A complete house rewire where to start????

[Baddegg]

Those ^^^^^ are the wisest words you’ll hear on this subject OP......

 

[telectrix]

oh; and you v]van have your mates round for a pi$$ up.

 

[Pete999]

Up stairs lighting

Start by rewiring the upstairs lighting, this will give you a feel of how labour intensive a rewire is, if yo have any help you should be able to complete this area in a long day.
You don't mention, if you have a wooden floor on the ground floor, if you have, you could then tackle the ground floor sockets, cooker, bonding and anything else that may become evident whilst this area is being pulled apart, forgot to say leave the old switchgear inplace, by doing this you can if the client wishes temporarily connect a socket for overnight, this part with help could take up to 3 days, leave any making good until the rewire is complete, if you are making good yourself, if makes sense to do it all at once, not piecemeal on a daily basis.
Now comes the hardest part in my opinion, the ground floor lighting, and the upstairs sockets, this needs careful planning, try to get the homeowner to dissapear for the day, plan which areas you want to disturb, move the furniture around to suit, if you have employed a carpet fitter/floor layer to lift any carpets or laminate, this also needs planning beforehand. The biggest problem will be leaving the house habitable after you have knocked off for the day, 2 to 3 days should see this part to completion.
Remember to leave any old wiring still left in situ safe as well.
Once these areas have been rewired, time to fit new CU etc and testing and certifying, 2 days should be ample, if there are no problems, if you are making good a day should see this off, depending of course on how much damage you have caused.
Its been a long time since I have done a live in rewire, so there could be some omissions, on the last day it's always a good thing to take the client around the place, explaining why you had to do it this or that way, snagging I think it was called, if you are confident you have covered everything this shouldn't take long at all, good luck.
If I have missed anything, or miscalculated the time frame, I'm positive there will be someone on the Forum with something to say, as I mentioned it's been a while.

Not creative at all it's the Dogs do dahs of rewiring imo

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Heres an idea send the wife and kids on one of them cheap £10 holidays in the sun. bargain break and you get the house empty to do the work.

 

[MJPD29]

Everyone has a different way of working but I generally would cut all boxes first, then wire sockets and any radial circuits, then lights etc and fit all conduits etc in walls last. Whatever works best for your situation

 

[Squid]

Also think about any other wiring that needs to be run in, ie network cables, aerial, phone and anything else.

 

[Taylortwocities]

When doing a complete rewire, my first thing is to completely remove the existing CU/fuseboard and hook up a temp supply with enough sockets for my works (and maybe one for other trades too).

Then you can do the next bit, and that is ripping out and removing the existing wiring and unwanted sockets etc. Then you've got some cable routes all ready for your new lumps of PVC.

If you don't do step 1 first, you'll always be having to check if there's no power, and worrying each time you chop a bit of cable.

 

[A032701]

make sure you have a floor plan of the house all drawn out with wiring diagrams included. if you follow the plan exactly then any fault finding will be a lot easier to deal with.
i would never take both the lights and sockets out at the same time because you need light.
preferably do all the lights first and use sockets for temporary lights e.g site lights etc. this will save you running around in the dark with your phone torch

 

[DefyG]

Re-wire whilst 'living in' your own house with a family!
Best of luck! no right or wrong way, whatever way you feel best. As it is 'lived in', you may adopt a room by room approach but not easy maintaining supply to lighting and power along the way.
Send the family on a weeks holiday then you'll be able to rip out the old and install the new before they return!

 

[Powellm]

As Pete said I did a chase for my brothers kitchen when he came to do the first fix he couldn't route the cables where he wanted and had to 're chase new points. I'd route cables first then chase. He wasn't living there but my mate has 're run cables clipped to the ready for when his wife has a holiday and he can chase them in

 

[Electron]

How did you isolate the power to install an isolator?

 

[Marti]

How did you isolate the power to install an isolator?

I was under the impression that this is the domain of the DNO? Is it related to these slightly undersized fuses I've read about - the ones that "fall out"?

 

[Baddegg]

I was under the impression that this is the domain of the DNO? Is it related to these slightly undersized fuses I've read about - the ones that "fall out"?

I’m always finding them! Glad it ain’t just me...

 

[Marti]

When I fitted our new bathroom, the management simply simply used the showers at the gym for a week without complaint - take that as "she's a keeper"

Back to the thread, I do a lot of emergency call-outs (find the fault and make it safe / warm / light) so a full and occupied rewire looks, to my eyes, the ultimate test of house wiring skill and something I'm keen to develop. Also, the amount of dirt and rubble generated by lifting boards and flooring and then chasing walls will trash any decent furnishing or carpets unless they are moved out.

Clients who can't / won't plan must be a nightmare!

 

[John clark]

12v shocker competent means able to do the job safely and with thorough understanding of what the job entails is this what the trade has become people doing a course and then thinking that they can do the job if you have to ask these questions then you are a cowboy I have seen enough dangerous practices from people who do not have a clue do us all a favour LEAVE WELL ALONE

 

[Pete999]

Re-wire whilst 'living in' your own house with a family!
Best of luck! no right or wrong way, whatever way you feel best. As it is 'lived in', you may adopt a room by room approach but not easy maintaining supply to lighting and power along the way.
Send the family on a weeks holiday then you'll be able to rip out the old and install the new before they return!

I did rewires 3 days live in as well, what's all the fuss for, did it for nearly 2 years surface clipping with buckle cips.
Day 1 downstairs lighting up stairs sockets Bonding Cooker etc.
Day 2 Down stairs sockets, upstairs lights, Day 3 CU testing and snagging, easy peasy 3 bed Semi, 2 per week. no worries me and a Mate, simples. Monday till Sat evening, isn't repetition a wonderful thing? Forgot to add the kitchen was bare brick and was dealt with by another Mate whilst the rewire was undertaken, chasing capping etc, half a day for a decent Mate, so no big deal. Another add, Bossman did all the paperwork, we just did quick IR test.

 

[littlespark]

I’m hoping the OP has finished his rewire by now.
[automerge]1599767221[/automerge]
Maybe optimistic, but in reply to @John clark ”leave well alone”, - that advice may be 18 months too late