We are NICEIC approved – professional rewiring electricians in Plymouth
Goodwin Electrical are Plymouth based experts in the rewiring of properties. From a one bedroom apartment to a large Victorian house, we have the expertise to transform the wiring of your home.
Whether you are changing the electrics of your whole house, or perhaps want to add additional sockets or light switches to make your home more suitable for you and your family, our friendly, professional and reliable electricians can help you to transform the electrics in your home.
Bathing, cooking, washing and drying clothes creates up to four pints of moisture in the home per person per day. There is no way to see this moisture until it clings and condenses on to colder surfaces, such as windows. This moisture can encourage mould and mites which can trigger allergic conditions such as eczema, conjunctivitis, rhinitis and asthma.
Rewiring a house or flat – What’s involved
At some point, you have probably heard of re-wiring, but do you know what it actually involves? A full rewire of a home is a fairly major project which will involve installing cables and wiring around your home and joining them to your sockets and fittings.
The great thing about rewiring a house is the fact that you get the chance here to fully map out where you need sockets, switches and light fittings to make your life as easy as possible, and to future-proof your home for modern day living.
You can even think about things such as installing smart home features as part of your rewire, with devices such as automated lighting, speaker systems which are connected to smart devices or smart blinds as part of the rewire.
It is major work, as these cables will need to be laid under floorboards, within walls and across ceilings, so ideally this should be done when a house is empty – as your electrician will need to be able to access floorboards, and will be ‘chasing’ into walls, meaning that redecorating or plastering may need to be undertaken afterwards, therefore you may be required to consider additional contractors such as plasterers and decorators if you do not wish to undertake this work yourself.
Rewires take place in two parts – the first part is known as the first fix and is basically the installation of new cables and wires across the property. Part two, known as second fix is where the electricity is made live and the front faces of sockets, switches and lights are fitted. In between the first and second fix, a lot of work takes place that isn’t related to electrics such as putting back carpets, filling holes and possibly redecorating.
Full house rewiring is usually a long (7-10 working days) and fairly difficult task. It involves few stages such as:
- The first stage is the preparation stage, when depending on where the wires go, the ceiling or floor is opened up. Carpets or floors are always covered in order to protect them, all the drywalls are taken off and the wiring plan is made.
- When all the old wires and electrical points are taken out. New chasing is made, new holes are drilled and cables are put in.
- Then after the walls are plastered, the ceiling and floors recovered and kitchen tops constructed: the cables which are sticking out are connected to switches, sockets, lights, appliances and finally to the consumer unit.
Finally, when everything is connected an inspection is conducted to verify and certify the electrical condition.
At Goodwin Electrical, we are experts in rewiring homes, so will work with you to understand the needs of your household. We will always explain clearly the work which we are undertaking and treat your home with the upmost respect.
Rewiring Questions and answers
Can you rewire a house without removing drywall
Wiring in the house can be done in two ways. The first being through the ceiling or through the floor. Unfortunately, in both cases drywalls would have to be damaged or completely removed.
It is unavoidable as even though all cables go in straight lines and their positioning can be predicted; Cables are nearly always clipped to the joists and it would be impossible to tear them out without opening drywall.
How do you know if your house needs rewiring
If you are not sure or have any doubts about the electrical condition of your property, the first thing you should probably do is hire an electrical inspector who will conduct electrical tests and tell you for sure if rewiring is needed.
However there are some obvious things that can help you to make your decision, such as:
- If you have an old rusty consumer unit/fuse box which would usually have old coloured fuses, with only a few circuits which are not separating the ground and first floor for example. Meaning that one fuse is controlling all the lights in the premises. As well as lack of RCD’s, addition protective fuses which automatically disconnect the power in the case of live wires being touched.
- Aluminum or incorrectly colored cables might indicate that the property has not been rewired since at least 2006 when the colour coding of cables changed from black to blue indicating the neutral cable; and from red to brown indicating the live cable. Spotting aluminum cables is easy enough as it should be written on the cable itself at every 12 inches. Aluminum cables are simply less conductive and break much more easily.
- If you are experiencing electric shocks from any metal conductive parts in your house, such as metal light switches, lights, an extractor hood or even from a sink or bathroom; It might indicate that the circuits in the property are not earthed or are damaged somewhere resulting in some parts of your property being live.
Is rewiring a house covered by Insurance?
Your homeowner’s insurance will cover your electrical wiring, but the coverage may vary depending on several factors. If you know that your home is older, you will need to get electrical rewiring.
This will not only help minimize your home insurance premium, but it can also protect your home against fire and accidents.
Does a 1970's house need rewiring
Not necessarily. The electrics might work fine and there is no rule that says a house from the 1970s requires rewiring. But before any conclusions can be made it is always a good idea to conduct an Electrical Installation Condition Report.
This report will identify any problems in the wiring; and would need to be resolved as soon as possible. The results of this report will also suggest what can be improved for the safety of the customer. There are, however, a few signs that can attract your attention even before an electrical check and might indicate that it is time to rewire your property.
One of them is if you have an old grey fuse box. It can work just fine, but lacks an additional protection function which are installed by standard practise in every modern consumer unit. Which means that if a person were to touch a live wire or surface that was not earthed, the supply will automatically be disconnected which could potentially save his/her life.
Consistent fuse tripping or power cut outs might also be a sign that there is almost certainly a problem with the existing cables. The electrical inspection must be done in such instances as old cables might overheat from excessive usage which is dangerous and could potentially cause fire.
Consistent burning smells, buzzing or sparks is another sign. Old cables might smolder in the ceiling or loft where you might not see them but the smell will alert you and such smells should not be ignored. As well as sparks or buzzing, old wires over time might become loose at the connection points or even break causing big sparks which might inflame the insulation or plasterboard around the property.
How long does electrical wiring last in a house?
In theory electrical wiring can last up to 100 years or more.
But what really matters and will determine the life span of electrical wiring is the condition of the outer sheeting of the cable which usually lasts around 50 years.
Other factors like how well your house was built and what type of insulation and thermal protection it has also determine how long your wiring will last. As wiring in the shed which is usually not so well protected from moisture and other external factors will obviously combust faster and would require rewiring more often.
How many outlets can be on a breaker?
Normally sockets are installed on a ring circuit on 32amp breaker , which means that the ring can withstand around 7200 watts.
In theory you can put an Infinite amount of sockets on one ring, but in practice the amount should not exceed 20 outlets.
It is counted in a way that each socket is assumed to use around 1.5 amps at max even though the socket outlets themselves are rated at 13amp, so much more power can be drawn from one individual socket.
So even if all 20 socket outlets are used at once it will not exceed 30 amps and will not make the breaker trip leaving you without power.
To give you a real life example your normal phone charger would normally use only 2 to 6 watts of power, whereas a normal kettle around 1200 watts. So if you would decide to use all 20 of your sockets to boil water, the breaker will trip as the drawn power would exceed the limit of 7200 watts, but in normal conditions you are safe.
How do you ground an electrical system in a house?
In order to earth your electric system, first you need to make sure that your house is earthed.
For that you need to install a ground rod preferably in the location closest to your consumer unit. The rod can be installed at any distance from your house but should go 2.4 metres deep into the ground. After the rod is installed, a 16mm ground wire should be connected to the rod from one end and to an earth bar in your consumer unit and the other end.
From that point on, all the earth cables from each of your circuits must be connected to the same earth bar in your consumer unit.
In order to insure that everything is done correctly a professional electrician should test the connection and inspect each circuit.
Can you insure a house with aluminium wiring?
Yes you can, but not as easily. There would be insurance companies that would not insure houses with aluminum wires. Which is simply because aluminum wiring got a bad reputation due to it not accounting for aluminium and copper differences, electrical wiring was done incorrectly leading to problems with overheating therefore creating a fire hazard.
There are companies that would still give you insurance but it will take a few extra steps. One of them being an electrical inspection which will confirm that special types of connections and panels were used. And the cables must meet all the standards and pass all the tests.
Does old wiring use more electricity
Yes you can, but not as easily. There would be insurance companies that would not insure houses with aluminum wires. Which is simply because aluminum wiring got a bad reputation due to it not accounting for aluminium and copper differences, electrical wiring was done incorrectly leading to problems with overheating therefore creating a fire hazard.
There are companies that would still give you insurance but it will take a few extra steps. One of them being an electrical inspection which will confirm that special types of connections and panels were used. And the cables must meet all the standards and pass all the tests.
How do you tell if a house is grounded
The best and only sure way to check if the house is grounded is to invite an inspector and conduct electrical test. As even if you have earth wires running from consumer unit, it doesn’t mean that they are continuous and are properly installed. So it is better to check them to be 100% sure.
However, assuming that everything is connected correctly you can tell if your electrical system is grounded if you see a yellow and green wire coming out of your consumer unit, as well as one being connected to your water and gas pipes.
How bad is aluminium wiring in a house?
Aluminium wiring is not bad it is simply different and not as good as copper. However, if properly installed and used with the correct equipment it can work just as good and as safe as copper wiring.
The biggest difference of aluminium wiring is its softness, the way it corrodes, contracts and expands compared to most commonly used copper wires.
If all the differences as taken into account by an electrician and used with the right connections and panels, aluminium wiring is not as bad as you might of heard.
Is it ok to mix copper and aluminium wiring?
It can be done but only with a special splice connector. The biggest problem with mixing the two is that when different metals touch one of them starts to rust much faster than the other.
Rust will cause wires to break and not conduct electricity as well, as well as lead to short circuits and spark fires, which is very dangerous. It is always a good idea to replace any aluminium wiring with copper wiring as it is safer and it will last longer.
What do I need to do before rewiring can take place
The rewiring of your home can be quite disruptive, so there are a few things that you need to consider in order for your electrician to be able to get started.
The new wiring will need to be fitted in places including ceilings, under floors and in walls, you need to clear all of your rooms of furniture and lift up any carpets or flooring.
You may also need to clear your loft space so that you electrician can easily gain access to the ceilings on the top floor of your property. You will need to provide electrical plan, or you can order electrical plan from Goodwin Electrical.
When you book a rewire with Goodwin Electrical, we will clearly explain the work that is to be carried out, and what we need you to do before we arrive to undertake the work, so that there are no unnecessary delays to your rewire.
How long does a rewire take?
This will very much depend on the size of your property, and the complexity of the work involved, and it’s not always about the dimensions of your home. For example, if you require a large number of sockets or light switches this may increase the time which your rewire takes.
In some cases, running the cabling and wiring may be more complex than usual, particularly in the case of apartments, where access to ceilings may be restricted, so this can add extra time too.
On average a three bedroom semi-detached house takes around 7-10 working days, however, please get in touch with us for a bespoke quote.
How much does it cost to rewire a house?
House rewiring prices vary as it depends on the size of the house and the amount of electrical points.On average the rewiring prices begin from around £2000 for a 1 bedroom house and can go up to £8000-£10000 for a 5 bedroom house.
There are a few factors that will influence the price, such as:
- The main factor is the size of the property as obviously it would be cheaper to rewire a flat, compared to a 2 or 3 bedroom house.
- Quantity of electrical points in each room would also play a role. The more electrical points there are, the harder it is to wire them and the longer it will take. As it takes more time to connect all the points.
- Another factor is the type of walls in the property. If you have concrete walls, they would have to be chased, which is a very time consuming task and will be more expensive than plasterboard walls, which are easy to cut and easy to demolish.
In conclusion, costs of rewiring a home vary widely depending on several factors. These will include how many rooms you have in your home, the number of sockets required, the number of light fittings needed, plus a host of other considerations, such as the amount of cabling needed to run the electricity around your home.
At Goodwin Electrical, we offer a great value for money service, and every quote which we offer is bespoke to your home and requirements.