Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • How much to re-wire a house?
  • piedidiformaggio
    Free Member

    I know there are many variables, but we should really get ours done at sometime. Early 60’s built 3 bed semi, with existing wiring to match!

    Does anybody know what sort of ballpark cost we are looking at?

    We need to redecorate pretty much the whole house, so the re-wire makes sense to do before we do that

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Probably £5k. It’s 95% chiselling cable runs in plaster / making good and 5% actual electrics. Horrible job.

    piedidiformaggio
    Free Member

    Yep, expecting that!

    geoffj
    Full Member

    If there’s existing wiring, should there not be some scope to pull new cables through using the old ones?
    IANAE

    qwerty
    Free Member

    How longs a piece of wire…

    footflaps
    Full Member

    It’s the sort of job where you could save 80% of the cost running all the wires yourself, fitting sockets etc and then get the electrician to swap out the distribution box, check your stuff and sign it all off. Mind you, I’ve been meaning to run a wire from the airing cupboard to the kitchen to install a ‘smart CH thermostat’ I bought two years ago and have been putting it off as even that small run is a shit job!

    footflaps
    Full Member

    If there’s existing wiring, should there not be some scope to pull new cables through using the old ones?

    Not a hope, it will all be stuck in place with plaster if it’s an old house. No one ran ducts for cables in the UK until the last few years (not even sure they do now).

    miketually
    Free Member

    When we had this done, the electrician said he’d not do it if we were still in the house so we moved in with my in-laws for the duration. I can’t remember what we spent, but it was a few grand.

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Not a hope, it will all be stuck in place with plaster if it’s an old house. No one ran ducts for cables in the UK until the last few years (not even sure they do now).

    Sounds reasonable. Dirty job then.

    ekul
    Free Member

    Cost us about £400 in materials, did all the chiselling out etc. ourselves. Luckily we were in the position where we could call in a few favours from an electrician mate of the FIL’s that he’d given a load of work in the last couple of years. Took a while though and is a messy job with plaster etc everywhere. Like others have said that seems to be the most time consuming bit.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    In the old days, before Part P came in, you could drill a hole into the cavity, poke the cable up / along inside the wall and fish it back out another hole using a metal coat hanger as a hook. That’s how I wired in the kitchen extractor fan. However, it’s not allowed any more, so you have to chisel a ruddy great channel for the cable and install a protective cover.

    freeagent
    Free Member

    We just had a complete re-wire as part of our house re-development.
    We paid the electrician £3.5k, however, all the ‘first fix’ was completed before the house was plastered and with ceilings/floors out.

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    Remember to factor in the cost of replastering/recovering. The electrician that did ours filled the channel in afterwards but that’s not the same as a proper smooth finish.

    If you want to do it yourself you can get a router for brick with two disks that cuts the channel for you. Awesome machine to use when up a platform 🙂

    footflaps
    Full Member

    I’ve just got a channel attachment for an SDS drill.

    iridebikes
    Free Member

    5k sounds like far too much. Where are you based?

    nellyp
    Free Member

    For a 3 bed semi, i normally charge between 2.5 and 3k, but as has been mentioned there are many variables such as the finish of the accessories, extra sockets and whether the bonding (earth cables) to the gas and water need upgrading. One of the biggest factors is how much furniture needs moving! It will take longer (and therefore be more expensive) if the spark needs to spend an hour every morning moving stuff out of a room and then an hour every evening putting it all back!

    If you’re in the Midlands and you’d like me to give you a quote, please get in touch.

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Mine was £2.6k for a 1930’s 3 bed semi.
    Including outside security lights and garden lights, electric shower wiring and a fair bit of CAT5 cable.

    That was with plain white sockets and switches.

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    5k 😯
    You need to move up north footflaps!!

    piedidiformaggio
    Free Member

    nellyp – I’m in deepest, darkest Essex

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Yep, everything costs more in the SE…

    Although the £5k was a bit of a guess. I’d doubt you see much change from £5k in the SE for a standard house with a good spread of sockets. My Victorian terrace was re-wired on the cheap (before I moved in) with just one double socket in each room. I’m slowing adding more and more over the years. Kitchen has about 8 double sockets now!

    nellyp
    Free Member

    piedi di formaggio – Member
    nellyp – I’m in deepest, darkest Essex

    Oh, in that case £5K!

    Bit far for me to travel every day, but if you need any advice, let me know.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    I did mine last year was 1200 quid for materials alone. For a 1950s 3 bed

    Albe it i did have some chunky cables to run for 16amp outlets in the garage.

    The bulk of my cost was in cabling as i wanted minimal chiseling work – so came down and up from celing for every socket.

    Also as we found ducting might not be suitable to wire to current regs. Most houses of that age lighting wil be wired to a junction box and a switched wire will run to the switch. Current regs take all to the switch and only switched live goes to light. This and carrying a ring meant that the existing duct was as much good as a chocolate teapot.

    Its alot more work than most folk give it credit to retro rewire an old house.

    My mates got a few quotes in atm for a similar project inc labour. Ranging from 4-7k most sparkies wouldnt quote on it sayin it was too much hassle (brick walls an solid floor)

    nellyp
    Free Member

    trail_rat – Member

    Also as we found ducting might not be suitable to wire to current regs. Most houses of that age lighting wil be wired to a junction box and a switched wire will run to the switch. Current regs take all to the switch and only switched live goes to light. This and carrying a ring meant that the existing duct was as much good as a chocolate teapot.

    This is where the internet can be a dangerous tool! The most common way to run a domestic lighting circuit is from the Consumer Unit to the first ceiling rose, then to the next and so on. From each rose there is a switch wire to the switch for each light. This is known as “three plate”

    This way of wiring is not against current regs, you can wire lighting circuits either way, 3 plate or at the switch, as long as your connections are “accessible”

    HTH

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Im not a sparky as you may have guessed but even In new builds ?

    My spark was fair happy id changed the set up before he came round to finish hooking it all up. Reckoned it was much better and easier to work with in future. – although id taken his advice before i changed it.

    Also many of my junction boxes were in a fair state and involved ripping up most upstairs floors to get at them. Deinantly happier they are gone. – now all connections are at the switch or the light fitting.

    nellyp
    Free Member

    even In new builds ?

    Yes even in new builds, there are benefits to both ways of wiring lighting circuits dependent on what fittings you’re using. It is becoming more common to wire at the switch, and yes its easier to connect up standing on the ground rather then on top of a ladder. But either way is acceptable.

    sam3000
    Full Member

    I £1750 cash for a re-wire on a 2bed end terrace made in 1853.

    Includes 3 doubles in each room, cooker, boiler, shower, all lights, sockets and fittings, cellar, outside lighting and junction box for eventual further extension.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    My mum has just had her 3 bed semi done minus the kitchen extension as it didn’t need it and was around the £3700 mark. Complete rewire, new junction box, switches, plug sockets etc.

    We had ours done when we moved in a few years ago – 3 bed terrace, 1890’s so all sorts of interesting things under the floorboards etc – £2300 cash. Again complete rewire.

    It is almost impossible to stay in the house while it is being done – foul rotten horrible messy job as others have said.

    If you are having a full rewire think about any extra sockets you may want to have fitted, any extra ring circuits you may want (I had a completely separate ring fitted exclusively to power the Hi Fi – cost materials only as they had to pull a wire up to the attic any way).

    Cheers

    Danny B

    LenHankie
    Free Member

    1920s 3 Bed Terrace – Surrey.

    Full rewire using the second cheapest white plastic faceplates, new pendant fittings upstairs and 18 x GU10 downlighters downstairs.

    Fluorescent strip light in the loft, 2 outside power sockets, provision for 2 outside lights, new extractor fan in bathroom, hardwired smoke/heat detectors x 3.

    House was totally empty (did it before we moved in) so no furniture to move or any worry about dust.

    I have done all the replastering/making good and redecorating myself.

    MATERIALS £1285
    LABOUR £1920
    VAT £641
    TOTAL £3846

    Be prepared for a total sodding mess! I can’t imagine having to do it while you’re living there….

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