If a home is more than 25 years old, it is unlikely that it will have had a full rewire completed since it was built. One of the many reasons why so few older homes in the UK have up to date wiring is because there is a general belief that it will cause a huge amount of disruption to whoever is living there. But luckily, depending on who you hire to carry out the work, it doesn’t have to be a nightmare.
If a house is being renovated, this is a perfect time to consider a full house rewire as the work can be performed simultaneously. However, full renovations are not very common for the average household due to the costs involved.
The wiring and cabling in a home will run beneath the floor and through the walls, connecting all sockets back to the fuse box. Reaching and replacing this cabling can be difficult and time-consuming if you do not have the right training, and only those with the correct qualifications are allowed to carry this work out, which is why the majority of homeowners choose to hire a company who can achieve this for them.
What is involved in a full house rewire?
There are two stages in a house rewire, and most of the time these stages are carried out separately. At AGW, we carry out both stages together in order to save our customer’s time. In the first stage, walls must be channelled out and floorboards lifted to access the older wiring. While some companies will simply replace the existing wiring with cabling of the same specification, other companies such as AGW will always use upgraded, future proof wiring to ensure that another rewire does not need to carried out again anytime soon.
Once the wiring is replaced, the circuitry is put into place and updated back boxes are installed. This first stage can be quite time consuming, but an organised team of electricians will be able to work together to ensure that the disruption is kept to a minimum.
During stage one, a homeowner can choose to have further electrical, telephone or aerial sockets installed, and the if requested, more modern technology can be added such as speaker cabling and automated lighting.
The second stage involves the fitting of faceplates on electrical outlets, and then the entire circuit is connected up and made live. Once this is carried out, numerous safety checks are conducted to ensure that everything is working as it should before all floorboards are replaced and plasterers are able to come to mend any channelled-out walls.
AGW take pride in their ability to work together as a team to complete an average three-bed house in just 2-4 days as we are very aware how unsettling it can be to have to live in a worksite.
Is it worth having a full house rewire?
As we head into the future, the world of electricity is changing dramatically with more and more electric cars on the road, and a lessening dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear to heat and power the home. Sadly, this means that older circuitry may not have the specification required to be able to charge an electric car or be able to carry enough power to heat a home correctly. But luckily, AGW will always replace cabling with that of a higher specification to help prepare your home for the future.
Are you in need of a house rewire? AGW Electrical Services North West are a team of trusted, approved and friendly electricians who have been helping homeowners for years to keep their homes safe by upgrading their wiring. Why not find out the true cost to rewire a house?