House rewires, done room by room while you live there.

Do I need a full rewire?

That depends on the state of the wiring, and nobody can tell from the outside. I carry out a condition report, or inspect the wiring, before I say either way. An installation that passes as satisfactory doesn't need rewiring.

Some houses give clues before anyone tests them. Old rubber or fabric-covered cable, a fuse box with fuse wire in it, or round-pin sockets all point to wiring that has been in the walls for decades.

One sign on its own doesn't settle it. A house with modern cable and an old fuse box may only need a new consumer unit, which is a much smaller job, and the condition report is what shows the difference.

I won't push a rewire on anyone. When something does need attention I'll put it forward, because nobody wants to pay for a job and then have me back six months later to put right something that could have been done the first time.

What a house rewire includes

I renew every circuit with new cable, from a new consumer unit out to the last light. The price covers new sockets, switches and lights in standard white, the testing and the Electrical Installation Certificate I issue at the end.

Plastering isn't in the price. The cables usually run in channels cut into the walls, which need plastering over afterwards, and we'll quote for that separately if you ask.

Rewiring a house room by room

You can live in the house while it's rewired, with the work moving through it a room at a time.

A rewire has two stages. First fix is the disruptive part, when floorboards come up and the new cables go in under the floors, across the ceilings and down the walls. Second fix comes once any plastering is done, when the sockets, switches and lights go on and the new consumer unit is connected. Then everything is tested.

Expect the power to be off in the rooms being worked on, and dust where walls are channelled. Clearing what you can from a room before it's started saves time.

Rewiring a bungalow

A bungalow has no upstairs floor to lift, so most of the new cable runs through the loft and drops down the walls to each room. The bungalow price assumes there's a way into the loft. Without one, we quote it in writing after the survey.

Partial rewires

A partial rewire renews some circuits and keeps the rest. It suits a house where one part was rewired properly and the rest wasn't, or a kitchen or extension being done while the other circuits are sound.

The condition report tells you which circuits can stay. No two partial rewires are the same, so they aren't on the price list. Each one is quoted in writing after the survey and done for the price quoted.