Full and partial house rewires
Complete and partial rewires, from first fix through to test, certificate and making good.
In short
A rewire replaces the fixed cabling in a property, along with the sockets, switches, light fittings and consumer unit fed from it. A full rewire covers the whole house; a partial rewire covers only the circuits that need it, which is often the upstairs lighting or the ground floor sockets rather than everything. Most houses need it once, somewhere between fifty and seventy years after the original installation, and the work runs in two stages: first fix while the walls are open, then second fix once the plastering is done.
Nobody rewires a house for fun. It is disruptive, it means chased walls and lifted floorboards, and it usually happens either because the existing wiring has reached the end of its life or because the house is being renovated anyway and it would be daft not to. The question worth asking first is whether you actually need a full rewire or whether a couple of circuits would do.
Signs a property needs rewiring
- Rubber, fabric or lead-sheathed cable, which points to an installation from the 1960s or earlier
- Round-pin sockets, or sockets mounted on skirting boards
- Old red and black cable in the fixed wiring, which predates the 2004 to 2006 colour change
- Lighting circuits with no earth wire at the switch or the rose
- Not enough sockets, so extension leads are permanently in use
- Recurring nuisance tripping that testing traces to deteriorated insulation
What the job involves
Every property is different, but the shape of the work is usually the same. Here is how a typical full and partial house rewires job runs.
Survey and honest advice
The existing installation is inspected and tested before anything is quoted, because plenty of houses assumed to need a full rewire turn out to need two circuits doing. You get told which it is.
Plan the circuits and the positions
Where the sockets, switches, lights and any new circuits go is agreed with you first, on the basis of how you actually use the rooms. Moving a socket on paper is free; moving it once it is chased in is not.
First fix
Walls are chased, floors lifted where needed, and new cable run back to the board with the correct capacity, protection and routing. Cables run in the safe zones so a future picture hook does not find one.
Second fix
Once plastering and decorating are done, the accessories go on: sockets, switches, light fittings, the consumer unit, everything terminated and set level.
Test, certify and make good
The whole installation is tested and an Electrical Installation Certificate issued with the results. Chases are made good and the property left clean rather than full of dust and offcuts.
Want someone to take a look?
Call 07557 448945 or send a photo on WhatsApp and you will get a straight answer on what it needs.
Full and partial house rewires near you
S. Sparham Electrical covers Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Pick your area for local detail, or call 07557 448945 if you are not sure whether you are in range.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a full rewire take?
On a typical three-bedroom house allow around five to ten days on site, split between first fix and second fix with the plastering in between. It depends heavily on access: a house with solid floors and no loft space takes longer than one with suspended timber floors and a clear roof void.
Do I have to move out during a rewire?
Not usually, but it is easier if you can, particularly on a full rewire where every room gets disturbed at some point. If you are staying put, the work can be phased so you keep power and heating overnight. Say so up front and it gets planned that way.
Is a partial rewire a false economy?
Not necessarily. If the ground floor was redone ten years ago and the upstairs lighting is still on old cable with no earth, rewiring the part that needs it is sensible. It stops being sensible when the whole installation is the same age and you end up back for the rest within a couple of years.
How much mess does a rewire make?
A fair amount, honestly. Chasing walls makes dust and lifting floors disturbs carpets. What separates a good job from a bad one is how carefully things are lifted and put back, and whether the property is cleaned down at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job.
Do I get a certificate when it is finished?
Yes. A rewire ends with an Electrical Installation Certificate showing the test results for every circuit. Keep it. You will be asked for it when you sell the house, and a landlord or a mortgage lender may ask sooner.
Does a rewire need building control approval?
In England and Wales a rewire is notifiable work under Part P, so it must either be done by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme who can self-certify it, or notified to your local authority building control before work starts.
Who is doing the work
Before anyone works on your electrics it is worth knowing what they are trained to do. This is what Stephen Sparham holds.