Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.


--
Chris B (News)

On 15/02/17 12:31, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.




Does conduit exist or is this going to involve chasing all the walls? If
so, tell them to use conduit (20mm oval will take up to 2.5mm2 cables
with little extra chasing).

In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring is
still in perfectly serviceable condition.

--
*I'm not your type. I'm not inflatable.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 15/02/2017 13:15, Tim Watts wrote:
On 15/02/17 12:31, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",




Does conduit exist or is this going to involve chasing all the walls? If
so, tell them to use conduit (20mm oval will take up to 2.5mm2 cables
with little extra chasing).

Don't know the answer to that one - havn't really inspected it in that
much detail yet.


--
Chris B (News)

On 15/02/2017 13:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring is
still in perfectly serviceable condition.

How long does the PVC insulation last?

On 15/02/2017 13:53, GB wrote:

How long does the PVC insulation last?

http://www.basec.org.uk/News/Basec-N...ancy-of-Cables

And I expect they are naturally cautious. (I was up close and person
last year to 2.5mm T&E installed under floors over 30 years ago. After
wiping off the dust if look and felt like new.)

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

In article ,
GB wrote:
On 15/02/2017 13:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house
with garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have
not been touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has
electric cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches
replacing (for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few
extra sockets adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring
is still in perfectly serviceable condition.

How long does the PVC insulation last?

I re-wired this house in the '70s, and there's no sign of deterioration
anywhere. A couple of years ago, I did a pretty major refurkle of one room
which involved quite a bit of electrics, and the original wiring was still
fine. If the PVC had suffered, I'd assume it would go brittle.

Might be different on any wiring exposed to the sun, etc.

--
*Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

GB explained on 15/02/2017 :
How long does the PVC insulation last?

Usually forever, providing it was properly installed, not overloaded,
or otherwise damaged, there are no botches and it has proper earth
wires included.

I would guess at £2000 to £5000, but much depends on what extras might
be needed beyond the basics. Best to get network cable installed at the
same time if they might be needed, plus TV/satellite cables too.

Worth deciding exactly what you want, then getting three quotes and
making sure they have Part P qualification, can prove it and can
provide references too.

On 15/02/17 13:53, GB wrote:
On 15/02/2017 13:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring is
still in perfectly serviceable condition.

How long does the PVC insulation last?

I have seen PVC exposed to sunlight be rubbish in less than 5 years.
Conversely I've seen 70's PVC cable still in perfect nick.


--
No Apple devices were knowingly used in the preparation of this post.

On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 15:29:02 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I have seen PVC exposed to sunlight be rubbish in less than 5 years.
Conversely I've seen 70's PVC cable still in perfect nick.

and better than the crap sold nowadays.

Even comes in proper colours too :-)

Owain

On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful to split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from the split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits, but it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is actually something wrong with them.

I split my lighting circuit in half and used the new leg to put in smoke detectors and wall lights, and put in a new socket radial (which if it gets any longer will find itself back at the CU and can become a 2nd ring).

Owain

In article ,
wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has
electric cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches
replacing (for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few
extra sockets adding.

It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful to
split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from the
split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits, but
it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is
actually something wrong with them.

If DIYing, most would probably make use of existing wiring if good where
possible.

But in terms of cost when getting the whole job done by a pro, it might be
easier to simply rip the lot out and start afresh. No dispute then if
anything needs fixing afterwards.

--
*One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

To be honest our house was done in the 70s, and looking at some of
thewiring, pvc covered in most places it still looks good, so unless there
is some strange fault or other mitigating circumstance, could one just not
do the Cu and fixtures and fittings on the old wiring after a cursory
inspection for gotchas?
If I look at ours we replaced the fuses with breakers, but nowadays a more
techy type of protection should be used no doubt but apart from that....
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Chris B" wrote in message
news
On 15/02/2017 13:15, Tim Watts wrote:
On 15/02/17 12:31, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",




Does conduit exist or is this going to involve chasing all the walls? If
so, tell them to use conduit (20mm oval will take up to 2.5mm2 cables
with little extra chasing).

Don't know the answer to that one - havn't really inspected it in that
much detail yet.


--
Chris B (News)

In message ,
writes
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 15:29:02 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I have seen PVC exposed to sunlight be rubbish in less than 5 years.
Conversely I've seen 70's PVC cable still in perfect nick.

and better than the crap sold nowadays.

Even comes in proper colours too :-)

Hmm.. I have lots of red and black 1.5 and 2.5 tw+e in a tasteful white
pvc:-) Once used but carefully gathered.

--
Tim Lamb

On 15/02/2017 13:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring is
still in perfectly serviceable condition.


Agreed.

The biggest problems (at a guess) is that there are probably only two
single sockets per bedroom (just where you don't want them) and possibly
only one socket circuit for the whole house. The main bonding will be in
4mm or non existent and you can bet they borrowed a neutral for the
landing light strapper.



--
Adam

On 15/02/2017 16:09, wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful to split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from the split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits, but it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is actually something wrong with them.


As lights are now lower power, approximately 20% the level, when the
house was originally designed. Why would the light circuit need to be
split in two.

Brian Gaff expressed precisely :
To be honest our house was done in the 70s, and looking at some of thewiring,
pvc covered in most places it still looks good, so unless there is some
strange fault or other mitigating circumstance, could one just not do the Cu
and fixtures and fittings on the old wiring after a cursory inspection for
gotchas?
If I look at ours we replaced the fuses with breakers, but nowadays a more
techy type of protection should be used no doubt but apart from that....

Ours was done around 1983, since when I found it necessary to add
numerous extra sockets and a few lights, a higher power shower. Were I
wanting what I have now installed, I would likely be thinking of a
bottom up refurb.

Nick laid this down on his screen :
As lights are now lower power, approximately 20% the level, when the house
was originally designed. Why would the light circuit need to be split in two.

For safety, you would then still have a working lighting circuit, if
one developed a fault.

On 15/02/2017 12:31, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

So what ?. I still have those in a 1976 built house.


I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric

Why ?. It will have modern PVC wiring, so why would you replace it ?.
The lighting circuits might only be 1mm2 but so what, these days we only
have low energy bulbs.

The ring mains will have a 1mm2 earth wire (went up to 1.5mm in ?1984)
so simply adding some RCD's to the power circuits would suffice if you
are worried. Even my 3 bed semi had two lighting circuits, one up and
one down, but with some odd arrangement for the 2-way switching on the
stairs (bottom switch allowed landing light to be tuened off, but
landing switch did not affect hall light).

cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Only if you intend renting it out would a CU replacement be deemed
'necessary'.

On 15/02/2017 18:33, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message ,
writes
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 15:29:02 UTC, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
I have seen PVC exposed to sunlight be rubbish in less than 5 years.
Conversely I've seen 70's PVC cable still in perfect nick.

and better than the crap sold nowadays.

Even comes in proper colours too :-)

Hmm.. I have lots of red and black 1.5 and 2.5 tw+e in a tasteful white
pvc:-) Once used but carefully gathered.



Useful for all sorts of things. Holding bundles of wood together, for
example.

On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.


NT

"Chris B" wrote in message
news
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends", but
I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about numbers
before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing

Why should it ? Mine built and wired by me in the early 70s certainly doesnt.

(currently has electric cooker but no electric shower),

IMO mains pressure stored hot water heated electrically
at off peak rates leaves those for dead.

all faceplates and switches replacing (for cosmetic if no other reasons),

None of mine do.

CU replacing

Mine should be I spose because there was a hell of a shortage
of circuit breakers at the time the electricity authority chucked
a tantrum about me powering the entire house including all
the entirely electrical heating and cooking and hot water from the
builder's temporary supply using a ****ing long extension cord.
So it uses rewireable fuses, most of which have been replaced
by breakers that plug in where the fuse used to plug in.

and a few extra sockets adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously not,
£1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the new
regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as this is
not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could usefully do
which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if not all of the
old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it to be terminated
at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the CU would not sign
up for it?

"GB" wrote in message
news
On 15/02/2017 13:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Chris B wrote:
A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Unless things have been badly bodged, there's a good chance the wiring is
still in perfectly serviceable condition.

How long does the PVC insulation last?

Mine is doing fine, not the slightest hint of any
problem anywhere and it’s the same age as that.

"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 15/02/2017 13:53, GB wrote:

How long does the PVC insulation last?

http://www.basec.org.uk/News/Basec-N...ancy-of-Cables

And I expect they are naturally cautious. (I was up close and person last
year to 2.5mm T&E installed under floors over 30 years ago. After wiping
off the dust if look and felt like new.)

Yeah, mine was done more than 45 years ago now, and the bulk of it
is immediately under the metal decking roof with the ceiling insulated
so it gets well over 50C there most days in the summer. Its as good as
new once you wipe the dust off, even when reterminating something
so you can see if the PVC has gone brittle. It hasn’t.

In article ,
Nick wrote:
It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful
to split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from
the split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits,
but it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is
actually something wrong with them.


As lights are now lower power, approximately 20% the level, when the
house was originally designed. Why would the light circuit need to be
split in two.

Bit of a pain if a fault takes all the lighting out. Best to have the hall
lighting on a different circuit. By opening room doors, you should get
enough light to circulate safely.

--
*War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 15/02/2017 18:48, Nick wrote:
On 15/02/2017 16:09, wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful
to split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from
the split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits,
but it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is
actually something wrong with them.


As lights are now lower power, approximately 20% the level, when the
house was originally designed. Why would the light circuit need to be
split in two.

Discrimination - you don't want one fault taking out all the lights.
Especially with budget 17th edition style CUs with only 2 RCDs, so each
lighting circuit will normally share a RCD with at least one socket
circuit.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 15/02/2017 21:51, wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Friday, 17 February 2017 13:00:04 UTC, John Rumm wrote:
On 15/02/2017 21:51, tabbypurr wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.

If you fit all new lighting & fancy sockets, dimmers etc.


NT

In article ,
wrote:
DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.

If you fit all new lighting & fancy sockets, dimmers etc.

If DIYing, it really does make sense to fit an adequate number of sockets
etc initially. While the house is a mess.

In other words, don't skimp on the initial spec as it will be a lot more
hassle to add to it later.

--
*Upon the advice of my attorney, my shirt bears no message at this time

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Friday, 17 February 2017 13:46:49 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
tabbypurr wrote:

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.

If you fit all new lighting & fancy sockets, dimmers etc.

If DIYing, it really does make sense to fit an adequate number of sockets
etc initially. While the house is a mess.

In other words, don't skimp on the initial spec as it will be a lot more
hassle to add to it later.

+1, and over the 40 years or so an install lasts, we can expect more electrical & electronic goods to be used than today.

I'd also put in some extra cable for future uses. It doesn't cost much.


NT

On 16/02/2017 00:36, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Nick wrote:
It probably needs a lot of extra sockets adding, and it may be useful
to split existing lighting circuits halfway and put a new cable from
the split back to the CU, to spread the lighting across more circuits,
but it probably does not need all the wires replacing unless there is
actually something wrong with them.


As lights are now lower power, approximately 20% the level, when the
house was originally designed. Why would the light circuit need to be
split in two.

Bit of a pain if a fault takes all the lighting out. Best to have the hall
lighting on a different circuit. By opening room doors, you should get
enough light to circulate safely.

Don't we normally get a load of gloom and doom posters saying that if
all the lights fail at once then you are going to fall down the stairs
and die (even in a bungalow)?


--
Adam

On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 7:12:58 PM UTC, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff expressed precisely :
To be honest our house was done in the 70s, and looking at some of thewiring,
pvc covered in most places it still looks good, so unless there is some
strange fault or other mitigating circumstance, could one just not do the Cu
and fixtures and fittings on the old wiring after a cursory inspection for
gotchas?
If I look at ours we replaced the fuses with breakers, but nowadays a more
techy type of protection should be used no doubt but apart from that.....

Ours was done around 1983, since when I found it necessary to add
numerous extra sockets and a few lights, a higher power shower. Were I
wanting what I have now installed, I would likely be thinking of a
bottom up refurb.

You can't always judge the state of eth wiring by a limited inspection. The house I bought 10 year ago (and still live in) seemed to have been thoroughly rewired in the 1980s with PVC covered red/black cable which was in good condition. But the old lead-covered wiring had simply been left in place.. When I started tidying up and removing the lead stuff I found that the previous owner has reconnected some of it to the new wiring (presumably to get more sockets and bits of it were therefore live.

At that point I stopped fiddling with it and decided to have it all redone.

To answer the original question, it cost several thousand (3 bed end terrace, reputable firm).

Robert

In article ,
Robin writes:
On 15/02/2017 13:53, GB wrote:

How long does the PVC insulation last?

http://www.basec.org.uk/News/Basec-N...ancy-of-Cables

And I expect they are naturally cautious. (I was up close and person
last year to 2.5mm T&E installed under floors over 30 years ago. After
wiping off the dust if look and felt like new.)

My parents' house was built in the 1950's but fortunately using PVC T&E
and 13A sockets (not all were at that time). The original cable is still
fine. The switches and sockets have been gradually replaced as rooms
have been decorated (and more fitted), but very few actually needed
this - the original MK ones were mostly still in good condition, but
not suitable for modern styles. The fusebox was replaced, and the one
original ring circuit split into three, main earthing updated, etc.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
wrote:
On Friday, 17 February 2017 13:46:49 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
tabbypurr wrote:

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help.
Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.

If you fit all new lighting & fancy sockets, dimmers etc.

If DIYing, it really does make sense to fit an adequate number of
sockets etc initially. While the house is a mess.

In other words, don't skimp on the initial spec as it will be a lot
more hassle to add to it later.

+1, and over the 40 years or so an install lasts, we can expect more
electrical & electronic goods to be used than today.

I'd also put in some extra cable for future uses. It doesn't cost much.


Very true. If only I'd had a crystal ball when I wired my house and put in
CAT 5 everywhere. I did with telephone wiring and aerial cable. But sadly,
it hadn't been invented then. ;-)

--
*Indian Driver - Smoke signals only*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 17/02/2017 13:20, wrote:
On Friday, 17 February 2017 13:00:04 UTC, John Rumm wrote:
On 15/02/2017 21:51, tabbypurr wrote:
On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 12:31:12 UTC, Chris B wrote:
Now I know before I ask this question that the answer is "it depends",
but I am hoping that someone could give me at least a vague idea about
numbers before we get someone in for a formal quote

A friend has inherited part of a standard 4 bedroom detached house with
garage. It was built in the early 70's and the electrics have not been
touched since (still has re-wirable fuses in the CU).

I suspect that it needs all the wires replacing (currently has electric
cooker but no electric shower), all faceplates and switches replacing
(for cosmetic if no other reasons), CU replacing and a few extra sockets
adding.

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of likely cost (£100 - obviously
not, £1000 - still no, £3000 - is this getting close, £5000 - surely not).

I rewired a complete house myself in the mid 80's but with all of the
new regulations probably wouldn't want to do this again, especially as
this is not my house, but is there any DIY prep work that I could
usefully do which might reduce the cost. I could easily remove most if
not all of the old ring wiring/fittings and replace with new, leaving it
to be terminated at the new CU, but would this mean anyone replacing the
CU would not sign up for it?

Thanks for any advice.

DIY it, it's not hard to meet current regs. We're here to help. Total cost a few hundred.

Being realistic, even for a DIY install, that's likely to be a few
hundred short of a 1000 at best.

If you fit all new lighting & fancy sockets, dimmers etc.

That will take you well over a grand...

Even if you go for a basic install... it soon adds up if you are doing a
complete rewire with new accessories.

I have a spreadsheet here I did for a 3 bed semi complete rewire - to
modern standards but over eleven years ago. It was not particularly
extravagant - ordinary double sockets and normal switches. 50 quids
worth of link lights in the kitchen and an entry level cooker hood.
Shaver point and extractor in the bathroom. A light in the loft, a PIR
light on the porch. New main bonding and equipotential bonding. It was a
TT install so included a pricey type S RCD and an earth rod - so you can
save £150 if you don't need those. Total cost for materials *then* was
just under £650, and that did not include any costs of making good etc
and we were able to reuse existing conduit runs in places, so had no
additional costs of trunking or capping.

Adjust that for inflation, and a larger house and what do you get?

Most folks would probably want some co-ax and data wiring into the mix
as well.



--
Cheers,

John.

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On 17/02/2017 20:03, RobertL wrote:


You can't always judge the state of eth wiring by a limited inspection. The house I bought 10 year ago (and still live in) seemed to have been thoroughly rewired in the 1980s with PVC covered red/black cable which was in good condition. But the old lead-covered wiring had simply been left in place. When I started tidying up and removing the lead stuff I found that the previous owner has reconnected some of it to the new wiring (presumably to get more sockets and bits of it were therefore live.

At that point I stopped fiddling with it and decided to have it all redone.


Did it "bite you":-)?

I remember grabbing hold of some lead covered stuff a few years ago. I
was the earth.

--
Adam

In article ,
ARW wrote:
On 17/02/2017 20:03, RobertL wrote:


You can't always judge the state of eth wiring by a limited
inspection. The house I bought 10 year ago (and still live in) seemed
to have been thoroughly rewired in the 1980s with PVC covered
red/black cable which was in good condition. But the old lead-covered
wiring had simply been left in place. When I started tidying up and
removing the lead stuff I found that the previous owner has
reconnected some of it to the new wiring (presumably to get more
sockets and bits of it were therefore live.

At that point I stopped fiddling with it and decided to have it all
redone.


Did it "bite you":-)?

I remember grabbing hold of some lead covered stuff a few years ago. I
was the earth.

The lead sheathing was all earthed here. Achieved by bonding with wire
wrapping. And to the lead incoming water pipe.

Never did check how well that worked. Had two weeks to do a basic re-wire
for the mortgage conditions. So a very quick rip out of it all.

--
*PMS jokes aren't funny; period.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

RobertL explained on 17/02/2017 :
Ours was done around 1983, since when I found it necessary to add
numerous extra sockets and a few lights, a higher power shower. Were I
wanting what I have now installed, I would likely be thinking of a
bottom up refurb.

You can't always judge the state of eth wiring by a limited inspection.

What was ripped completely out in around 1983, was PVC of maybe the
1960's. Obviously it didn't have any earth wires on the lighting
circuits and few 13a sockets, indoor meter and . Correct those cables
were in good order, but not worth keeping with such a lot needing to be
changed/ upgraded.

used his keyboard to write :
+1, and over the 40 years or so an install lasts, we can expect more
electrical & electronic goods to be used than today.

I'd also put in some extra cable for future uses. It doesn't cost much.

+another. Nothing worse than spending 20 times as much, plus the mess
as it would have cost to have put in just one extra spare cable. Our
pinch point, is where cables pass from the CU in the stair cupboard,
through to the ground floor's ceiling. Oh for just one spare cable in
that large bunch. As it is a concrete raft on which the house is built,
all the cables take that route up to the ceiling.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote on 18/02/2017 :
Very true. If only I'd had a crystal ball when I wired my house and put in
CAT 5 everywhere. I did with telephone wiring and aerial cable. But sadly,
it hadn't been invented then. ;-)

I did it and twice. First the ten base T coax, then later replaced with
CAT5 everywhere they might be needed. Router / incoming line in the
loft, then down through airing cupboard, under floor, to drop down with
heating pipework to ground, where I could get easy runs to front and
rear.

When we were rewired in 1983, I fitted phone sockets in all rooms and
even out to the garage. I ran a conduit from loft to behind the living
room TV, but unfortunately just the one outlet. I later added outlets
to all rooms, by means of the airing cupboard/ pipework run. with a
distribution amp behind the living room TV.

The coax downlead from the loft, terminates in a socket, so TV antenna
installers just need to route the cable into the loft. I don't allow
any cables to be draped along or down the outside walls.