Rewiring - Novice needs to understand

Chef_Dav

Good Evening all, 

I'll try to keep it short as i'm really struggling to understand. 

My house is a 1950's house, I moved in 2018 and found out the house wasnt earthed so I sorted that and got a new Fuse board installed and signed off ( fro Domino to RCD) electrician said a house rewire wasnt needed but something to consider in the future. 

I'm now looking at getting a new bathroom, rip everything out and new everything in. Whilst going through the motions for this, the cooker broke, fused somehow and kept tripping. Called out an electrician and he sorted the cooker but reccomended a full house rewire - Said safety / piece of mind, keeping the house up to date with electrical regulations and for future planning - if i wanted new kitchen units or dishwasher etc...rewire may make life easier.

A full house rewire will mean pulling up flooring and maybe even work on the ceiling, so my question is really, can a rewire be done one room at a time, if the elctrics are not already a health and safety hazard or must the rewire be done on the whole house at the same time?

I understand that just getting the bathroom done will mean new wires in there, but if i was to get the bathroom done, then wait a year or two for the rest of the house, would they leave the bathroom untouched so i wouldnt have to tile and plaster again?

Thank you for reading and all advice will be taken onboard, I must just add though. I am a D-I-Y-donter, I have no skills and can break things with ease.....I can round off screws and bend nails without even trying. 

Kind regards, 

Dav  

markin

You didn't say how old the wiring is, And unless the new kitchen design is already set in stone sockets and lighting may need moving around again anyway.

Its probably easier to do it all at once and get the mess over with, if it really needs doing.

Chef_Dav

Hi Markin, 

Age of wiring wasn't mentioned by the electrician, just said it needed doing at some point. 

Cost is a big thing, I'm led to believe the rewire will be 5k, new flooring up to 5k then the bathroom around 10k, not sure I can whack on a 10k kitchen. 

Ideally the bathroom 1st and a rewire in a couple of years would have been my best plan. But not sure if the bathroom would be left alone as the electrics would be up to date. 

macman

No, you cannot have it done one room at a time. The sparky would have to come back and re-certify and test multiple times, circuit by circuit, at much greater total cost.
A house wired in the 1950's will certainly have been earthed, the only part not earthed in that era would be the lighting circuits.

markin

You have to think about how the kitchen would be wired, From the floor in a crawl space or from the ceiling, Would you take the floor up above the kitchen is that the bathroom or a bedroom, Or would you need to take the ceiling plasterboard down and then replaster?

You may want to wire the bathroom and kitchen at the same time.

Without them giving a date for the wiring "needed doing at some point" is a bit vague, Could be 1970's or 2005, Have you got a report you could post a picture off?

Doozergirl

macman said:

No, you cannot have it done one room at a time. The sparky would have to come back and re-certify and test multiple times, circuit by circuit, at much greater total cost.
A house wired in the 1950's will certainly have been earthed, the only part not earthed in that era would be the lighting circuits.

I'm confused by this. 

You can.  Yes, they may have to come back, but a partial rewire is definitely a thing.  

It's not ideal, but we've had one client even end up on two boards, the wiring was that old there was still rubber in there and they could only afford to go floor by floor.  

Ectophile

Whether or not it needs a total rewire may depend on what type of wire was used.  From the early 1960's, PVC insulated cable became standard.  That stuff lasts pretty much forever unless something damages it.  Though early 1960's lighting circuits don't comply with the latest rules and may need redoing even if PVC was used.

Prior to PVC was VRI (Vulcanised Rubber Insulated).  After 60 years it can be completely perished, to the point where the insulation crumbles away if you so much as pull a light switch or socket off the wall to check behind it.  Some of it may still be serviceable, but it's unlikely you'd get any electrician willing to do any splicing of new PVC cables onto old VRI ones.

Rewiring a house a bit at a time is problematic, as we don't wire houses the European way.  They tend to have a separate fuse or circuit breaker for each room.  We have circuits that cover the whole house, or one floor (for more modern installations).  So you can't do one room without joining together new and old cables.

Electricians don't even like rewiring a house while it's occupied.  It's more work and takes longer.  Don't be surprised if they hike up the quote if you want to do that.

TELLIT01

Floor by floor rewire is very different to room by room as far as disruption is concerned.  From having severe disruption on a floor once, you end up with lesser but not trivial disruption many times. 

Yes, bit by bit can be done but it's a method best avoided if at all possible.

iwilson16

I had a rewire done in my duplex Victorian flat 7 years ago.   I'd definitely recommend completely clearing the house of all furniture, belongings and carpets beforehand.   

Maybe also consider getting a joiner to lift floorboards (with Electricians guidance).   Some sparks can really butcher old floors.  A good joiner will lift boards with minimal damage, and such that they can be more easily refitted.