Your Thoughts on FuseBox in 1960s council semi

[biscuit of doom]

Hi all,

A house buyer here (FTB) doing the usual googling on old fuseboxes / wiring. House is a 1960s ex council house semi and hasn't been rewired. Not seen any obviously dated looking wall plugs or fixtures but would love any thoughts on the state of the fusebox. Its v.dated and I will no doubt want to replace it with a modern consumer unit. The electricity as been switched back on and I'm going back next week to do some basic checks of lights, wall plugs but are there any immediate red flags that you can see?

Thanks all , Luke

 

[biscuit of doom]

That is the "cut out" where the main incoming power cable terminates, and where there is the main fuse (typically 60-100A) for the property. It is called that is it is the ultimate means of disconnecting power for changing a meter or CU.

It should not be touched! Firstly it owned by the power supply company (DNO, such as SSE, etc, not the company who bills you, they own the meter), and secondly if it goes wrong it can go horribly wrong in terms of fault energy.

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Thanks for the info!

 

[biscuit of doom]

Everything hangs on the results of the EICR.

If you first floor is solid construction you can't put in recessed lighting without a drop ceiling.

The thing in the third picture is the service head from your supplier, don't touch.

Ok good to know about the drop ceiling requirements. Something else to add to the list for researching! Cheers

 

[telectrix]

only a site visit can determine the extent of works required. as said previously, a total rewire maynot be bneeded, hope for the best. plan for the worst.

which floors are you meaning with solid? ground floor concrete is no problem. it's if the upstairs floor is conctrete, that you have problems.

 

[biscuit of doom]

only a site visit can determine the extent of works required. as said previously, a total rewire maynot be bneeded, hope for the best. plan for the worst.

Agreed, thanks for the feedback

 

[telectrix]

Agreed, thanks for the feedback

and my patch covers the south and west side of M'cr. happy to advise and quote you

 

[Mike Johnson]

Ok good to know about the drop ceiling requirements. Something else to add to the list for researching! Cheers

A drop ceiling can work to your advantage, all the required cabling for the first floor can be run in the void from a service riser at your new CU (consumer unit or call it a fuse-board if you must) as said earlier it all hangs on the EICR and obviously your existing ceiling height. PM Telectrix if he is local.

 

[biscuit of doom]

and my patch covers the south and west side of M'cr. happy to advise and quote you

"which floors are you meaning with solid? ground floor concrete is no problem. it's if the upstairs floor is conctrete, that you have problems."
Good question, honestly I will need to double check if both the ground floor and first floor are solid (concrete). I've just been reading around that most of the council houses from the 60s used solid floors.

I just realised that I read "If you first floor is solid construction you can't put in recessed lighting without a drop ceiling." as ground floor - so I'll need to double check up on the first floor

The property is out in Haydock ( a couple miles north of NewtonLeWillows) , is that out of your patch?

 

[Dave OCD]

I'd say it'll be very unlikely that the upstairs floor will be concrete, most likely timber joists and floorboards in a house from the '60s , and for wiring purposes that would be a lot better than the horrible chipboard flooring sheets of today.

 

[littlespark]

1960’s
Suggest you look for asbestos. Possibly in cupboards where there may have been a blown air heating system, or flue up in the attic.

you will find there isn’t enough socket points, so a rewire would be a good idea before decorating.
See if you can get it cheaper if you do the floor lifting/ chasing/ making good

 

[UNG]

"which floors are you meaning with solid? ground floor concrete is no problem. it's if the upstairs floor is conctrete, that you have problems."
Good question, honestly I will need to double check if both the ground floor and first floor are solid (concrete). I've just been reading around that most of the council houses from the 60s used solid floors.

I just realised that I read "If you first floor is solid construction you can't put in recessed lighting without a drop ceiling." as ground floor - so I'll need to double check up on the first floor

The property is out in Haydock ( a couple miles north of NewtonLeWillows) , is that out of your patch?

If you want some advice I'm in Garswood so not to far from Haydock so could easily call in

 

[telectrix]

it was mainly council flats that had concrete on the 1st (upstairs) floor. most houses were joists and floorboards. easy to see if the upstairs are boards. just lift a bit of carpet.

 

[Mike Johnson]

It was the OP that said they had solid floors (plural) made the mistake of thinking they where posting from experience and not going on information read on the internet.

It would be unusual to have a concrete first floor in a house constructed in the 1960's, but not impossible, the likelihood of asbestos is real, but not to be confused with the multi/conti board used extensively during the banning of the substance, had a trade name that I can't recall at the moment.

 

[UNG]

Out of curiosity what is the thing in the third picture?

That cut out can be made dangerous when a smart meter has been installed not uncommon for the meter fitter to break the piece under the fuse holder called the DNO out on a few jobs where the fuse was exposed underneath the fuseholder. DNO said it is caused when the meter fitter pulls the fuse down when extracting it

 

[James]

That cut out can be made dangerous when a smart meter has been installed not uncommon for the meter fitter to break the piece under the fuse holder called the DNO out on a few jobs where the fuse was exposed underneath the fuseholder. DNO said it is caused when the meter fitter pulls the fuse down when extracting it

To be honest, the meter has been fitted with the care and finness of an angry gorilla.

 

[UNG]

To be honest, the meter has been fitted with the care and finness of an angry gorilla.

That's what you get when targets have to be met