How badly does my house need rewiring?

[Guitarist]

If there are insulation problems then it would definitely be sensible to get someone in to test and inspect. I'm sure you are a very able and intelligent young man, but please don't go trying to re-sleeve damaged cables.

 

[trev]

what if I where to temporarily use sleeving to prevent split insulation in the boxes and lights causing problems? there is the problem that temporary fixes often become permanent.

Nathan that isn't the answer mate, it's a bodge really. Get your folks to get a test done and that will tell what needs to be done

 

[Marvo]

I would say old isn't necessarily bad. You should find one of the trusted members from here who lives close to you and trade him a go on your weedeater bicycle for his opinion on where you need to go with your moms electrical installation.

Nice website by the way, I'm sure you'll make a good engineer, you've obviously got a passion for it. Shame there aren't a few more like yourself

 

[plugsandsparks]

what if I where to temporarily use sleeving to prevent split insulation in the boxes and lights causing problems? there is the problem that temporary fixes often become permanent.

Sometimes the damage is caused by heat, if so, then if there is slack you can re-terminate. Its not the stuff you can see, its the stuff you cannot see which could be the wirings un-doing. We use a tester to see if the insulation holds up under stress. The readings we get, in Meg Ohms gives us an idea of how good the insulation is.

 

[londonlec]

Be careful I think that old fuse box has asbestos flash pads.

 

[drew35]

That switch is ridiculous but what does it do?

Could it be a way of doing the stair light without two way switching? You just go upstairs and put your hand down through a hole to switch off. I think its the way forward, save cable, save the environment!

 

[shocking_eg]

love the OP's Website ! lol

 

[nickblake]

Regardless of the installation which an EICR would provid information wether it requires rewiring or not the thing i noticed in the pictures is the fact that the whole room where the cutout and consumer unit is is full of conbustable material and looking at it its under the staires i may be wrong but its not a good combination and in the event of a fault could well cause a fire and block an escape route , here a article from the ESC As part of its electrical fire safety campaigning, the Electrical Safety Council has made a supply of labels and leaflets available to Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) across the UK. They warn householders not to store combustible materials close to the electrical intake equipment in their homes.

The label and leaflet will be offered to householders by FRS fire prevention officers during their home safety visits. The warning is particularly appropriate where, for example, the electrical intake equipment (service head, meter and fuse box) is in a cupboard which is used to store items such as coats, cleaning materials and other items that can be easily ignited. Fires in under-stair cupboards are particularly dangerous, as the means of escape from upstairs can be cut off.

This joint initiative with the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) followed an investigation by East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service into the cause of a fatal fire in Eastbourne, and then into a number of other fires in domestic and similar properties in their area, that had started in the vicinity of electrical intake equipment. The most likely cause of the fires was found to be resistance heating at deteriorating cable terminations and fuse contacts.

Whilst the number of such incidents is relatively small, some have caused real risk to life due to the nature and circumstances of how and when the fires occur (often at night when people are asleep, combined with the typical location of an electrical intake being near the means of escape from a property).

Whilst electrical equipment is designed to contain the thermal effects of faults, overheating can and does ignite materials that are in close proximity.