Domestic rewires

[GMES]

Ok so as anyone who knows me will know That I try and avoid Domestic work at all costs but now and then I get a request from one of my Ind/Commercial customers to do their homes.
I had to do one last month and once again realised pretty quickly why I try to avoid them, so the point of this thread is curiousity more than anything.

Do you Domestic lads have any set ways you approach them, by that I mean do you chase everything first or as you need them, do you get all Boards up and all joist drilled, do you do a floor at a time etc etc etc.
The house was fully furnished but occupiers went away for a week so there was no need to replace boards every night etc and finally how long do you normally take to do an average 3bed semi, all switches and sockets to new heights not original.

I will be interested to hear your methods.

 

[MisterE]

That's got to be a new forum record, start date 1964 just finishing 2016 :whatchutalkingabout were you part of the team doing motorway upgrades on the M1 :sifone:

LOL - nice one :blush5:

 

[Leesparkykent]

I rewired 24 flats including communal areas in Stamford hill last year. We was bashing out a flat every 2 1/2- 3 days but I persuaded the client to drop the ceilings as they were concrete. It was a good sense of achievement once completed but I wouldn't be in a hurry to do something similar again.

 

[David M]

Occupied re-wires can be a nightmare. I've had my share of some right horrors over the years, but one particular one sticks out in my memory.
A friend of a friend recommended me to do the job (that old chestnut). Anyhow I turned up at this 3 bed semi occupied by a young family of 5. The house was just full of clutter and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. My skin crawled as we made our way from room to room to check out what was required.
Like a fool though I gave them a quote and possible dates to start the job (I'm not very good at turning down work and end up a busy fool sometimes).
They arranged for me to do the job while they were away for the week. That gave me some relief and I asked them diplomatically if they could tidy the crape up as we would need to get floors up and chisel in.

Day one got there and couldn't believe it. The place was more cluttered than when I'd first visited. The kitchen was full of used dishes with food on them stuff everywhere. Upstairs every room was cluttered so bad no carpet was visible. In the bathroom one of the occupants had kindly left a great big turd in the loo, which stank the house out.
In hind sight I should have just walked, but I was so angry that people could be so inconsiderate and live in such disgusting conditions. I proceeded to just basically shovel the clutter room by room into piles ripped up the carpets and floorboards chiselled in, re-wired, tidied up the mess we had made and got the hell outta there by the end of the week. It makes me shudder even now.
They came back off their hols paid me up, no qualms and that was that.

I think the key with most is to do the best you can at the convenience of the occupier. Most appreciate a good, clean job well done.
But you do often get those that expect you can just click your fingers and the house gets re-wired with no disruption ~

The thing that bugs me with a domestic is that when the job is complete there's not much to look at that shows all the hard work thought and skill that went into it.
At least with commercial / industrial the evidence of all the hard work is mostly on show to admire

 

[7029 dave]

Occupied re-wires can be a nightmare. I've had my share of some right horrors over the years, but one particular one sticks out in my memory.
A friend of a friend recommended me to do the job (that old chestnut). Anyhow I turned up at this 3 bed semi occupied by a young family of 5. The house was just full of clutter and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. My skin crawled as we made our way from room to room to check out what was required.
Like a fool though I gave them a quote and possible dates to start the job (I'm not very good at turning down work and end up a busy fool sometimes).
They arranged for me to do the job while they were away for the week. That gave me some relief and I asked them diplomatically if they could tidy the crape up as we would need to get floors up and chisel in.

Day one got there and couldn't believe it. The place was more cluttered than when I'd first visited. The kitchen was full of used dishes with food on them stuff everywhere. Upstairs every room was cluttered so bad no carpet was visible. In the bathroom one of the occupants had kindly left a great big turd in the loo, which stank the house out.
In hind sight I should have just walked, but I was so angry that people could be so inconsiderate and live in such disgusting conditions. I proceeded to just basically shovel the clutter room by room into piles ripped up the carpets and floorboards chiselled in, re-wired, tidied up the mess we had made and got the hell outta there by the end of the week. It makes me shudder even now.
They came back off their hols paid me up, no qualms and that was that.

I think the key with most is to do the best you can at the convenience of the occupier. Most appreciate a good, clean job well done.
But you do often get those that expect you can just click your fingers and the house gets re-wired with no disruption ~

The thing that bugs me with a domestic is that when the job is complete there's not much to look at that shows all the hard work thought and skill that went into it.
At least with commercial / industrial the evidence of all the hard work is mostly on show to admire

Know what you mean, and cutting through layers upon layers of old lino , then cutting floor boards soaked in cats pee.

 

[sparksburnout]

Is it just me or does everyone get them moments when you find yourself staring out of the windows thinking, "why did I take this on", and trying to motivate yourself to get cracking again, when doing re-wires.

I feel like that most days mate, its part of the experience ain't it?

 

[LankyWill]

only ever done part re-wires like a kitchen. Took 2 days to finish and i have only done one. I dont do re-wires as it never seems worth the effort. Im more comfortable doing new builds as you have run of the house unless theres a plumber making a mess everywhere or some retarded boarder trying to load in his boards, Jog on mate usually follows. Tend to do a 4 bed on my own in 2days, i enjoy not pulling up floorboards or moving clutter out the way because the customer is an ignorant arse... As for op if it isn't your forte leave it stick to commercial side...

 

[Leesparkykent]

only ever done part re-wires like a kitchen. Took 2 days to finish and i have only done one. I dont do re-wires as it never seems worth the effort. Im more comfortable doing new builds as you have run of the house unless theres a plumber making a mess everywhere or some retarded boarder trying to load in his boards, Jog on mate usually follows. Tend to do a 4 bed on my own in 2days, i enjoy not pulling up floorboards or moving clutter out the way because the customer is an ignorant arse... As for op if it isn't your forte leave it stick to commercial side...

Don't get me started on boarders lol...I've had major issues with the last lot I've worked with on 19flats.

 

[7029 dave]

Boarders do they sleep over on site.?:smile5:

 

[LankyWill]

Don't get me started on boarders lol...I've had major issues with the last lot I've worked with on 19flats.

I know their the most problematic trade out there, so stupid they cant look before screwing the board to the wall to avoid cable damage. Or loading in before a first fix, the plumber just empties his pressure tester over them and boots the corners off whilst i scream in laughter. Their all foreign and have zero common sense, and have cost me serious time on a Friday at 2pm whilst powering up. Now i just make obscene holes in the walls to teach them a lesson. bye bye pad saw hello estwing

 

[Leesparkykent]

I know their the most problematic trade out there, so stupid they cant look before screwing the board to the wall to avoid cable damage. Or loading in before a first fix, the plumber just empties his pressure tester over them and boots the corners off whilst i scream in laughter. Their all foreign and have zero common sense, and have cost me serious time on a Friday at 2pm whilst powering up. Now i just make obscene holes in the walls to teach them a lesson. bye bye pad saw hello estwing

The 19 flats we've just completed was all electric heating. They was supposed to put wood in before it got boarded where the rads are. Everything was marked up on the wall and drawings....wood was missed in loads of flats, put in the wrong position, put where the spur was supposed to go, trapped cables, not bringing cables through which were clearly marked, celotex in ceilings with no consideration for down lights after being repeatedly told, leaving mess everywhere...the list goes on. Tbh they turned a job that could of been good in to hell lol.

 

[NDG Elecs]

I pretty much always try to price myself well out of the equation for occupieds. Then if I do unfortunately get it at least it's financially worthwhile. Piggin nightmares the couple I have done. If I had to do occupieds every week I would be looking to get a new job. Last few rewires I have done have all been in commercial properties that were getting completely refurbed, much much nicer to deal with a blank canvas. Customers don't generally appreciate rewiring like they appreciate their 3000 chrome downlights installation.

 

[Dave OCD]

The 19 flats we've just completed was all electric heating. They was supposed to put wood in before it got boarded where the rads are. Everything was marked up on the wall and drawings....wood was missed in loads of flats, put in the wrong position, put where the spur was supposed to go, trapped cables, not bringing cables through which were clearly marked, celotex in ceilings with no consideration for down lights after being repeatedly told, leaving mess everywhere...the list goes on. Tbh they turned a job that could of been good in to hell lol.

This sort of thing has happened to me before too Lee, you wonder how people can be so moronic really - but generally trades helping each other and showing consideration seems to be a thing of the past sadly.

 

[Leesparkykent]

This sort of thing has happened to me before too Lee, you wonder how people can be so moronic really - but generally trades helping each other and showing consideration seems to be a thing of the past sadly.

Yeah so true, I find you normally get the "I'm on price"....Helps if there's a
half decent site foreman but on this particular site the foreman had no back bone and wouldn't say anything which didn't help. The next phase is 28 flats starting in a few months. They defiantly wont be getting away with it this time as some serious counter charging will be going on lol.

 

[ruston]

Yeah so true, I find you normally get the "I'm on price"....Helps if there's a
half decent site foreman but on this particular site the foreman had no back bone and wouldn't say anything which didn't help. The next phase is 28 flats starting in a few months. They defiantly wont be getting away with it this time as some serious counter charging will be going on lol.

Take a few bags of dead finish in with you and blend it in with their's.

 

[Lagentium]

I find if you get into boarders ribs and let them know you don't mind a dust up, they are your best mates!!