Discuss would you tell a diy'er how to rewire his or her house? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

T

thekingiam

firstly i mean by diy'er a person with little or no knowledge of electrics.
not a person undergoing training or an electrician,enginneer working in other feilds.

alot of posts i have read warn the person to get a qualified person in,warn about the dangers then someone nearly always discusses how to do the job.
some people have mentioned that they do this as the person would do the work anyways and they are now better prepared not to have an accident, or cause one.
some people state that there would be no one using this forum if we don't advise the diy'er.
are these facts true or is it the ego of an electrician to jump in and save the day for some sorry soul.
i am not pointing any fingers or judgments as i believe we are all to blame.
should we point out how to complete such works without the knowledge of safe isolation, and the tools to do the job testers etc.
another point is people say if it was'nt for diyers then they wouldn't get half there calls when something goes wrong,wouldn't an electrician get more calls before an accident occured if people used them when required as in part p guidelines.
i don't know any other trades that cut there own throats by giving free advise to there customers on how not to use there services
 
I can see both sides to this, mainly due to the fact that i'm an ole f**t.

I'm old school where the term "family rates" didn't mean family but most trades. As I have said on here before I have never charged my family or closest friends anything for electrical work, especially labour and often as not material as I always had something lieing around.

The same went other trades, I have never paid for a painter or decorator, or plumbing work and up until recently my car/van to be repaired, and I have rewired other trades houses, their kids houses and redeveloped a garage, but unfortunately those days are coming to an end in the modern world.

I have lost count of the times I have been "asked" by someone "Your a sparkie I need a few extra sockets and ....................." and I have tried to help. Old fashioned as it maybe I'm a great believer that what goes round comes round, and I rather try to help someone if I could than just say, sorry get someone in or I can quote you if you like.

A Diy'er coming on here is not nicking your work. Some of you younger lads don't remember the 70s and the 3 day week and 3 million unemployed, and being on strike for a year etc, when times were as hard as this, and there were DIy'ers then as there are today.

This forum in a way acts like a pub/canteen/cafe/club of slightly older times where you will get people coming to you and asking "Your a sparkie......................" whether you help or not is up to the individual, I try to help and always will, to a point, where if the 1st inquiry is followed up by the OPs next cleary shows he is out of his depth, then you have to say sorry but I can't help you really as I think your not capable of doing the job ...........

It goes back though to the old chestnut of how you say this, some on here's attitude toward others is quite appalling and I often wondered if it was in a pub they were asked this, and answered with an attitude how long they would last before being separated with consciousness.

Diy'ers, cowboys, Dave from the pub will not take your work, as they often create it, what is taking our work is the modern set up of where you can train a butcher, baker or candle stick maker in 5 weeks to become a domestic installer
 
Last edited:
Advice should be tailored to the OP and his competence level and although there isn't any harm in answering a question by the OP i feel it wise to also inform them where they legally stand if doing the job, the hazards that could come with it and when it is advisable to get an electrician in for peace of mind safety of their family and house.
Just answering the question direct without pre-empting the OP about the risks and legality of their intentions would be incompetent but again its about tailoring the answer to both the OP's competence and content of the question. If your mate wanted to change his own light fitting then i would happily explain how to do it but also i would inform him to ensure he isolates the power correctly thats if i didn't want to earn a few pints myself ;) but if he asked me about wiring his own electric water feature in the garden id either explain and oversee the job or warn him against doing it himself as the regulations are very tight due to the added risks associated with the job.
If we fully inform the OP regarding the job i.e. safe isolation, testing of the circuit and where they stand legally then its up to the OP whether s/he does it themselves as they now have a full understanding of what they may originally have thought to be a simple task.
So in answer to your pole i have to say 'NO' as a full rewire comes with the need for a good grasp of the Regs had this been the 80's then maybe the answer would be different as rcd's, split boards, tighter regs etc weren't in the equation and test gear was only ever used to fault find and not as now to sign you job off.
 
Last edited:
one problem is that, while we may see that the OP seems competent to do a job, we all know that he's not going to go out and buy a MFT in order to test such work.
 
I love your post Malcolm It's how I was brought up. The answer to the question is a very subjective one and would be based on your judgment of the situation ; eg am I going to let this fool kill himself or am I going to do what I can to keep them safe from harm.

The problem is you know they are going to have a go anyway . So what do you do.

As for on the forum I think that these requests will be dealt with in there usual manner lol.
 
one problem is that, while we may see that the OP seems competent to do a job, we all know that he's not going to go out and buy a MFT in order to test such work.
Yes must agree but like i said as long as we bring the point up then we have informed the OP in the best way we can and the balls in their court then, i do feel we have shown many DIYers that what they thought to be a simple task has turned out to be more complex than they imagined and im confident some of them will have fully taken the advice we gave and drafted in a professional as for the others well its their risk if the job does indeed pose a hazard but they had been informed.
 
Only 3 votes so far?
Come on guys, get your votes in, what about you thekingiam, you started it!!
 
Definitely no. If I'm quoting for a rewire and the client wants to save money they can be the "apprentice" and do the bashing, help with the cable pulling and be responsible for the making good - oh and its full of furniture/carpets deal with that too.
 
I'm with Murdoch.

Also I tend to decline the opprotunity to rewire houses that are full of furniture. I ain't a removals man - and me with my back....
 
I used to always qualify the quote as being based upon clear and unimpeded access to all work areas. Any time lost, moving or waiting for things to be moved would be chargeable
 
I take furniture moving in my stride,if its choca block I frown and get on with it,if its spacious and uncluttered , I smile and thing what a lucky lad I am
 
Only 3 votes so far?
Come on guys, get your votes in, what about you thekingiam, you started it!!

ok so i have looked at the responses so far and i must say if i was in my local pub and asked for advice where say someone had messed up tring to do two way lighting, firstly i would do a few diagrams to show my knowledge and also see if the person understands what work is involved they usually then ask if i could do it for them and i would probably charge mates rates or not at all depending who.
i have to say i would advise face to face if a minor task, not adding new circuits or extending a ring etc.
my problem with online advice it is sometimes down to interpretation, we all make errors and some people may take the first response from a post and plough ahead without reading the veiws of the rest of us.
there is another site the diy forum and i am amazed at the bad and wrong answers to peoples questions,we are lucky to have good electricians on here and responsible ones.
i have to say no.
i believe we have a responsibility to the public to uphold health and safety,i worry about the comeback if a child dies from my advice not being adhered to properly and the response being this electrician told me to do it that way.
on searching for subjects myself it is sometimes difficult to find the correct answer with out taking alot of research and veiws a diyer wants a quik fix for there lack of power,lights etc to make the missus happy.
 
What if someone followed that advice though?
my point precissly, without knowing that the person is going to read all posts instead of the first one to let him get on with the job how can we asume what the job is.
how many posts start off with what seems a easy solution only to be told later on in the posts something unforseen contradicting your original answer. many diyers either don't want to share what they have done because it makes them look a fool or don't realise the complexity of there questions.
by the way i can't spell precissly lol
or stroboscopic
 
In some ways it's a good thing that advice is often given to the DIYer, after all the person could go to screwfix forum/diynot and get hopelessly inaccurate information and end up doing serious damage to either him/herself or to others and as stated above it's possibly a reasonable expectation that the DIYer is going to have a go anyway with or without advice.
However, I believe it comes down to our own individual judgments on an individual's competence or ability whether or not we give instructions/advice on how to carry out a job. I've taken to either bypassing these types of posts or giving the "default advice" of get a spark. What the potential legalities of giving advice are I have no idea because I'm an electrician not a solicitor but I'd be willing to bet it's a minefield.
 

Reply to would you tell a diy'er how to rewire his or her house? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock