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Original poster

What state is a house in after rewiring?

13 replies

FiveHoursSleep · 29/04/2016 07:40

We are having our house rewired soon, and wondered what kind of state the house will be left in after rewiring.
What kind of redecorating is involved?
We don't mind living with rooms that need redecorating for a bit afterwards as long as walls and floors are intact, or are we going to be left with a house with chunks out of it?
We know that moving out is probably best but this is not going to be possible for us, has anyone got any tips?

OP posts:

MyLocal · 29/04/2016 07:42

I am no expert, and happy to be put right, but I would have thought at the very least some floorboards would have to come up and the walls would be chased out, otherwise how else can you rewire?

Original poster

FiveHoursSleep · 29/04/2016 08:03

We are aware of this, but wondered what the house is like afterwards. Do the electricians usually put things right after they have finished their work, or do we need to budget for redecorating straight away?

OP posts:

AlbusPercival · 29/04/2016 08:06

Ours put all floorboards back.

They roughly filled the gouges in wall, but needed to be sanded and repainted

gamerchick · 29/04/2016 08:08

I still look at ours in horror and it was around 7 years ago.

Every room had to be done after the grooves in the wall had been replastered. Make sure they clear up after themselves it makes a mess and some of them are happy to leave you with everything covered in brick dust

StarOnTheTree · 29/04/2016 08:10

Just had mine done this week and I'm too much in the depths of despair to answer your question

teacherwith2kids · 29/04/2016 08:13

It depends on the walls, to some extent.

We did replumbing + new heating system + rewiring as one hit. Ended up with bare floorboards, and needed a couple of days of carpenter + plasterer to sort out walls, skirting boards and put back floorboards properly.

However, every wall in the house is brick - no plasterboard, no partition walls - and so the chasing out etc made something of a mess. The whole house needed redecorating and new carpets/ flooring anyway.

In my experience, each 'trade' is best at their own job - so i would not get an electrician to put right woodwork, or fill in walls, but get in someone who can do that to a good standard.

Original poster

FiveHoursSleep · 29/04/2016 08:13

Can anyone provide photos?
Did you all move out during it? If so, how long did it take- we are in a 4-5 bedroom 1930's semi if that helps.

OP posts:

sleepnowplease · 29/04/2016 08:24

We had our house done about 4 years ago. Upstairs you couldn't really see any difference. They put the floor boards and carpets back. Downstairs it's much more noticeable. We haven't plastered the kitchen and the filled in groves are quite visible. I've attached a photo.
We moved out for the week and they're was a lot of dust.
We're in a 2 bed terrace and it took 4 days.

What state is a house in after rewiring?

Original poster

FiveHoursSleep · 29/04/2016 09:01

Sleepnowplease Thanks for the photo. That's really helpful.

OP posts:

sleepnowplease · 29/04/2016 09:51

We have rubbish walls so more plaster came off than the electrician thought. Hopefully yours might not be as wide.

Crapmummy2016 · 29/04/2016 09:58

Dusty. Really, really dusty! And just when you clean it all up more appears to resettle.

Our electricians patched up the walls but it still needed to be properly replastered over the top. I couldn't have lived with the walls in the state they left them, but we have old lathe and plaster walls which crumble when you so much as look at them wrong!

Be prepared for lots of mess and cover or remove as much as you can.

ShinyShinyShiny · 29/04/2016 10:07

Ours put the floorboards back and roughly re-plastered the channels in the walls.

The biggest issue was the plaster dust, it got everywhere. I can still remember the feel of it in my teeth and hair. We had the house re-wired 2 days after we moved in so kept most things in packaging boxes and away from the dust, but it was still very messy.

I've attached a few photos, not the best quality but hopefully will give you an idea of how it looks during. I can't find any after photos at the moment but will have a look on my old phone.

teacherwith2kids · 29/04/2016 11:22

A 1930s house - ours is late 1920s - is likely to have brick interior as well as exterior walls.

Unless they are re-using any current channels for the wires, the channelling out will be really, really, really noisy and messy, because you are talking not just about plaster dust, but also brick dust. It is also likely that if the plastering is old, quite a lot will fall away and so quite large areas will need re-plastering.

Tbh, I'd move out. Ask the electricians how long they are allowing for the work, and when the channelling will be finished, as that is the bit it is hardest to live with. Also think about whether you will have power while the work is going on - the work may be done more quickly if the electricians don't have to keep your existing circuits going all the time.

Allow at least a full day, preferably longer, afterwards to de-dust and wash EVERYWHERE, then get the plasterer in. That's a messy job, much better done before any carpets go back down, but entirely possible to live in the house while it is done.

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