Domestic rewires

[GMES]

Ok so as anyone who knows me will know That I try and avoid Domestic work at all costs but now and then I get a request from one of my Ind/Commercial customers to do their homes.
I had to do one last month and once again realised pretty quickly why I try to avoid them, so the point of this thread is curiousity more than anything.

Do you Domestic lads have any set ways you approach them, by that I mean do you chase everything first or as you need them, do you get all Boards up and all joist drilled, do you do a floor at a time etc etc etc.
The house was fully furnished but occupiers went away for a week so there was no need to replace boards every night etc and finally how long do you normally take to do an average 3bed semi, all switches and sockets to new heights not original.

I will be interested to hear your methods.

 

[Pete999]

Last time I was involved in Domestic rewires was back in the late 70s on a very large council estate, we did a floor at a time, the only chasing done was the kitchen which in those days, was bare brick, all other switch, socket drops were clipped using buckle clips, those were the days.

Mind you I helped my Lad out on a rewire about a year ago and we did a floor at a time then as well.

 

[Octopus]

I won't do them unless the property is being refurbished completely..........

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Usually start at the top....easy bit first clip out loft. Work down from there getting all wiring in place. Usually then chase in a circuit at a time disconnecting old and energising new. As we normally do our own plastering a certain amount of planning is needed if the house is occupied,much easier if as in your case they've gone away.
Mostly I work alone, and an average 3 bed semi, flush, and plastered will take two to two and a half weeks of 8 hr days.
Those who claim to do them in a week either have an apprentice to do the donkey work.....work twelve hour days....or leave a right mess.

 

[GMES]

One thing I quickly realised was just how much clutter some people can collect in their homes over the years, There were times that we had to move everything to one side of a room knowing that it all needed moving back shortly after to get to that side of the room.
I have to be honest and say I have a lot of respect for Guys that do purely Domestic and do it right of coursebeause it tested my patience and the lads as well lol.

 

[Andy78]

If I have the run of the place I would generally approach it in this way.

• Disconnect final circuits and install the temp supply board.
• Start stripping out whilst creating routes for new cables at the same time
• run in new cables usually getting in all cables that need to be in under a particular floor, then put back flooring. This means running bits of a few circuits in at the same time but I find it by far the quickest way.
• second fix

If the house is occupied then you just have to take it as the situation suits. Generally work on one circuit at a time and get everything back on at the end of every day. Double your time estimates but avoid if you can. I've certainly dodged more than I've done.

 

[stevethesparks]

After nearly 44 years in the trade I never really touched them, until I was forced to go it alone just over a year ago. Now along with my shiny DI badge, I feel like I've been demoted

The last one I have almost completed (awaiting customer to finish some ceilings and walls) I established my main trunk route, got all holes in, and to take a little extra time and get them lined up makes a big difference. First two days, I got all feed legs from the CU in, allowing me to get the CU mounted early.
As the house was occupied, the biggest ball-ache is to keep the customer up and running whilst maintaining a safe environment, particularly at the end of the day when you leave - putting boards back down etc.

Getting the CU in - temporarily fed from a 3036 30 amp fuse from the existing, allowed me to get each circuit finished and then powered up stage by stage, before it got to the point of needing the changeover.

The customer on this occasion wanted to do all chopping in and chasing, that appealed to me, but its not always a good idea as I have had to follow them around in parts to finish off.
I have also been lucky as no carpets have been involved, if they had, my price would have gone up considerably, and would probably have lost the job.

On this particular job, all outlets and switches have been located to new positions, allowing the existing installation to keep them powered up.
Had they not, then I would have got cables to their positions and attacked the lighting circuits first. The occupier is always going to have to accept that there will be a day or so when they will just have to make do with what you can give them.
All in all, I hate domestic re-wires, and doing some recent commercial stuff has been like being born again lol.

I’m just as interested in other more experienced opinions in the domestic field, as you don’t always get the option of new positions for outlets, switches and CU’s. I think there are a lot of good domestic sparks out there, that have probably been unfairly tarnished with the same brush as some of the 5 week wonders.
Although the science of it is straight forward, the physical bit can be quite demanding.

 

[fall-apart-dave]

Posting because I'm interested. My sisters place needs gutting and doing from scratch (she is renovating) and I need to do my own place too.

 

[ruston]

And if it is laminated flooring throughout ,wayrock underneath and tiled bathrooms it adds to the nightmare of having clutter everywhere.
Occupied messy houses are only feasible if the money is good and the location is easy to get to.

 

[stevethesparks]

And if it is laminated flooring throughout ,wayrock underneath and tiled bathrooms it adds to the nightmare of having clutter everywhere.
Occupied messy houses are only feasible if the money is good and the location is easy to get to.

Try and convince them to removed the ceilings or forget it

 

[ruston]

Try and convince them to removed the ceilings or forget it

I think you might of been there lol.

It's amazing though how houses develop with expensive additions; kitchens and the like, that then they think about the electrics, or the have had a wake up call.
They never seem to get them checked beforehand .

 

[stevethesparks]

Or don't even consider that cables have to be run and hidden

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Ok so as anyone who knows me will know That I try and avoid Domestic work at all costs but now and then I get a request from one of my Ind/Commercial customers to do their homes.
I had to do one last month and once again realised pretty quickly why I try to avoid them, so the point of this thread is curiousity more than anything.

Do you Domestic lads have any set ways you approach them, by that I mean do you chase everything first or as you need them, do you get all Boards up and all joist drilled, do you do a floor at a time etc etc etc.
The house was fully furnished but occupiers went away for a week so there was no need to replace boards every night etc and finally how long do you normally take to do an average 3bed semi, all switches and sockets to new heights not original.

I will be interested to hear your methods.

You're talking in the past tense Glenn, so I'm guessing you've already done it? How did it go? Did you have some help?

I have only done one full rewire all by myself. Lived in, but all floorboards available and very little stuff in the house so it wasn't too bad! I would say it took 3 full weeks at 8 hour days. I think full discussion with the homeowner before hand is important to make them fully aware of the impact it is going to have and an agreement about which parts of the electrical installation will remain live.

I think if ever I was offered a proper lived in rewire I would have to quote perhaps almost double that of an unlived one due to the huge amount of hassle that would be involved!

 

[amlu]

get there, cut off the power, install temporary supply, mark up where the sockets/switches go, mark up the chases, open up the floors, see if there will be a way to get cables into the box in every spot, put boards back (to avoid rubble going under floors), cut as much possible with a grinder/chaser (nightmare dust, but when unoccupied why not, should be done in an hour), chisel out the boxes with sds, mix some bonding with cement, use that to glue the boxes in the holes, when it sets stick some wallplugs in.
open the floors again start running cables, having a mate helps a lot, scrapping the old install as you go.

 

[GMES]

You're talking in the past tense Glenn, so I'm guessing you've already done it? How did it go? Did you have some help?

I have only done one full rewire all by myself. Lived in, but all floorboards available and very little stuff in the house so it wasn't too bad! I would say it took 3 full weeks at 8 hour days. I think full discussion with the homeowner before hand is important to make them fully aware of the impact it is going to have and an agreement about which parts of the electrical installation will remain live.

I think if ever I was offered a proper lived in rewire I would have to quote perhaps almost double that of an unlived one due to the huge amount of hassle that would be involved!

Yeah Done and dusted Steve, I was only involved on the 2nd fix, I was busy with Breakdowns luckily during 1st fix which was done by Glennsparks and my apprentice who put some serious graft in by the way, like I say me and Darrel were busy elsewhere but all in all it got started on a Monday about 10am and finished saturday with no snags to go back to.

I just seem to remember doing some about 15 years ago and they went a lot smoother and quicker, Maybe it just longer now due to all the extra circuits etc.

 

[Midwest]

I've done few rewires myself in the past, but now that I work on my lonesome, I wouldn't consider them. However I've done some partial rewires. One was vacant, and had no floorings, which was easy, although as some of the existing cabling was reused, I had to check there was no nasty's lurking under the floorboards. That's why I prefer to remove all redundant wiring, so you can see the wood from the trees, if you see what I mean. Perhaps suggest to the customer to put main furniture into storage or the garage. Advise customer you're not responsible for removing and reinstating floor coverings. If customer is re-plastering, get them to consider taking ceiling down in kitchen (for e.g.), especially if they are adding extras or downlights.

 

[Midwest]

I just seem to remember doing some about 15 years ago and they went a lot smoother and quicker, Maybe it just longer now due to all the extra circuits etc.

Think 'thats called rose tinted specs'!

 

[GMES]

Think 'thats called rose tinted specs'!

You may well be right because I often look at the missus and think she used to be prettier and more fun 15 years ago :tounge_smile:

 

[uksparks]

I turn them down as its way too much hassle.

The last one I did about 2 years ago, I kind of did a bit on one circuit, then another, then another, no order to it.

i hated it.

 

[Midwest]

You may well be right because I often look at the missus and think she used to be prettier and more fun 15 years ago :tounge_smile:

OOOOOhhh be careful she's not looking over your shoulder!