rewire questions

[andekoch]

I am quoting on a rewire of an existing house (4 bed) where the owners will not be vacating while I do the work. So this leads to a few logistical questions that I would like your opinions on.
Am having to add a lot of new plug points (currently only 1 single plug per room).

1) what do you do for power and lighting while work is in progress and so the owners can cook and watch telly at night?

2) the owners want the existing plug points raised above the skirting level but not as high as the current 450mm above floor. My understanding of the building regs (part M) is that this is acceptable since the 450mm is for new build only and rewires can be left as they are or improved to make them closer to the current standards as long as they are no worse off the before the work commences.

3) also i am not allowed to lift the ground floor and need to work under the floor in the crawl space (mixing with the rats and spiders). what good ideas have you guys got to minise the time spent down there to run the new cables. I cant think of anything myself (other than send the apprentice down).

4) how do you channel behind the skirting boards. I am thinking of channelling down to the skirting and then drilling the rest so the skirting board can stay on.



so many questions so little time.

 

[daniel hill]

4 bed house in a day u say well yer we can do them in 1 and a half day just a spark and a first year lad thats void
i was talking about 4 bed tennanted and cramed with gear like the thread stated

and how big is your rewire team 2 sparks and 20 million boys

 

[paulthe spark]

usually 2 or 3 bedroom council houses and usually 2 sparks to a house, with a boy running between houses helping out

 

[senor_fabulous]

The job is a 4 bed occupied, not council or a void. A guy i know and his apprentice could do a 3 bed occupied council house rewire in 4 - 41/2 days.2 sdouble sockets per room, 2 extra in kitchen, cooker outlet, 1 rose and pendant per room, 2 way for stairs/landing , hall light, bonding, 2 smokies, board change, radial for boiler and thats it. Any extra's had to be agreed and paid for by the house holder. This guy was a teararse, and it showed, everything surface mount, mini trunking all over the place. I wouldn't let him near my house. On one job i had to drop off some gear to him, an 84 yr old WW2 vet he put his front hall switch nearly 2metres away on the kitchen wall, as a 2 gang to switch the kitchen light also. That poor old man, it was winter and gets dark at 4, as soon a she gets home he has to stumble about in the dark, to switch his light on. Needless to say I jacked in disgust after that. I have pride in my work, if your going to do a job do it right.

 

[andekoch]

I smell a 6 week wonder. No wonder the house bashers on here are losing work. Plug i think you mean socket. Just remember brown to brown and blue to bits.

Yes I mean socket. The homeowner gets confused when I say socket so was used to saying plug when I wrote this.

eccles and scots I hear what your saying. Industrial commecial man myself, not been in the game as long but the old house bashing is good to know. But occupied re-wires can be a horror . You could get blamed for all sorts, breakages scratches stains some people really do try it on for a bit of compo. Saying that we can do house bashing, but house bashers would not have a clue in our game.

seems like we have an elitest group forming here. hee...hee. Am doing the domestic due to slow commercial work here. Agreed occupied can be a horror. Have been vary careful to read the people and look at how they conducted them selves when I was there (in a previous life reading people was key to me doing my job well). Quote will have a bunch of T&C's. As they say plan for the worst and hope for the best, like hoping it does not turn out to be 6 weeks.
perhaps we need a list of real terms with the homeowner (domestic) equivalent alongside so we can all understand each other (how about double switch for 2 way switch, took me a while to figure that one out, easy when they pointed to it).

 

[andekoch]

Screwfix have an sds channeling bit for chasing out behind the skirting boards without removing them. It works well/QUOTE]

Thanks cheeky_blue.
I have looked at that. Do I need to drill a hole down first or what do I do to get rid of the waste while chisseling, do I need to take the chisel out every 50mm and vacuum out the hole or what?
In my case I can't lift the floor so will I be able to see where the channel is when I go under the floor? If I drill down I can't see the hole from below as is is hidden somewhere in the wall.

 

[stretchyboy]

When you drill down try to skim the face of the brick and you should be able to get it from below as the plaster is only down to skirting level. If the skirting is high and the brick is soft, sometimes the drill will creep into the brickwork so that you cant see it below, this is where a bent chisel helps or if you can get to the other side of the wall (under the floorboards) you can drill through it diagonally instead of down it.