Removing ceilings to save money on re-plumbing and re-wiring quotes

willferox

By removing all ceilings in the house, will I save a significant amount of money on quotes from plumbers and electricians for re-plumbing and re-wiring? Forget the cost of replacing these ceilings for now, and the idea of access via the floorboards - I'm just wondering if having full access from below is likely to significantly impact quotes. Many thanks.

WIAWSNB

I'd imagine - yes - that would help a lot, and I'd expect this to be recognised in your quotes.

They would still need to channel up/down to the sockets and rads, of course, I imagine still the largest part of the job.

I'd guard against sparkies and plumbers coming out and quoting thinking "Wow - this is going to be easy!" by you doing this, but still quoting for a typical rewire/plumb.

So, if you have yet to get quotes, perhaps get them out and, once they've gotten all the info they need to 'normal' quote, then give them the option; "Ok, what difference will it make if I give this access?"

I would expect a notable reduction. 

If you do this, then consider insulated p'board when you come to redo, especially upstairs. Even 1" stuff will make a marked difference. 

jackieblack

How would you plan to have the wiring done for any ceiling lights with no ceilings?

Eldi_Dos

jackieblack said:

How would you plan to have the wiring done for any ceiling lights with no ceilings?

Work out where you want the lights and put a noggin between joists and fit temporary light fitting there until ceilings put up.

tacpot12

Eldi_Dos said:

jackieblack said:

How would you plan to have the wiring done for any ceiling lights with no ceilings?

Work out where you want the lights and put a noggin between joists and fit temporary light fitting there until ceilings put up.

While this is a good solution, the OP will need to consider whether to employ the same electrician to come back when the ceilings are about to go up, or whether to do this work themselves. Disconnecting a temporary fitting and removing it before installing the final fitting is easy enough to do safely, but it would severely limit the warranty that the electrician would offer on their work. 

TELLIT01

Taking down ceilings is an extremely messy job, and not something I would want to consider if the house is occupied or furnished.  I would be surprised if the quote for doing electrical installation with the ceiling down, plus the cost of reinstating the ceiling, plastering and decorating was less than a conventional job with the ceiling in place.

Section62

TELLIT01 said:

Taking down ceilings is an extremely messy job, and not something I would want to consider if the house is occupied or furnished.  I would be surprised if the quote for doing electrical installation with the ceiling down, plus the cost of reinstating the ceiling, plastering and decorating was less than a conventional job with the ceiling in place.

I agree - if the ceiling had to come down because it was damp/lath/asbestos artex thenthere might be a saving if the plumbing/electrics can be done before the new ceiling goes up.

But unlikely removing/replacing the ceiling solely to provide access for plumbing/electrics would be cost effective.

Grenage

Aye you'd only want to do this if the ceiling was being replaced already.  It's messy AF and you won't save overall.

ka7e

Had a re-wire and some plumbing done when we modernised our current property and the only room we had the ceiling down was the kitchen. That was only because we had a wall down and the ceiling was basically hardboard! That was a filthy job with black dust settling for days. Both trades (heating engineers and sparks) had the floorboards up upstairs multiple times and the electrics were channelled down the walls, so apart from a central light in each room, ceilings were not an issue.

FreeBear

tacpot12 said:

Eldi_Dos said:

jackieblack said:

How would you plan to have the wiring done for any ceiling lights with no ceilings?

Work out where you want the lights and put a noggin between joists and fit temporary light fitting there until ceilings put up.

While this is a good solution, the OP will need to consider whether to employ the same electrician to come back when the ceilings are about to go up, or whether to do this work themselves. Disconnecting a temporary fitting and removing it before installing the final fitting is easy enough to do safely, but it would severely limit the warranty that the electrician would offer on their work. 

With a bit of planning, you can arrange the sheets of plasterboard so that a join falls where the light fitting is. Just notch a sheet to clear the cables, and screw the fitting up once the PB is in place. But if you are going for down lights, this is not an option - The answer here would be to use fittings with a quick release connector.