Rewiring costs

[Don Guido]

Hi,

have just got a new three bed detached house. The lounge is going to have a Pio 42" mounted and all speakers tracked into the walls. have discovered that pretty much the whole house needs rewiring (50 year old sockets etc).

I have been quoted £3000 to rewire the whole house and replace sockets, light switches and install spotlights in the lounge. Can anyone tell me is that an outrageous quote?

I haven't built anything before so really am stumped. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

DG

[mambojambo]

where abouts are you?

[Don Guido]

South Essex - land of the blonde :-)

[crimsoneagle]

Rewiring has gone up recently and can be as much as that depending on the amount of work involved in 2005 new regs came in making it very strict on how everything is done....
I would get another 2 quotes in and see from ther

[rscott4563]

I have been quoted £3000 to rewire the whole house and replace sockets, light switches and install spotlights in the lounge. Can anyone tell me is that an outrageous quote?

Without knowing the exact details of you house, number of rooms, number of socket outlets, total demand etc.....it's difficult to say accurately.

But for an average 3 bed house needing a FULL re-wire with new consumer units and rings for the whole house then the quote is actually quite good especially for "darn sarf"!

Definitely get at least 2 more quotes though.

Cheers

Ryan

[southdownswolf]

When I was looking at buying a new house I had three quotes done on rewiring it, cheapest came out at £3500, most expensive over £4500. I live in East Sussex. That was for the total rewire and to make good, ie plaster work. Don't forget you then have all the decorating to do on top of that, in every room.
Not cheap, but worthwhile for your safety, and also the fact that you specify where you want everything.

[mark88]

Are you sure it needs re-wiring? 50 year old sockets don't mean 50 year old wiring.

If you have lots of old black(not grey) cable then it probably does but if it's grey cable it should be fine.

The problem with electricians these days is the paperwork and BS that means the customer has stupidly high charges. Also, 80% of the electricians work isn't even electrical in nature, anyone can route and clip cables.

Also, as you just bought the house, didn't the surveyor pick up on any dodgy wiring?

[s2holdings]

£3000 is that bad to be honest but depends on how many sockets etc you are having put in, and how may rooms etc.

But make sure he puts some decent sockets etc in as i had some work done and the electrician put in 25pence sockets that broke within a week pay the little extra and get MK ones is you are going for white other than probably get another couple of quotes and check and recheck what has been included for £3000

[jon smith]

Originally Posted by s2holdings

But make sure he puts some decent sockets etc in as i had some work done and the electrician put in 25pence sockets that broke within a week pay the little extra and get MK ones

I would stick to the cheap sockets and then put the decent ones in after everything has been done. The electrics, then any plastering, then decorating takes it toll on the house (and anyone living there).

I recently paid £3500 for a full rewire on a 2 bed semi in West London, so the price seems decent. The electrics on the place were untouched since the 50s - including a stack of skirting mounted sockets. The guys who did mine were fantastic and very helpful. It's great to decide where you need sockets rather than being stuck with what's already in the house.

Be ready for lots and lots of dust and mess.

[MisterEz]

If you want to try and get the cost down, you could always chase out the walls yourself - hard work, but could save you a couple of days of electricians wages...

[Dr Force]

If you have a floating floor downstairs, then it seems exspensive.If they are solid screeded floors and all the cables need chasing in then it seems reasonable.

2.5 T & E for your ring mains is selling at around £35-40 per 100m at the moment

1.5 T & E for your lighting circuits is around £27 per 100m.

1.5 3C & E is about £32.00 per 100m

6ml for the oven, 10ml for the shower ( both dependent on load and length)

Accessories are around £300 for all your second fix materials (including 5 & 5 split load consumer units) this is using ashley/hager.

MK is not neccerssary IMO, although they are a fantastic quality its exspensive for what they do.

The materials are not exspensive and for a 3 bed house you should not pay any more than £700 for first and second fix items.

The labour is the problem. If you can get the sparks to mark out where to chase and mount boxes then i reckon you could knock about £600 off the price.

I re-wired my house in one weekend and it cost about £1000 although this had a floating floor (3 bed semi) this included paying a sparks £300 to work Sat/Sun.

The cable will need replacing if its black and stranded without an eart core, if its grey with an earth core and the old black and red colours (solid core) then it should be ok.

You could just upgrade the consumer unit if your cable is ok.

Sockets rarely go wrong in my experience, its things like fans & spot lights that require a bit more quality.

[Repster]

6 months ago had my 1960's semi rewired. Included 8 sockets in chimney for AV gear. I supplied sockets/lights/switches and consumer unit was fine. About £1500 cash for them to do it @ w/ends

[Don Guido]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I should state that the wiring is mainly black not grey, most sockets and all lights aren't earthed, the consumer unit is ancient and we discovered we don't have an immersion - though we do have a mysterious switch!

The floor is floating in the lounge so will be easy to chase etc. However the price includes supplying and fitting 18 halogen spotlights in lounge/hall/dining/kitchen areas and price of all fittings.

Some of the sockets just use bare silver wire....eeeek!!!

Oh and the whole place needs a replaster

Personally I wonder how people can damage a property so much. One of the light switches upstairs was nailed into place - hence why we are a bit dubious of the general electrics!

Guido

[Dr Force]

Originally Posted by Don Guido

Thanks for the replies guys.

I should state that the wiring is mainly black not grey, most sockets and all lights aren't earthed, the consumer unit is ancient and we discovered we don't have an immersion - though we do have a mysterious switch!

The floor is floating in the lounge so will be easy to chase etc. However the price includes supplying and fitting 18 halogen spotlights in lounge/hall/dining/kitchen areas and price of all fittings.

Some of the sockets just use bare silver wire....eeeek!!!

Oh and the whole place needs a replaster

Personally I wonder how people can damage a property so much. One of the light switches upstairs was nailed into place - hence why we are a bit dubious of the general electrics!

Guido

Don

It does need a rewire.

Make sure your sparks have ECA/NICEIC affiliation enabling certification of the works.Also make sure they are Part P members which is now a legal requirement for all domestic installations of this nature.

Cheers

[mark88]

Didn't you spot this before you bought the house? Could have gotten the price down a fair bit if it needs a full rewire.