Electrical service
House rewiring
Full rewires, partial rewires and the work around extensions and alterations. Most properties need less than people expect, and I will tell you if yours is one of them.
- Full and partial rewires
- Tested and certificated on completion
- Free, no-obligation quotes
- NAPIT registeredRegistered competent electrician
- Fully insuredInsured on every job
- 15+ years' experiencePeter has been doing this a while
- Free, no-obligation quotesA clear price before I start
Does the whole house actually need doing?
Often not. Rewiring gets talked about as if it is all or nothing, and it rarely is. Plenty of houses I look at need one or two circuits sorting and a new board, not a fortnight of floorboards up.
What usually pushes a property towards a full rewire is the age and type of the cable rather than the age of the house. Rubber or fabric-covered cable, or old-style wiring with no earth to the light fittings, is the sort of thing that does need replacing. PVC cable from the seventies onwards is often perfectly serviceable and just needs testing to prove it.
Partial rewires
A partial rewire is usually the sensible answer when part of the installation has been updated and part has not — a kitchen or extension done properly, and a first floor still on the original wiring. There is no rule that says it must all be replaced at once, and doing it in stages is often easier to live with and to pay for.
Extensions and alterations
New rooms, a loft conversion, a knocked-through kitchen: the new work has to meet current standards, and the existing installation has to be able to carry it. Sometimes that means a new circuit, sometimes a new board, occasionally it is the moment a rewire genuinely makes sense because the walls are open anyway.
Why I will not quote a rewire off a phone call
The price depends on the number of circuits, the construction of the property, how much lifting and chasing is involved, and how much of it is already sound. Two three-bedroom semis on the same street can be very different jobs. For anything at this scale I would rather come and look, which costs you nothing, than give you a number that changes later.
Not sure yet?
If you are trying to decide whether a rewire is really needed, an inspection and test is usually the cheaper first step. It tells you what condition the wiring is actually in, and you may find the answer is “not yet”.
How it works
How a rewire usually goes
I come and look
A rewire is too big to price over the phone. The visit is free and there is no obligation.
You get a scope and a price
What is being replaced, what is staying, and what it will cost. In writing.
We agree how to stage it
Whole house at once, or a floor at a time if you are living there.
Tested, certificated and made good
Certification on completion, and the chasing filled and ready for your decorator.
Areas
House rewiring in your area
Questions
Questions about rewiring
How do I know if I really need a full rewire?
Usually you do not, until someone tests it. An inspection tells you the actual condition of the cable and the earthing, and it is a lot cheaper than assuming the worst. If it comes back sound, I will tell you that.
Can you rewire just part of the house?
Yes, and it is often the right answer — particularly where a kitchen or extension has already been done and the rest has not. The new and old parts have to work together safely, which is the bit worth getting right.
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Most people do. Power goes off circuit by circuit rather than all at once, and I work room by room so you keep somewhere usable. It is disruptive, I will not pretend otherwise, but it is manageable.
Do you make good afterwards?
I fill the chases and leave it ready for decoration. I do not plaster skim or decorate — that is a job for someone better at it than me, and I will say so rather than do it badly.
Wondering what your house actually needs?
Tell me about the property and I will give you an honest answer.