Electrical work - do we need a rewiring?

[NoTeaForMe]

I know that really only an electrician who can come to the house will be able to tell us this but I’m hoping someone may have some experience and have a good idea?
Our house was built in 1960, has a new-ish (couple of years old we think) consumer unit. But there is one room with no plug sockets in at all, the lounge has plug sockets by the tv but none anywhere else for a lamp etc. The bedrooms are slightly randomly placed. Can you add quite a few more plug sockets without needing a re-wire or is that not possible?
If it’s a re-wire how much will that cost and how long will it take? We’re looking at having an extension built so could/would do it at the AMA stone I guess. It’s currently a 3 bed house with a lounge and kitchen/diner. Thanks.

AMA stone should say same time not sure what happened there

Hello @NoTeaForMe

I’m not an electrician, and it does depend on your install, but likelihood is yes

I added loads of sockets in my Victorian flat (last wiring def pre 1987 when it was converted). Most rooms had 2 sockets, I took that to 6-8. The electrician did not have to cut out plaster or anything, just placed at normal (skirting board ish) level around place

Think cost of adding extra sockets in 3 rooms & moving 2 light fittings was £500 or so, incl safety check. I’m guessing perhaps 700 for same work now (it’s purely a guess). It was a clean job and took maybe 3 hours . The new CU is good news as it means your install is not obsolete/dangerous when it was fitted or the electrician would not have been able to fit it AFAIK

An electrician won’t charge to come an tell you if it’s possible, they tend to be more reliable than eg builders in my experience

No idea how its done, but do consider getting sockets higher up the wall. Having to constantly bend down to skirting board level and often behind furniture just to plug in a vacuum or charger is a pain in the arse!

We rewired in similar circumstances, newish consumer unit but 80s rewire. There wasn’t a safety concern but the number and placement of sockets was poor and the finish was bad too (some surface mounted). We rewired the whole house in stages, it probably cost about £7k including a new consumer unit (necessary because it became a new install). But this is quite a large house, I would expect other houses to be cheaper, perhaps £4k would do. It was quite messy, so needs to be done before decoration.

@NoTeaForMe: a room with not even 1 socket? So weird...

1 room in my house has a few surface mounted sockets over a deep skirting board. I’d originally wanted more but electrician suggested not to as it looks awful (he was great!). Could the reason be something like that? Or is the room eg made by splitting up 2 other rooms. It seems v odd considering property age

Agree on some higher sockets if you can, & maybe make some of them USB ones (for phone -esp handy if you ever have overseas guests as their plugs don’t fit)

Hold on sorry. There is one socket in the room. Sorry. But just one.

Can you re-wire in stages then? Room by room or floor by floor? I thought you had to do the whole thing in one go?

1960?

Yes it does.

In those days lighting circuits were routinely installed without earthing.

The cable may have been rubber insulated, and, by now, perished. Main bonds and supplementary bonding will not be up to scratch.

You probably have a fusebox with several shortcomings. Post some photos please.

There will be far too few socket outlets.

Its difficult to say with out seeing. Our 60's house is wired in PVC so the cable is fine but over they years it has had a new RCD consumer unit, several additional sockets and a new ring main for the Kitchen for additional sockets and a bigger supply to the electric shower.
It all depends how the existing sockets are connecter, if its a ring main you can add no problem if its a Radial then its more difficult.
I believe a full rewire is 5-8K depending on number of sockets size of house etc. You can save a lot if you fit all the back boxes and cable runs your self so the electrician only has to connect it up, but its a dirty hard job.

@PigletJohn

1960?

Yes it does.

In those days lighting circuits were routinely installed without earthing.

The cable may have been rubber insulated, and, by now, perished. Main bonds and supplementary bonding will not be up to scratch.

You probably have a fusebox with several shortcomings. Post some photos please.

There will be far too few socket outlets.

Surely if there's a new CU all that would have been checked/updated when it was fitted?

You can get an electrical systems check which will look at the underlying status of the wiring. Our house is 200 years old, but was last rewired 10 years ago so the age of the house isn't necessarily a deciding factor.

If the underlying wiring is sound and up to date you can then look at adding sockets to circuits if there is the spare capacity.

The neighbours have told me that a new consumer unit was fitted a few years ago. So I was presuming the electrics would have been checked for safety then? I was more thinking of the amount of plug sockets in the house.

A new consumer unit doesn’t necessarily mean new wire, but it could. It would be more likely if the house had had a complete (floor to ceiling) decorative overhaul since then. Or, if there was a new kitchen, the new consumer unit could have been required because the kitchen circuit was replaced.

We started rewiring in October 2019 and finished in May 2020, so stages are possible. All of the new electrics were connected back into the old unit until everything/most things were in and then switched to a brand new board. Note: the rewire can’t be completed/signed off until everything is finished. So whilst it’s possible to do, I would want to do it over weeks/months rather than years.

If you have the original 60s wiring I would say it really does need doing now. Rewiring is quite messy, so it’s something you want to do before you get your house looking nice. Not something to do in 10 years’ time.

It’s very doubtful. Usually a full rewire is when lights are flickering, smell of burning etc, the electrician Should be able to add extra sockets and upgrade the rcd as appropriate ans also issue a safety certificate.

You can rewire room by room or floor by floor.

Most electricians will give you a free estimate. The fact you have a new consumer unit is a bonus.

Expect to pay around £100 plus VAT for each new double socket (that's London prices).

Not necessarily. Depends if it is earthed and if it’s still safe.
It won’t be up to ‘current’ standards but new builds a couple of years old wouldn’t be either.