what customers should do before rewire ?

[JM ELECTRICAL]

what would you generally ask a customer do to prepare for us coming into rewire, i am in the middle of arranging for me to do a rewire the first one i have done on my own, things like moving furniture the kithchen, lifting carpets, laminate flooring ?

 

[GMES]

Bugger off on holiday while your in house they just get under your feet

 

[GLENNSPARK]

well...as far as testing is concerned....then a quick Ze is standard...

you need to know how much access you will have....and the price should reflect this as well....

so ...the more crap they shift...the less (slightly) you charge...

make em aware of it...so as an incentive to cart all that junk to the tip

 

[Andy78]

Every rewire is different with customers getting involved to different levels.

I have had some that have moved furniture, taken carpets up, had the brews coming all day, and put it all back after I left. I have had others that just go out for the day and leave you to it.

This needs to be discussed at pricing time as it can be a lot more work and easily add a day or two. You also need to set a schedule between you and the customer on occupied rewires, as in which rooms you can have on which days etc. Remember to plan ahead with your wiring so you are not lifting any floor twice for forgotten cables.

 

[JM ELECTRICAL]

thanks guys I just want tae make sure I am not leaving myself with all the work but not asking the customers to do too much, once you've lifted laminate flooring would you just leave it for them to deal with or would that be down to me ?

 

[Andy78]

As said, it depends on what you have arranged/is in your contract.

 

[uksparks]

The one I am just doing is a lived in rewire, the bloke insists on wanting to watch his tv whilst I'm chasing walls round him... The house is a total tip worse than a hoarder and toy have to wipe your feet on the way out. He had not moved a thing or don't the slightest anything to help. It's a total pain and stupidly I undercharged it, but that's my fault.

My advice would be, if it's got laminate, don't entertain it and just get some other poor sod to do it, secondly get them to move all junk to the middles of the rooms with sufficient space round edge to work and cover there junk.

Oh he loft, don't get me started, if it's boarded, oh god, erm... Try and back out as its a pain as they never go down in the same order if you are like me. This one I'm doing, his daughter was again dresser and there was a load of coated chip board in the loft and I didn't see that there was a load of shampoo spilt on it which I slipped on and nearly went through the ceiling. Get them to move everything out.

Jees, I sound like a right moaning git. The best ones are empty houses with nobody living in it, makes life easier.

 

[Guitarist]

Work out what it should cost...then double it. You'll find that it's about right by the time you've finished.

 

[D Skelton]

What customers should do before a rewire?

Bugger off and leave the house empty!

 

[uksparks]

What customers should do before a rewire?

Bugger off and leave the house empty!

But leave the kettle and a supply of biscuits!

 

[telectrix]

after having parted with 50% of the quote up front (in readies).

 

[Guest55]

thanks guys I just want tae make sure I am not leaving myself with all the work but not asking the customers to do too much, once you've lifted laminate flooring would you just leave it for them to deal with or would that be down to me ?

you'd have to be insane to take on any job that involves taking up & re-laying laminate.
i've actually refused jobs that required such , let it be someone elses problem.

 

[netblindpaul]

what would you generally ask a customer do to prepare for us coming into rewire, i am in the middle of arranging for me to do a rewire the first one i have done on my own, things like moving furniture the kithchen, lifting carpets, laminate flooring ?

Remove ALL belongings from the property, lift all floor coverings & take them off site, remove all fitted units, kitchen, bedroom furniture etc., move out, and not to contact me until I tell them the job is done!

Perhaps why I don't get much domestic, plus the VAT, the VAT is the killer!

 

[NJG28]

Occupied rewires must be ultimate job from hell ! You need careful wording in a contract covering what supply will be available at night, what IS covered re carpets & furniture moving/replacing & above that = extra cost @ x/hr etc etc

Personally I would be happy to lift a laminate floor "with no guarantee" but leave customer to arrange refit

Not worth your hassle as many are poor diy fit in first place.

 

[Welchyboy1]

we just dont undertake occupied rewires, not worth the aggro

how do you properly rewire an already fitted kitchen they want to keep, with tiled walls and make it look any good?, not an easy job

 

[Guest111]

I,ve not done many as most of my work was industrial,but if you have to do a live in then they need to empty the loft,move furniture to the centre of the room and go out while you are working.Kids can also be a problem so they need to be out of the way as well,I did one live in and the fifteen yr old son waited till we,d taken the boards up upstairs and then decided to have a bath,knowing full well that we needed access to the bathroom.he was a real pain and ended up finding himself cable tied to a lamppost outside the house,this was unfortunate really as he was unable to run off when his mother returned home and decided to belt him for getting in our way.

 

[Motty]

When you survey the job check the Incomer and see if it has a DNO Isolator fitted, so the whole CCU and customers side tails can be switched off without tampering with the seals on the head or meter. If not, get customer to phone their supplier and arrange fitting. EDF and EON don't charge for this, British Gas do but its not extortionate, around £60-70. then you can work in safety and without the threat of action by DNO for tampering with thier equipment. Allow a fortnight for this to get done.

 

[Rampantchilli]

Seriously I don't think I expect the customer to do anything( including making the tea), you discuss at time of quotation, if there's furniture it doesn't matter where it goes it will be in the way. Floor covering, if treated with care will go back down, and laminate floor? Well carefully take it up, explaining before hand that you can't guarantee it will come up without breaking. In all the years I've never expected anyone to do anything more than move the Picasso or cut crystal to a different property.
And I can't remember ever causing upset with a genuine customer, social housing tenants however can be a law unto themselves.
the main thing is to be clear about your skill and profession, " I'm not a carpet fitter love" but ill get them down best I can, or if you truly are shocking at putting them back down, pay for a carpet fitter to relay them, and factor it into you quote, much like you would with plastering if your crap at that.

 

[7029 dave]

Laminate floor nice!! upstairs your stuffed, however downstairs if the house is of the age where there is a nice big void cut a trap and send the boy underground lol.

 

[Guitarist]

I've had times where the customer refuses to have upstairs glued laminate taken up, and I've ended up having to cut hatches in the ceilings instead!
As already said, discuss EVERYTHING with the client beforehand and charge accordingly. A 3k rewire in an empty house can easily end up costing 6k by the time you've moved furniture and messed about with repowering rooms each night.