Rewiring · Winchester
House rewiring in Winchester
Full and partial rewiring for Winchester houses — starting with what is already been done and what is worth keeping.
- Tested before anything is quoted
- Partial rewires where they make sense
- Certificated on completion
- NAPIT registeredRegistered competent electrician
- Fully insuredInsured on every job
- 15+ years' experiencePeter has been doing this a while
- Covering SO22 and SO23Local to you
Houses rewired in patches
A great many Winchester houses have already been partly rewired, usually without anybody writing down what was done. A kitchen redone in the nineties, upstairs sockets replaced when a bathroom moved, a lighting circuit renewed after a leak. What you are left with is a house that is neither original nor rewired.
The first job is therefore working out what is actually there. Testing and a look under a few floors and fittings will show which circuits are recent, which are original, and which are a bit of both — and that is what decides how much of the house needs doing.
Deciding what stays
There is no merit in replacing cable that is sound. If a circuit was properly installed, tests well and has the protection it needs, it stays, and you spend the money on the parts that do not.
That usually turns a whole-house rewire into something smaller: the original circuits replaced, the newer ones kept, and the board changed so everything has proper protection. It is less disruptive and it costs less. Where the honest answer is that nearly everything is original and it all needs doing, I will say that just as plainly.
Getting to the wiring
How much of a house has to come up depends on how it was built and what has been done since. Suspended timber floors and an accessible loft make most routes reachable. Solid floors, a converted loft, fitted wardrobes along the wall where a cable needs to run, or an extension whose ceiling has no access at all will all add time and mean more making good.
I will walk the house with you and say where I expect to have to lift, before you agree to anything.
Paperwork when it is done in parts
Work done in stages produces paperwork in stages: a certificate covering each piece of work rather than one document for the house. Keep them together, because a buyer’s solicitor will ask what has been done and when, and “some of it was rewired at some point” is not an answer that helps a sale.
If earlier work in your house was never certificated, an inspection can at least record its condition now, which is the next best thing.
Questions
Rewiring questions from Winchester
How do you tell what has already been rewired?
By testing, and by looking at a few accessories and under a floor or two. Cable type, the way circuits are arranged and what protects them all say roughly when the work was done.
Is a partial rewire a false economy?
Not when the circuits being kept are genuinely sound and properly protected. It is a false economy when it leaves original wiring in place because nobody wanted to lift a floor — which is the difference a proper look makes.
Does the house have to be empty?
No, though empty is quicker. Lived-in rewires are normal and are planned room by room, so you keep power somewhere while the rest is done.
We have no certificates for the earlier work. Does that matter?
It is not a fault, but it does leave a gap. An inspection records the condition of that work now, and anything I do gets its own certificate, so the file starts making sense again.
Related
Where to next
Wondering how much of the house needs doing?
Tell me what you know about the wiring and I will come and find out the rest.