide references or show you client's houses. A recommendation would be nice - the recommendation isn't just for you, it's for the builder too. Most will be happier to work for friends of the owners of successful projects over complete strangers, just like you would.

The electrician will work with the building team. If you have someone managing the build for you (you sound like this is new to you). then they'll hire the electrician and the full re-wire will be quoted in with an extension. Re-wiring and central heating destroy the walls and they are deeply unpleasant - you have to do those before decorating anything.

pollyannaL

argh....first thing i am going to do is plant a money tree in the garden.

Yes, defo not thinking of decorating prior to rewire/ CH installation.

In reality, due to limited funds - I think i may have to live with the structure of the house as it is, and simply knock through the kitchen/ diner wall to make one big open plan lounge, kitchen and diner (practically all of downstairs apart from the hallway!).

This has given me something to reflect on....I have to stop looking at instagram houses, with the beautiful kitchens. I've got a bit carried away.

Thanks

pollyannaL

p.s my friend had her kitchen extension done for £25k - is beautiful with bifolding doors etc. Really nice quality. So whether prices are cheaper in my parts...hmm..

baldelectrician

Do the rewire first- then the wiring is safe for you and your family.


Get the electrician to cost the rewire and reconnect the kitchen electrics (on a separate circuit / circuits) from the other wiring.
Ask him / her to run new cabling from the new consumer unit to where the extension will be then you don't need to disturb the decorated parts of the house when the extension is done


I sometimes do rewires and leave out the kitchen (reconnect and test cooker and kitchen sockets) which makes the rewire cost less.

martinsurrey

baldelectrician wrote: »

Do the rewire first- then the wiring is safe for you and your family.


Get the electrician to cost the rewire and reconnect the kitchen electrics (on a separate circuit / circuits) from the other wiring.
Ask him / her to run new cabling from the new consumer unit to where the extension will be then you don't need to disturb the decorated parts of the house when the extension is done


I sometimes do rewires and leave out the kitchen (reconnect and test cooker and kitchen sockets) which makes the rewire cost less.

This is what I did in my Victorian house.

Full rewire a few weeks after we moved in.

Wiring done properly (as in chased and covered) in the rest of the house, but I got them to just surface mount the kitchen wiring on separate rings (sockets, lights and cooker).

That way when it came time to do the kitchen extension, the wiring was mostly in place and was an easy job to just chase out in final positions.

If it is 1950's wiring that has had significant bodging over the last 70 years, safety should be your first thought.

pollyannaL

martinsurrey wrote: »

This is what I did in my Victorian house.

Full rewire a few weeks after we moved in.

Wiring done properly (as in chased and covered) in the rest of the house, but I got them to just surface mount the kitchen wiring on separate rings (sockets, lights and cooker).

That way when it came time to do the kitchen extension, the wiring was mostly in place and was an easy job to just chase out in final positions.

If it is 1950's wiring that has had significant bodging over the last 70 years, safety should be your first thought.

Great thanks!
I contacted an electrician today, friend of family, and said that I want what you suggested! yey.