Rewires - surface or recessed wiring?

[T0M0]

Hi All,

I'm returning from a few years out of the trades and wonder what sparkies do with rewires now.

I always used to chase and plaster myself in the price. But you see such cheap quotes out there that they cannot be doing this and make a profit.

What's the general consensus? Offer a cheap start price that's surface and, offer a real price for a proper job?

Also what would the going rate be for a 3 bed house with solid downstairs floors and lived in? All recessed and plastered of course and, up north - not London.

Any replies appreciated.

Thanks - T0M0

 

[rocker]

Do a quote with chasing and filling prices. If they protest, say you will do it for less with trunking, but explain exactly how tacky it looks.

Most rentals etc wanna go with trunking, but the home owners are usually prepared to pay a little extra to have it tidy looking.

 

[chris gray]

you wouldnt get change out of 2.5k for a full rewire, and thats as is with vimark fittings

 

[eddielarge]

i never do the plastering as in not a plasterer , I always quote for rewires with the words plastering not included, and leave then the details of the plasterer that i use .

3 bed £3000-£3500
4 bed £4000
5 £5000 plus as a rough guide

 

[rocker]

Yea I would say 2.5k is a very conservative estimate for 3 bedroomed, especially if it's all chased flush. I'd be edging towards 3k but it really does depend what's involved. I am S Wales by the way so not exactly London prices.

Expanding on what eddie said I do a bit of plastering on chases etc, I always say 'i will do it, but I am not a plasterer. If you want more than a DIY finish, get a plasterer' and have words to that effect in my contract. Usually ends up I put in bonding and leave it low, and they get a plasterer to put a skim on later.

 

[eddielarge]

Yea I would say 2.5k is a very conservative estimate for 3 bedroomed, especially if it's all chased flush. I'd be edging towards 3k but it really does depend what's involved. I am S Wales by the way so not exactly London prices.

Expanding on what eddie said I do a bit of plastering on chases etc, I always say 'i will do it, but I am not a plasterer. If you want more than a DIY finish, get a plasterer' and have words to that effect in my contract. Usually ends up I put in bonding and leave it low, and they get a plasterer to put a skim on later.

I used to do plastering rocker but i always got people expecting a perfect finish even after i had explained , so now steer clear.

But i have had 2 rewires recently that have asked me why i dont do plastering and that they thought it was a standard thing all electricians do.

My view is the poor plasterers are getting under cut by the poles so the last thing they need is me knicking their work,

my plasterer is very very good so id rather he finished it off and the customer is then very happy.(rather than my atempt that resembles artex lol)

 

[Johno]

i would never use trunking in a house, unless it was a ****hole, i would explain to the customer that i am not a plasterer but offer to fill chases with some 1 coat plaster or something similar (cheap), but not to expect a perfect finish (though i am not too bad). this always works for me. i am in the north west and i would say 2 - 2.5 grand is about right

 

[cbw]

Last 3 bed terrace I did was not lived in and was being renovated.

£3300 all MK fittings, chased with 'first pass' making good in bonding left low.

Initial quote was £3500 but they beat me down and since I had a quiet few days did the deal.

I cannot see how I could rewire a habited house for £2k!!!!

 

[Johno]

approx £400 in mats and £1600 for a weeks work, minus overheads of course, i think it must be very competitive round here, the other week i quoted £1700 for a bungalow rewire inc a swa to garage and someone else went in at £1500, the customer gave me a chance to match the price but i declined.

 

[T0M0]

Thanks everyone - great response.

It's very encouraging to see £2.5k. Was getting worried at the prices being agreed on myhammer etc. These guys must be doing a real rough job at £1k.

Good advice regarding plastering. Never considered that the customer may expect perfect finish. I'm not bad at plastering chases but I was a subby, so they weren't my clients and I don't know what they had been told to expect. They were always very pleased though. No matter how good you are, you can always see a chase.

What's the best accessories to use for the price now? It used to be MK were the best but way too expensive - I used to use tenby or crewline, not even sure if they're still going.

One for the longer trading guys. What would you say has changed in the last 15 years apart from Part P and battery tools? For example used to do burglar alarms, are they still hardwired, or wireless now.

Got to say Part P seems a pain. We used to do megger for a ring and insulation tests. Used to take 2 mins. How long does it take to test an installation now and can anyone point me at help for this. Did 2391 a couple of years ago while bathroom fitting and never got the chance to use it practically so a bit rusty. I don't want the expense of courses as I have enough for NAPIT, 17th edition update and test equipment.

Anyway, sorry for rattling on but D day is approaching. Handing my notice in at the end of the month!

Cheers

 

[cbw]

Similar labour rate I made about that for my labour, however my materials came in over the £1k and took 8 days to first fix, consumer unit, 10mm T+E, smokes/heat, mirrorlights with shaver points and thats £400 gone, before buying other cable, sockets, fans, switches tv arial etc.

I still cannot see how a decent job can be done for £2k with any decent profit

 

[rocker]

Don't take any notice of bloody myhammer mate, people quote real low to get their foot in the door, then go and price up and inflate the price. Or if they are premium members they give their contact details and price up before the listing has even finished. A chappy by me keeps doing this, hoovering up the work then doesn't even turn up to a lot of the jobs - have had a few jobs where the customer says he quoted then never showed, just trying to get everyone else out of the picture.

Look at the jobs that have low quotes, then search a few days after they finish - most of them appear on there again, normally with 'realistic quotes only please' written in the description. Even Mr Zkwekichzski and his band of miracle workers can't make anything on a £1000 rewire....

Sorry just myhammer gets on my nerves. Could be such a good website if they werent so bleedin greedy.

 

[Johno]

to me a standard rewire would not inc suppling mirrorlights or arials, but even so how can you spend over 1K on mats

and 8 days to 1st fix, are you doing it with 1 hand

 

[cbw]

and one leg!

Was actually 7 and a bit days but still as you say I could probably do it quicker I am a bit ---- about clipping all cables and not just chucking them in the lof tor ceiling spaces, this house had only ever had surface mounted elecs so every socket (30) had to be sunk and all switches etc, lights and power in both loft and cellar, extractors, mirror lights, shavers points in both bathrooms, 20 D/ls in kitchen and breakfast room and outside light.

That said it still takes me 5 days to do a basic 2 bed terrace, perhaps I better stop drinking so much tea and get my thumb out of my!!!!!

 

[T0M0]

Don't take any notice of bloody myhammer mate, people quote real low to get their foot in the door, then go and price up and inflate the price. Or if they are premium members they give their contact details and price up before the listing has even finished. A chappy by me keeps doing this, hoovering up the work then doesn't even turn up to a lot of the jobs - have had a few jobs where the customer says he quoted then never showed, just trying to get everyone else out of the picture.

Look at the jobs that have low quotes, then search a few days after they finish - most of them appear on there again, normally with 'realistic quotes only please' written in the description. Even Mr Zkwekichzski and his band of miracle workers can't make anything on a £1000 rewire....

Sorry just myhammer gets on my nerves. Could be such a good website if they werent so bleedin greedy.

Great post - cheers rocker.

Hoping to steer well clear of these sites but gave them a coat of looking at to see what's what. I'm returning to the trades, possibly at a suicidal time lol, and have no clients. So looking at all angles to drum up business.

Can't believe poeple quote and don't show. Amazes me how they keep trading!

Anyway quitting at end of month and I'll have 4 months wages covered, so it's going to have to be a success pretty soon! Just wish Part P wasn't here - damned expensive and pushes quotes up - great

Cheers