Ben and his staff are very friendly and helpful.
Rewiring your Sherborne property is a big job but what is a rewire? When is it necessary? What should you expect and how long does it take? As your local ELECTRICIAN IN SHERBORNE, I will explain the process here.
What is a rewire?
A rewire is generally the replacement of all electrical cables, sockets, switches, and fuse box in a property. The rewiring process involves stripping out old cabling where accessible and installing new cabling throughout the property to supply all new electrical plug sockets, light switches, light fittings, and any other electrical points.
The consumer unit or fuse box will be replaced with a modern consumer unit with lots of new safety features and once everything is installed, tested, and inspected the electrical certification will be produced.
When is a rewire necessary?
A rewire is necessary when the wiring system becomes too unsafe to continue operating. This could be discovered visually on very old wiring systems or through a Periodic Electrical Inspection.
A rewire may also be necessary after significant trauma to the electrics such as a fire or flood that has damaged the wiring to the point where repairs are not economically viable and a rewire is preferable.
What should you expect and how long does it take?
Rewiring involves routing cables to new or existing positions in rooms throughout the property. In order to get the wiring in place, floorboards will need to be removed in various places, the walls may need channels cut into them, holes may need to be drilled, some parts of the ceiling may need to be cut open and access to the loft area will likely be required.
This is not a quick or easy process and the speed of the rewire very much depends on several factors:
- Access – What furniture, personal belongings and other items are in the way
- Number of electrical points – The more sockets and switches to install, the longer the rewire will take
- Size of the property – The larger the property the longer the cable runs will need to be in order to reach the sockets and switches
- The number of electricians – More electricians usually mean a quicker turnaround on rewiring properties
- The size of the consumer unit – The bigger the consumer unit, the more switches need to be installed, tested, and certified along with testing the electrical circuits
How long should cables last?
The design life of electrical cables will vary. Typically, it is anywhere from 10 to 25 years depending upon the manufacturer. This does not mean that the property will need to be rewired again that soon however but the greater the stress that is placed upon the wiring system, the sooner it may need to be rewired.
There are many properties that have wiring that is 40+ years old that still return good test results on an electrical inspection indicating that the wiring is in good condition.
Does my property need rewiring?
If you are concerned about the condition of your electrical system then the best course of action is to contact me and request an electrical inspection. An electrical inspection will show up any wiring faults on the electrical circuits along with giving an overview of the condition of the electrical system.
Unless electrical wiring is very old or in obvious poor condition, it is impossible to tell if a property needs to be rewired from a simple visual inspection. Only electrical testing carried out by an electrician will determine the condition of the wiring.
Get in touch if you have any questions or would like to arrange your rewire.
