Just got a 5 storey house to do -advice needed ?

[Roger]

Big budget 200k plus,5 bathrooms,60k kitchen,very good day rate.Will keep me busy for months.We will be involved in the stripping out and old coppers getting a good rate currently .My plumber mate was rubbing his hands and then started talking about megaflows and all that.

Existing property has 3 phase going to 3 seperate single phase meters.Lots of bedsits so might have made billing easier ?
First thing to do ? after inceasing liability insurance as its in London !
Contact Electricity provider and get them to install a 3 phase meter.Earthing is via a galv strap to the casing of a 100amp isolater to the sheath of the incoming armoured.
Install a 3 phase distribution board and split phases over floor or have multiple phases on same floor ?
Power on one and lighting on other and so on.Kitchen on one phase,living room power on another ?
Whats best way to do it ?
Best make of dist boards ?
Want loads of stuff CCTV,scene lighting,alarms,cat 6 data throughout.
Big project for me ,feel a little out of my depth so much advice sort ,lots of wise heads on here.
Thank youi

 

[Spudnik]

Do you really need 3 phase??

The only issue you are going to have if you do, is having differing phases on the same floor.

Personally, I think you would be best to try and spilt the phases over the 5 floors.

And then you could put a small CU on each floor for power lighting etc.

There would be nothing worse than having to go down 4 flights of stairs when the kettle trips it all out

And on a business sense, make sure you get a contract agreed and signed before you start, plus a considerable amount of money upfront, with stage payments during the process.

If you havent, then you seriously need to try and sort it.

Good luck, and if you need a hand, im sure there are plenty of lads on here that would oblige.

 

[Roger]

Thanks Jason,

I thought the 3 phase route would be best to keep and it would certainly cope with the intended use adequately.Although 100 amps single phase would probably be adequate.Is 100 amps the maximum that you can get in a domestic situation ?
I was under the impression that many large houses would have a 3 phase supply.I have been to a few locally where I have just completed no more than maintenance work really and they have been 3 phase.

To feed the distribution boards on each floor would i just use twin and earth 16mm probably.
Looking into in it in more detail,I favour a hager 3 phase board then like you say a CU on every floor with different phases.RCBO,s throughout

Finances :- it is propsed we do a summary spreadsheet every 2 weeks and present for payment.With no finalised spec it is hard to put a exact figure on it.The client offered to pay the congestion charge and all parking.

It will be expensive and stage payments will help with the finances ,especially the bills from the wholesalers !

 

[gawain]

if its big budget have you suggested putting in mi cable.

 

[blackiel]

How many storeys/floors is it on? Is there a basement/Garage/Pool/Roof Terrace?

Any idea of each floors square footage/meterage?(Footage better)

Draw a layout of the whole floorplan and download it on here.

Done a few of these around Kensington / Knightsbridge/Holland Park/Fitzrovia/Eaton Square/Sloane Square and was surprised to find they were not as daunting as at first seemed...

Quite easy from a birds eye/plan view.

 

[Roger]

How many storeys/floors is it on? Is there a basement/Garage/Pool/Roof Terrace?

Any idea of each floors square footage/meterage?(Footage better)

Draw a layout of the whole floorplan and download it on here.

Done a few of these around Kensington / Knightsbridge/Holland Park/Fitzrovia/Eaton Square/Sloane Square and was surprised to find they were not as daunting as at first seemed...

Quite easy from a birds eye/plan view.

Hi there,

I have a floor plan now (no scanner though)

Basement 705 sq feet kitchen and dining area
first floor 430 sq feet manin living area really just one reception open living room
master suite 570 sq feet ,main bedroom,dressing area and bathroom
child suite 484 sq feet, play area, bedroom and storage area and bathroom/shower room
Guest suite 462 sq feet ,bedroom,big bathroom area ,dressing area,sitting area.

Talking about excavating below basement(blimey how much will that cost ?)

Need to make provision for somekind of central hub would be handy near main CU.They want Cat 6 cabling through,HDMI links and now some theme lighting with central control on each floor ,suggest Lutron or Futronix.CCTV,Door entry with colour viewing on each floor via telly av channel i guess.And security system.And garden lighting,ok with this as have used Collingwood before and its great.

Would be useful if someone could suggest a complete house package which would do all of this,or a combination of.

The house is in W2 and it does need gutting completely and we are down to do this as well.So we will have a blank canvas to work from really and a totally empty property.

Suggestions and advice welcome.

 

[nickblake]

you could end up with some long cable runs , so could be an idea to install a sub main on one of the floors to reduce the length ,

 

[UNG]

A 200K budget doesn't sound that big if the 60K kitchen is included in that

With no finalised spec this sounds like a recipe for disaster

I would suggest for the lighting, data, video, TV etc you look at the home automation systems that are available as these will give you more flexibility

Home Automation - The most complete guide to home automation information on the web

With the three phase I would try to keep to a single phase on a floor if possible but it doesn't always work out

The main one is make sure any spec changes are by written instruction and costed so everything gets paid for

 

[NEsparky]

You definatley whan to keep the three phase, single phase will give big problems as extra showers, water heaters are added at a later date.

As far as distribusion goes MEM Memshield 3 dist boards i would recomend, One TP placed at central hub or near supply. Then 5 SP boards one per floor fed via sub mains.

This allows you to treat all floors as a seperate entity, therefore no chance of crossing phases.

So the only thing crossing through floors of a different phase would be the sub main.

Also for saftey would suggest using an LV control system for the heating again to stop possibility of phases crossing

hope this helps

 

[Roger]

Thanks chaps,

Good advice so far.

Budget confirmed and nothing to fancy,provisional building alteration 200k,kitchen 60k,bathrooms 50k,internal fittings 50k,services heating/electrics 60k.Additional amounts subject to planning have a contingency of a further 250k !!!

Have a spreadsheet with a plan and extent of some of the works involved even down to number of points required.Billing to be fortnightly.

Still sounds to good to be true

One thought to run submains to the floors best to do in twin and earth 16mm subject to calculations or someone did suggest MI or amoured,opinions please

Thank you

 

[NEsparky]

I wudnt bother with mi, personally I would use SWA for sub mains but twins would be fine, don't forget I'm assuming you are going to have a service duct you will need vertical containment as 5 storeys of cable will be heavy.

Good luck

Jim

 

[blackiel]

Couple of jobs we done round that way a few years ago, also dug below the basement,one for a swimming pool,one for a large underground garage....,Pool had lights, filters,whirlpool,Sound system,motorised cover(motor at each end) and all sorts of other stuff,probably old hat these days,but new at the time...Garage had lights,on sensors ,plus overrides,sockets,emergency lighting,fire sensors and other bits and pieces,also a lift all the way up,havent done one like this for a while,didnt plan the ones i was on,either,just run what was on the spec,werent my bankrupter,aint trying to tell ya to suck eggs mate,but there are design companies who will take each floor,design your system and needs and give you somewhere to fall back,in times of severe head scratching,...

Any chance of a weekly blog,old son,just out of sheer interest...??

Good Luck!!!

 

[ian]

How I would love one of those at the moment. I am stuck with 3 bed mid terrace . rewires. However have done a couple of 4 storey over the last couple of years, both were 3 phase. I installed an additional CU on the top floor to service floors 3 & 4, a CU on the ground floor to service floors 1 & 2, and a small 6 way CU for the hall and stairway lights, smokes and kitchen.

 

[Roger]

Bit of an update,Still really going nowhere as owners is still pulling it apart and getting ideas as to what to do.

I have been asked to provide power for lightning and services.And make safe existing,and certify it !. I have an exisiting CU,s on all floors the wiring of which i am unsure about although a quick glance last time i was up there the CU's all looked dirty and knackered.As a temporary fix should i just power from the nearest CU in the basement and run leads and extensions to upper floors.I would assume that floor standing lighting is ok to use and i guess it will all be 110 volt.In my mind it makes sense either to buy a simple CU and just run all power of of that until it decided what to do.However trailing leads everywhere which could be pinned to the walls.It will all be yellow anyway so visable.50 metre extension reels with RCD protection.

Plumbers and other services are trying to run a main service duct ,previously it looks like a chimney was used.Can I use same duct as them or due to fire regs what do i have to do between floors.I am sort of sounding out load here so don't jump down my throat.The thought of being out of my depth is coming back again.

Hi Blackiel ,still in london ? I was thinking that as soon as i got spec to give it to a company to design.Who did you use ? what did you do between floors ?

Thanks

 

[marksparky]

i wud suggest 16mm split concentric for submains great stuff! dont panic bout bein out of ur depth, i wud try and do a floor at a time and get them to commit to wat they want and try knock it out that way, as for power in the mean time i wud use temporary boards maybe three or four for power etc and 110v festoon lighting.