Hi, after having a somewhat bad experience with a previous sparky and having to get the work fixed I'm after some advice with regards to some additional work I'd like done. I don't want to have similar issues. I'm not an electrician, I can wire a dash-cam and that is as far as I want to go, that said, I have been reading up in the hope of educating myself to what should be done so I can avoid problems next time.
We are planning to have the house rewired (all but kitchen, as that's a job for later...), built 1960s and still have the original cables. I have been reading up on stuff, given my last bad experience and have a few questions so I can make sure the work is done correctly this time.
1. We have a few of those rubbish paramount walls, with cardboard in the middle. Should I ask for metal conduit or is the mirroring rule enough?
2. We would like some outside lights to be put up, standard lantern light by the front door (sensor) and one by the back door that we can switch on from the kitchen/living room. They will need to drill through the cavity etc, should they use a conduit? Reading up, some say no, some say yes?
3. New boiler arriving soon, should this now be on a separate circuit/ring, or whatever its technically called?
4. Cables in loft, currently they are buried under insulation, attached to the rafters with metal clips. I have read that the cables get hot and lose power (OK, i know that's not the technical term) so should be laid above the insulation but some say it doesn't matter. If they are laid over the insulation, should they be in conduits to protect an idiot like me catching on them at a later date when putting junk up there. I can understand the sparky's preference to not spend hours up there attaching clips to rafters etc and just laying the cables over the insulation but is that the correct way?
5. Wired smoke alarms, really necessary? I was thinking just battery powered ones. If yes, should they be on a separate circuit or on a lighting circuit? Again, opinion seems divided.
I know that's a lot, but just want to make sure the work is done properly this time round, so I can avoid problems.
We are planning to have the house rewired (all but kitchen, as that's a job for later...), built 1960s and still have the original cables. I have been reading up on stuff, given my last bad experience and have a few questions so I can make sure the work is done correctly this time.
1. We have a few of those rubbish paramount walls, with cardboard in the middle. Should I ask for metal conduit or is the mirroring rule enough?
2. We would like some outside lights to be put up, standard lantern light by the front door (sensor) and one by the back door that we can switch on from the kitchen/living room. They will need to drill through the cavity etc, should they use a conduit? Reading up, some say no, some say yes?
3. New boiler arriving soon, should this now be on a separate circuit/ring, or whatever its technically called?
4. Cables in loft, currently they are buried under insulation, attached to the rafters with metal clips. I have read that the cables get hot and lose power (OK, i know that's not the technical term) so should be laid above the insulation but some say it doesn't matter. If they are laid over the insulation, should they be in conduits to protect an idiot like me catching on them at a later date when putting junk up there. I can understand the sparky's preference to not spend hours up there attaching clips to rafters etc and just laying the cables over the insulation but is that the correct way?
5. Wired smoke alarms, really necessary? I was thinking just battery powered ones. If yes, should they be on a separate circuit or on a lighting circuit? Again, opinion seems divided.
I know that's a lot, but just want to make sure the work is done properly this time round, so I can avoid problems.
