Quote in for rewiring - thoughts please (full details included)

[Gaz82]

Would appreciate it if someone could tell me if this quote seems about right. I am a first time buyer close to completing on a 3 Bedroom Semi Detached house and building survey came up with the rewiring red flag (property built in 1964). I then had someone out to do a visual, and following this seller has paid for ECIR. The asking price is now being dropped to reflect the quoted fee for rewiring so in theory I shouldn't be out of pocket.

The electrician says the work can be done over a weekend period. The quoted amount is £1825 and the location is SE England (Kent). The house is currently empty and vacant.

Kitchen
- Re-wire the feed to the back porch lights
- Switch drop re-wire
- Connect earth in existing fittings
Living Room
- Re-wire switch drops x2
Downstairs Toilet
- Complete re-wire
Front Porch
- Complete re-wire
Downstairs Hallway
- Re-wire the two switch drops for landing lights
- Re-wire thermostat
- Re-wire the stair-light
Upstairs
- Upstairs bedrooms x 3 switch drops in each room
- Re-wire switch at the top of the stairs
- Re-connection of earth on to downlights and change for fire rated downlights
- Re-wire boiler room light switch drop
- Change the fuse board
- Change downlight above bath to IP rated (water resistant)
- All wooden switch boxes will be replaced for metal flush boxes

The above works includes all materials, making good of chases, holes and painted to original condition.

***Not sure if relevant but I plan on having a lighting design element as part of the revamp of the house - should I mention this now to the electrician even though I haven't had an appointment with the light designer yet?***

 

[Darkwood]

Welcome to the forum .... the idea is to get 2 or 3 quotes and research your choices as the cheapest isn't always the best ........ get recommendations too

Hard to pick at a quote without knowing building layout or fitting been supplied but a fully lighting rewire or their about, new dist' board, weekend work and fully plastered and painted all in i would say its reasonable

£400-£600 would be a board change alone

 

[Gaz82]

Thanks for popping in darkwood. Yes, in an ideal situation would want to be working with multiple quotes to hand. Would you say the schedule of work reads close to a full rewire or more a partial rewire? Good to get an idea on what a board change alone would cost btw

 

[davethsparky]

Get quotes from three seperate electricians and make your decision from that, Not necessarily going for the cheapest but the best based on price and the impression they make when you meet them.&nbsp;<br>

<br>Not really possible to give a realistic price without seeing the job in the flesh.&nbsp;<br>

<br>And yes you should get the lighting design done before the work is quoted for really or else you may end up removing everything you have done now once the lighting ponce has come up with whatever daft ideas they con you in to buying.

 

[davethsparky]

Thanks for popping in darkwood. Yes, in an ideal situation would want to be working with multiple quotes to hand. Would you say the schedule of work reads close to a full rewire or more a partial rewire? Good to get an idea on what a board change alone would cost btw

That's nowhere near a complete re-wire, what you've listed looks like the replacement of some of the old imperial twin no-earth cables used for switch drops. Plus a new CU.
Chances are there may not be much chasing needed as the switch drops are likely to be in some form of conduit.

 

[Gaz82]

Any chances that you can recommend anyone in the Kent area Dave, or maybe you even cover the area?

* moderator: Apologies if this is not allowed on the forum, please alert me and I will edit post

 

[robsparky1975]

If the property is vacant then rewire the whole lot,it is not cost effective to spend a couple of grand to then find you only have 1 or 2 sockets in a room,at least then you can decide where you want sockets etc,light switches and fancy lighting,the quote just seems to be more updating as mentioned already,you dont need a lighting designer just a good electrician who knows his/her job.If you post your area of the uk sure their may be a few who can give you a quote.

 

[Gaz82]

Rob, comment is much appreciated because I am not trying to cut corners here and would rather get the house in order and made good whilst empty. If anyone is in the Dartford / Sevenoaks area or can recommend anyone around that area that would be great.

I am totally up for working with a great electrician to get the right lighting states in the house as well. I was only thinking of working with a light designer as the house is dark and really want to maximise on the light I bring in. Also there is no way a couple of sockets in a room would be adequate anyway and I would have to be adding on to the quote for extra power points, switches etc

 

[davethsparky]

Best bet is to get everything designed then have the place rewired to the new design, the sellers will only pay for the necessary works to bring it up to a good standard so you will have to pay the additional but it will be worth it. There's no sense altering the existing circuits in every room as you will just end up with a patchwork of random wiring, better to have a complete install.

I'm afraid i'm not anywhere near local to you but i'm sure you will find someone on here who is.

 

[robsparky1975]

Also have a think about whether you may want tv points in each room,telephone points maybe,its the biggest outlay of anyones lives buying a home so make a list of what you want and go from there.Led lighting is getting quite popular now and is a nicer idea as compared to halogens for running costs alone.

 

[davethsparky]

Whereabouts roughly in Kent are we talking about here?

 

[Gaz82]

Whereabouts roughly in Kent are we talking about here?

Dartford / Sevenoaks area

 

[Spoon]

Also, while you are thinking about a re-wire, think about internet cables. Most modern TV, Sky, Cable, Gaming Stations can have a internet cable to them. Some are wireless but hard wired is much faster. So while you are having sockets for the TV you can get some fitted for the internet.

 

[Gaz82]

Really useful post and will definitely be bearing this in mind. So far I have noted tv point, telephone point, internet points, light fittings, power points. Is there anything else I should keep in mind / be considering for rewiring.

 

[shanky887614]

Really useful post and will definitely be bearing this in mind. So far I have noted tv point, telephone point, internet points, light fittings, power points. Is there anything else I should keep in mind / be considering for rewiring.

I would recomend cat6+ for internet.

Bassically that is the only thing you might want to change in the future (cat6 is better than you need but fttp is being retrofitted now by bt)

 

[Spoon]

I'll let you think about this one. I don't know if it will be a lot more expense but... rather than have a ring for the upstairs how about an individual circuit to each bedroom. Then when the kids are playing the music too loud or just being a pain you can switch the breaker off to their room....

 

[Gaz82]

Spoon, genius idea *cueevillaugh*

Shanky, adding that to the list (though it means nothing to me!) as something to talk over with sparky once found.

 

[Spoon]

If you like that one Gaz then how about asking if you can have a timer fitted to the shower circuit, so the shower switches off after 20 mins of use...

 

[thekingiam]

i would also think is it realy necessary for the work to be completed on one weekend some electricians might feel they need to charge more to get the job done in that time period others may prefere it as they can then move on to other jobs.
as a customer i would prefer someone that would take a bit more time and think about the layout of each room a bit more and discuss options while the job is in progress.
also remember if it is a blank canvas where kitchen units, beds going tv points etc, nothing worse than having a rwire then having to put in extention leads to charge your tablet while on sofa