Is pulling the full ceiling down necessary for a full rewire?

machiavellie

Hi, I am in the process of buying a house and getting quotes for things so we're ready to go in a few months time.

I had an electrician around and agreed a price with him for a full house rewire. He then came back a second time 3 weeks later so we could mark out where sockets would go.

While there he mentioned my entire kitchen ceiling would have to come down in order to rewire upstairs. When asked why he couldn't go through the room above (the bathroom) he told me it's because i'm not having the bathroom suite out.

When mentioned that I'm okay with the bathroom flooring coming out, and can he cut holes in the floorboards, he said no. Either the entire suite has to come out, or the entire kitchen ceiling has to come down. He hasn't even seen the floorboards / what's under the flooring, so i'm not sure what he's basing this on.

He keeps telling me he's trying to save me mess and money, but by doing it his way there will be even more mess from the ceiling and I'll have to pay a builder to take down and put up the ceiling. His price isn't changing despite it being an easier job without the ceiling either.

Does this sound right?

FreeBear

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

machiavellie

The bath and sink won't be in the way, the only thing would be the toilet, but the floorboards run in a way that it shouldn't be an issue to cut and lift around it. I've spoken to a couple of builders now who said the ceiling shouldnt need to come down entirely.

I don't believe the kitchen floor is concrete, it's all being pulled up and replaced anyway as part of the kitchen refurb. I think he's mostly talking about getting the cables up into the rooms above, but there is already cables that will need to come out and be replaced so i don't see the issue?

FreeBear said:

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

Andy_L

machiavellie said:

The bath and sink won't be in the way, the only thing would be the toilet, but the floorboards run in a way that it shouldn't be an issue to cut and lift around it. I've spoken to a couple of builders now who said the ceiling shouldnt need to come down entirely.

I don't believe the kitchen floor is concrete, it's all being pulled up and replaced anyway as part of the kitchen refurb. I think he's mostly talking about getting the cables up into the rooms above, but there is already cables that will need to come out and be replaced so i don't see the issue?

FreeBear said:

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

I suspect the issue is that while it can be done without either pulling down the ceiling or pulling up the whole floor it will be more faff/take longer & the sparky doesn't want to do it that way. 

machiavellie

Andy_L said:

machiavellie said:

The bath and sink won't be in the way, the only thing would be the toilet, but the floorboards run in a way that it shouldn't be an issue to cut and lift around it. I've spoken to a couple of builders now who said the ceiling shouldnt need to come down entirely.

I don't believe the kitchen floor is concrete, it's all being pulled up and replaced anyway as part of the kitchen refurb. I think he's mostly talking about getting the cables up into the rooms above, but there is already cables that will need to come out and be replaced so i don't see the issue?

FreeBear said:

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

I suspect the issue is that while it can be done without either pulling down the ceiling or pulling up the whole floor it will be more faff/take longer & the sparky doesn't want to do it that way. 

I gave the go ahead to pull up the full bathroom floor!

CSI_Yorkshire

machiavellie said:

Andy_L said:

machiavellie said:

The bath and sink won't be in the way, the only thing would be the toilet, but the floorboards run in a way that it shouldn't be an issue to cut and lift around it. I've spoken to a couple of builders now who said the ceiling shouldnt need to come down entirely.

I don't believe the kitchen floor is concrete, it's all being pulled up and replaced anyway as part of the kitchen refurb. I think he's mostly talking about getting the cables up into the rooms above, but there is already cables that will need to come out and be replaced so i don't see the issue?

FreeBear said:

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

I suspect the issue is that while it can be done without either pulling down the ceiling or pulling up the whole floor it will be more faff/take longer & the sparky doesn't want to do it that way. 

I gave the go ahead to pull up the full bathroom floor!

"Pull up the floor without moving any of the bathroom suite" isn't really a go ahead.

machiavellie

CSI_Yorkshire said:

machiavellie said:

Andy_L said:

machiavellie said:

The bath and sink won't be in the way, the only thing would be the toilet, but the floorboards run in a way that it shouldn't be an issue to cut and lift around it. I've spoken to a couple of builders now who said the ceiling shouldnt need to come down entirely.

I don't believe the kitchen floor is concrete, it's all being pulled up and replaced anyway as part of the kitchen refurb. I think he's mostly talking about getting the cables up into the rooms above, but there is already cables that will need to come out and be replaced so i don't see the issue?

FreeBear said:

Depending on the number & location of the sockets, it may not be possible to lift parts of the bathroom floor. Things like baths & toilet bowls are not easy to shift.

Can he not bring the cables up from the kitchen floor, or is it solid concrete ?

I suspect the issue is that while it can be done without either pulling down the ceiling or pulling up the whole floor it will be more faff/take longer & the sparky doesn't want to do it that way. 

I gave the go ahead to pull up the full bathroom floor!

"Pull up the floor without moving any of the bathroom suite" isn't really a go ahead.

Well it's not a go ahead as we hadn't even scheduled a date, but I told him the floor (lino) can be pulled up, the floorboards can be taken up in the area he needs access too, the full bathroom suite doesn't need to come out no.

Regardless, I've gone with a different electrician now who can do the job without ripping down my ceiling and costing me additional

Mistral001

You were wise to not go with the first electrician.  At a guess the majority of the labour in rewiring a house comprises builder's work such as taking up floorboards and cutting holes in walls, floors etc. and making good once finished.  That electrician was probably just trying to cut corners on his labour. 

machiavellie

Mistral001 said:

You were wise to not go with the first electrician.  At a guess the majority of the labour in rewiring a house comprises builder's work such as taking up floorboards and cutting holes in walls, floors etc. and making good once finished.  That electrician was probably just trying to cut corners on his labour. 

I agree!

Also once I thanked him for his time and gave him 2 opportunities to change his mind on the ceiling, I told him I'd have to go with someone else.

Later that night at 12am I got a series of abusive drunk text messages off him, so clearly the right choice!