The process involved in rewiring your property

How will the house rewire be undertaken?

There are many ways in which we approach how properties are rewired and how we undertake the rewiring works. It usually depends on the current living situation of a property. Our end goal is to rewire all or as much of the property as possible whilst causing minimum disruption to our customers and their homes, but some times we realise that it is not convenient or feasible to rewire the whole of the property in one hit. We’ve put together this short blog post to help you understand what is possible and how we approach the common stumbling blocks of having your property rewired.

Empty properties:

Empty properties are often seen as the dream situation for undertaking a rewire of your home or rental property. When houses are empty or unoccupied less time has to be spent moving furniture, reinstating power for continued use and tidying up at the end of each working day. For this reason, when using our online quoting tool we offer a 15% discount for the rewire of empty houses as there are less labouring tasks to be completed that inevitably draws out the duration of works.

When unoccupied rewires are undertaken we typically undertake the works in 2 separate phases;

Phase 1: The First fix is undertaken and typically takes 2-5 days depending on the size of your property. During this visit, all of the cables are run to the correct locations for switches, sockets and lighting. All back boxes and cable channels are chopped into the plaster & brickwork and the property is left ready for the plastering work to be undertaken.

Phase 2: The Second fix stage typically takes slightly less time than the first fix. Once the whole property is plastered we book in the second fix works. During this visit, we install all of the sockets and switch faceplates as well as all of the lighting fixtures, we also install the consumer unit (fuse board), power up all of the circuits and certify the installation ready to hand over to our customers.

Lived in properties:

Lived in properties are often seen as a more difficult situation to work in as there can be many added factors that can cause delays or disruption, However, a well managed and strategic approach to the works can lead to better customer experience. When it’s convenient it has been known of our customers to stay with family and friends whilst the work is undertaken, some may see this as a cheeky suggestion but as with the unoccupied properties our goal remains the same, rewire all of or as much of the property with minimum disruption to our customers and their homes, This way more of our time is spent doing the jobs were qualified to do instead of the labour-intensive tasks such as a tidy down at the end of each day, replacing all floorboards and reinstating the power so that our customers can use the property during the evenings.

When rewiring occupied properties there is not usually time for plasterers to come in between the first and second fix so the work is undertaken in 1 hit typically taking 5-10 Working days.

Phase 1 & 2 Combined: First & second fix.

When wiring properties that are occupied we realise that you want the work undertaking efficiently with minimum disruption to your self and your family, within the same week we would install both the first and second fix electrical installation, consumer unit, power up and certification. All of your personal belongings are stored away under dust sheets in areas that will be least affected by the rewiring works and then all furniture is replaced back to its original position even if it means this has to be done on a daily basis

“But what about our kitchen? It’s only a few years old, will we have to remove it?

This is a common pain point and concern for our customers and clients, we realise the cost implications of having to replace tiling and kitchen units should the kitchen need to be fully rewired so we use our vast experience to avoid this happening. There are many tricks of the trade to avoid having to rewire the kitchen if we can get away with it. More often than not kitchens are rewired more regular than the rest of the rooms in a typical property so chances are that the kitchen wiring is not as old as other wiring in the house so we try to designate the kitchen to its own socket circuit and document that the kitchen has not been fully rewired on the final electrical certificate. Unfortunately in some cases when the wiring is so dated or in such bad condition, we have no choice but to rewire all of the kitchen circuits, There are a number of tests and checks that we undertake to determine the condition of existing wiring and our engineers will always consult our customers before any additional disruptive work is undertaken.

Need more help?

We hope you have found this blog post helpful if you have a property that you know or believe may need rewiring please do not hesitate to contact our team. We also have a very useful online rewire calculator tool that can give instant quotations based on a room by room requirement.