Rewiring a house – Portsmouth, Hants

rewiring a house - Eyre Electrical

Are you looking to start a project rewiring a house? Eyre Electrical has over ten years experience rewiring houses, extensions, loft conversions and outdoor lighting setups such as decking spotlights. Our experience is vast, we’re often managing multiple re-wires at any one time ranging from rewiring a one bedroom flat to rewiring a house not to mention some of our customers have large houses with 7+ bedrooms. When rewiring a house in Portsmouth and the surrounding area, we tend to find that the older properties such as cottages (that somehow avoided damage in the 1940’s) have wiring close to 100 years old and walls held together with dust and as such presents a particular challenge but at the same time ensures we are honest at our skill.

When you book us on a job you can be assured that we will minimise the mess and disruption that rewiring a house can sometimes cause, and with that in mind our team of electricians (and often sub-contracted carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers and decorators) can complete the work efficiently reducing the mess and meaning your houses or room is not out of action for long. We pride ourselves in the quality of our work, alongside that we focus on a job until it’s complete as opposed to dropping in here and there which in turn prevents the job being extended as is the case with other electrician firms.

If you would like to find out more then please get in touch or continue reading about the process we follow when you enquire about rewiring a house.

WHAT’S OUR PROCESS WHEN REWIRING A HOUSE?

We will always come and visit your property before designing for or quoting on rewiring a house which in turn means our electrical design and quote is bespoke for you and your property which results in effective projects and happy customers.

Once we’ve paid you a visit and talked through your plans, we will offer advice and guidance from our many years of experience to achieve the desired outcome within the budget that you can afford. Once we’re aligned and happy on the requirements, usually within 48 hours we’ll put together a personalised detailed quote with a breakdown of not only all the jobs that we’ve discussed but the price for both the parts and labour to complete this work. This gives you ultimate flexibility to chop and change requirements to suit your taste, ambition and budget. Here’s a few example line items from a real customer invoice:

DescriptionUnits
install double sockets39
single sockets4
fcu6
downlights fire rated with LED bulbs51
pendants, bulbs not supplied13
light switches/ LED dimmers 1g,2g,3g,4g, (bedroom2,3,4 and bathrooms do not have dimmers)16
wall lights5
up lights in master bedroom, supplied by the customer4
shavers2
inline xfans, isolators, ducting, external vent2
underfloor heating in bathrooms with thermostat/ controllers, not including ply lining the floor or screeding.2

Once we’re both happy on the price and the detailed quote we can discuss timelines and agree on a schedule to start the work. We are generally flexible with start dates that suit schedule, however, due to the demand we have for our work and the size of the job there is typically several weeks lead time on starting the work. With great support from our customers we make exceptions, for example if a customer phones up with an emergency then we will do everything that we can to help them out without impacting a larger, longer term project such as rewiring a house.

If you would like to find out more then please get in touch or continue reading about what’s involved when rewiring a house.

WHAT’S INVOLVED IN REWIRING A HOUSE?

The actual rewiring process involves removing all accessible old wiring and accessories and replacing with new. The process can take as little as 3 days for a 3-bedroom house, but varies according to the size and type of property.

We start off with a thorough clean out which involves disconnecting all mains wiring from the consumer unit followed by removing all old wiring and any accessories before designing the most efficient, flexible and future proofed wiring design before we start laying cables. This process also involves a lot of maths to ensure that the power demands for the new design are supported by suitable and safe wire amperage. A safe and well thought out design will ensure you have no accidents, shorts or worse, fires, in the future and reduces the cost of the job in the long run as you don’t overspend on wiring and components also ensuring less waste for the environment and efficient energy bills.

Once we have a wiring design built and the room design complete including accessories and fittings, we start by lifting floors and chasing out embedded wiring throughout the walls and ceilings. This is the messy part of the job leading to lots of hoovering and sweeping but opens up clean and clear pathways to install the new wiring.

The next stage in rewiring a house involves chasing out any new channels for wiring and filling over and chased walls, drilling out joists and then refitting floorboards and ceilings which are then plastered ready for fitting plug sockets and any other integrated accessories. Once the new installation is complete and the consumer unit required and fired up we complete a thorough and complete testing phase to ensure safety, efficiency and of course compliance with the Building Regulation Approvals standards.

THE COST OF REWIRING A HOUSE?

Rewiring a house is a complex process, takes time and depending on the house can be fiddly and time consuming. That said we offer the most transparent and competitive pricing and will work with you to ensure the best value for money. Rewiring a house with Eyre Electrical can cost as little as £1200 plus VAT for a small flat which includes re-plastering, refitting of floorboards and carpets, cleaning and generally leaving the place as you left it before the work began. The cost of the work will vary depending on your requirements, the components you wish to use through to the property type, age and size that you are living in.

Rest assured that when you instruct Eyre Electrical in Portsmouth to rewire a house then the work will come with all required safety certificates and a warranty. If you are interested then please call us on 07557-258-166 or send us a message.

CHOOSING A LOCAL ELECTRICIAN FOR REWIRING A HOUSE

Choosing a local electrician can be a daunting task, having said that there are a large number of tools out there to ensure that you are getting the most trusted and reliable company to work on your home. checkatrade.com is a great place to start along with the government recommended directory of registered electricians

Once you’ve shortlisted a number of local electricians, the next step is to ensure that they carry the relevant insurances and accreditations such as having a PART P registration and sufficient liability insurance to cover any accidental damage is essential. Another important element to look out for is having a clear process from the first time you enquire to completing the work and even tidying up the mess and removing rubble afterwards. You want to feel confident that the process is clear, simple, efficient and effective and not disorganised and chaotic. Afterall you want the work completed to a high standard and quickly as possible so that you get your house back. At Eyre Electrical we are PART P registered and have all the necessary insurances to ensure you can have peace of mind. Get in touch with us to arrange a quote.

You’ll now want to perform some due diligence on the electricians that you’ve shortlisted to perform a quote, keep an eye out for punctuality, demeanor and a general feeling of honesty and trust, after all this person will be in your home for a number of days or weeks once the works starts. Ensure that you request a broken down quote as many electricians will not want to do this as it enables them to ‘hide’ costs. Here at Eyre Electrical we will always break down the quote to give you ultimate flexibility and offer complete transparency on our costs.

Once the quotes are in, obviously compare the prices but also the estimated effort/time and the detailed comments on the project. Just because a quote is cheapest, doesn’t mean it’s the right choice as the tradesman may have forgotten certain key elements or underestimated the work which will only cost you even more money and time in the long run. A recommended approach is to exclude any anomalies, if a quote has a 30% or more difference to the others such as being 30% cheaper or 30% higher then it’s worth challenging but if you have a number of other more sensible quotes then it may be prudent to simply rule this one out. Another factor to consider is start time.

If there is no wait for the job to start then the company may either have no work on or simply sub-contract. Whilst this may be convenient for you, it’s worth your time asking why there is no delay. If the company has no work on it may be due to a cancellation or some other legitimate reason which is fine, if there is literally no work in the pipeline then this is a worrying sign as a good electrician will usually have referrals queued up. If the company is busy but can start immediately then it’s likely they sub-contract out the work which is not ideal as there is limited control over the quality and consistency of the work. In this scenarios it’s worth requesting more detail on how they govern the work and ensure certain standards.

Hopefully this advice will increase your confidence when searching for and selecting an electrician to complete your rewire. If you want to find out more about our availability hen please call us on 07557-258-166 or send us a message.

How Long Does Rewiring A House Take?

The time it takes when rewiring a house depends on the size of the property and how complicated it is to access all of the wiring is. For an average 3 bedroom house, we would estimate 4-6 days. We can speed this up by a day or so by bringing more people to the job, however, there is only so much labour a job like this can take before you start to lose efficiency and value for money.

Should I Remove My Furniture?

We will protect your furniture with dust sheets, however, if there is a lot of wall chasing then the dust always seems to find it’s way into that lovely glass fronted corner cabinet that’s holding your crystal tumblers so we recommend moving anything especially precious or fragile out of the room if at all possible. We’ll advise on the job though if needed.

What Will You Need Access To?

We’ll need to know where you consumer unit is, which is usually a cupboard near a side wall of the house where the mains electric enters the property. Loft access is also important as the wiring for the 1st floor lights will run up through the ceiling which can only be accessed from above.

Is rewiring a house messy?

Unfortunately, yes. Rewiring is a major job and requires chasing and cutting of walls, lifting of floorboards and carpets and sometimes removal of skirting boards and ceilings. We keep mess to a minimum and thoroughly clean up at the end of each day (unless you’ve instructed otherwise). We will leave the property as we found it once the work is complete so don’t worry about being left in a mess.

Will I Have Any Power During The Work?

The short answer is “Yes”. The longer answer is “Yes but not everywhere at all times and at times power will be cut to the whole house temporarily for the safety of our team”. We will replace the wiring circuit by circuit, for example we might disconnect the ring main powering all of the plug sockets on the first floor. This means the rest of the property will be with power. We also have generators should an urgent need for power arise. If the job involved replacing the consumer unit then you will be without power for a few hours whilst we remove the old unit and replace it with the new one along with all of the fuses. Generally the disruption is minimal, however, if you do not require power then we can work a lot faster which gives you an excuse to nip out for a pub lunch.

Will I Get A Signed Off Certificate Once the Rewiring is complete?

Our work at Eyre Electrical conforms to British Standard 7671 (The Wiring Regulations) and is Part ‘P’ compliant. All rewires come with a signed off full certification in the form of a Domestic Electrical Installation Certificate, Part P Building Regulations approval and a 5-year insurance backed warranty.

Give Us A Call

If you are considering a rewire or unhappy with the quotes or service you’ve received from your electrician then give us a call and we can offer you advice or even pop round to take a look at what you want to do. You can reach us on 7557-258-166 or drop us an email through our contact form.

Our electrical services operate across Hampshire, UK and here are some of the locations that we cover (for a full list check here):

We also offer a wide range of other specialist services including: