Newbie, non-electrician looking for advice

[Samnotts]

Hi folks,

Hi everyone! I'm Sam and will be owning my first home in the South West soon if the ongoing purchase goes through successfully. Its a 3 bed semi detached built in the 1970s and the current owner is a lovely lady who has lived in it since new but hasn't renewed or changed much since then. I am hoping to get advice on modernising the electricals and better still finding someone on this platform who is based in the Bristol area and can give me a quote to do the job when I have the keys

I have learnt a lot already from reading previous posts and look forward to learning more!

Cheers

 

[DPG]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Dustydazzler]

If it’s mid/late 70s build, you should find its all pvc/pvc wiring.
the fact its lived in by one careful owner and not been messed about with too much is good. The less bodged diy wiring the better.
my best advice would probably be an eicr and then get quotes for the work you want doing. Chances are you will need a new fuse box (consumer unit) and probably want some additional sockets and mains smoke alarms etc

 

[Samnotts]

If it’s mid/late 70s build, you should find its all pvc/pvc wiring.
the fact its lived in by one careful owner and not been messed about with too much is good. The less bodged diy wiring the better.
my best advice would probably be an eicr and then get quotes for the work you want doing. Chances are you will need a new fuse box (consumer unit) and probably want some additional sockets and mains smoke alarms etc

That's great to hear! I'm hoping to get away without a full rewire as money is tight. The EICR will show what needs doing as you say. Cheers

 

[Samnotts]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks!

 

[Pete999]

Hi folks,

Hi everyone! I'm Sam and will be owning my first home in the South West soon if the ongoing purchase goes through successfully. Its a 3 bed semi detached built in the 1970s and the current owner is a lovely lady who has lived in it since new but hasn't renewed or changed much since then. I am hoping to get advice on modernising the electricals and better still finding someone on this platform who is based in the Bristol area and can give me a quote to do the job when I have the keys

I have learnt a lot already from reading previous posts and look forward to learning more!

Cheers

Where in the Bristol area are you Mate? from Bath originally myself. Twerton to be exact.

 

[Samnotts]

Where in the Bristol area are you Mate? from Bath originally myself. Twerton to be exact.

Oh wow. I viewed a house in Twerton but was outbid on that one. Lovely area.

I'm currently based in Leicester. The house is in North Bristol, Filton. I'm moving for work. The usual advise is to rent for a while in a new arear before buying. But after renting for over a decade I think I've paid my dues and didn't want to fall into the rent trap again.

 

[Pete999]

Oh wow. I viewed a house in Twerton but was outbid on that one. Lovely area.

I'm currently based in Leicester. The house is in North Bristol, Filton. I'm moving for work. The usual advise is to rent for a while in a new arear before buying. But after renting for over a decade I think I've paid my dues and didn't want to fall into the rent trap again.

moved to N/ton now due to work before I retired, wanted to go back bur\t prices to much so staying put

 

[Samnotts]

moved to N/ton now due to work before I retired, wanted to go back bur\t prices to much so staying put

House prices are completely mad, right now!

 

[Dustydazzler]

House prices are completely mad, right now!

Tell me about it , my next door neighbour moved in just under 2 years ago. He paid £380,000, decorated the house , put new carpets in and just sold for £565,000 after a round of sealed bids ( was on the market for offers over £500,000)

these kind of prices increases are not sustainable

 

[Samnotts]

Tell me about it , my next door neighbour moved in just under 2 years ago. He paid £380,000, decorated the house , put new carpets in and just sold for £565,000 after a round of sealed bids ( was on the market for offers over £500,000)

these kind of prices increases are not sustainable

That's just insane ??. It's stories like this which made me want to buy right away instead of renting for a while. The possibility of ever owning a house just seemed more distant the longer I waited. This is simply unsustainable

 

[pc1966]

As above, get an EICR done but don't go for the cheapest as it will take about half a day or more to do properly, so consider how much skilled time you are buying. You can post the results here with any personal identification removes (you, address, who did it, etc) for any comments/feedback.

From what you said, probably all you would be looking at is a new consumer unit (CU = fuse box) to have RCD additional protection against shock (and to a lesser degree fire) as well as the convenience of easy resetting instead of having to correctly change fuse wire.

If you plan on decorating then think long and hard about any electrical changes you might want, such as more sockets (probably lacking from a 70s install) or anything fancy in the way of lights, etc. Now is the time to do it!

At the very least you might want all new sockets/switches depending on the condition and appearance, and then you might have any single sockets changed for doubles, etc.

 

[brianmoooore]

It'll be all PVC if '70s, but early 70's raises the possibility of the dreaded green goo.
If it's OK on this front, the main problem will likely be lack of wiring, rather than its condition. There's as many lights and sockets in the average new kitchen than there was in a whole house in the '70s.

 

[Samnotts]

It'll be all PVC if '70s, but early 70's raises the possibility of the dreaded green goo

I've just looked up green goo on electrical wiring and it sounds very bad indeed. Is that treatable or just a case of laying completing new wiring?

 

[pc1966]

I've just looked up green goo on electrical wiring and it sounds very bad indeed. Is that treatable or just a case of laying completing new wiring?

If you have it then its a complete rewire I'm afraid.

But it is easy to check and any EICR ought to tell you.

 

[Dustydazzler]

In all my years I have only come across green goo maybe a handful of times

 

[Samnotts]

As above, get an EICR done but don't go for the cheapest as it will take about half a day or more to do properly, so consider how much skilled time you are buying. You can post the results here with any personal identification removes (you, address, who did it, etc) for any comments/feedback.

From what you said, probably all you would be looking at is a new consumer unit (CU = fuse box) to have RCD additional protection against shock (and to a lesser degree fire) as well as the convenience of easy resetting instead of having to correctly change fuse wire.

If you plan on decorating then think long and hard about any electrical changes you might want, such as more sockets (probably lacking from a 70s install) or anything fancy in the way of lights, etc. Now is the time to do it!

At the very least you might want all new sockets/switches depending on the condition and appearance, and then you might have any single sockets changed for doubles, etc.

Thanks, noted! I'm hoping to modernise and 'future proof' it best as can on not a very great budget. My current rental property has got the one double socket in the bedrooms and it's a right pain managing that.

 

[Samnotts]

In all my years I have only come across green goo maybe a handful of times

Phew! That's reassuring.

 

[brianmoooore]

I agree, it's quite rare, although it occurred in two properties that I own, and this was the first time I'd seen it. Complete replacement is the only cure.

 

[Samnotts]

It sounds like everything rests on getting a EICR carried out thoroughly and per the other details advised by pc1966 when I get the keys or even earlier if feasible