Rewiring.

[mrs.chappie]

If a house is fifty years old and still has the original wiring, is it likely to need a full re-wire, or would a partial rewire suffice?

I appreciate that there is probably not a cut-and-dried answer to this. Any comments/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks. xxx

[Hymie]

My house is 30 years old (I have lived here for the last 10 years or so), and I certainly would not consider having my wiring replaced.

I suspect any electrician you asked to check out your wiring would recommend it be replaced (after all, there is no money in it for them telling you it’s OK). I seem to recall reading some where a recommendation that wiring should be replaced after 25 years.

Of course much depends on the condition of your wiring – if it includes wiring with rubber insulation (which was common many years ago), then almost certainly large sections will have perished and require replacing. But if it uses PVC insulation, then even after 50 years, it should still be OK – unless it has been subject to overload or other damage (possibly from pests/vermin).

Make sure you get at least 3 quotes for any work, innocently asking each to check the wiring and advise whether it requires replacing.

[mrs.chappie]

Thanks very much for that, Hymie.

[buildersmate]

There are a number of factors that drive a worn out old system:
use of rubber prior to the introduction of PVC insulation. This came into use in the 50s, I believe. PVC can eventually go brittle over time (and hence crack away) but the problem is mainly with old rubber insulation.
use of bakelite fittings - these crack eventually
the quality of the earthing system
use of an old-style fuse box
the rating of the copper cable used - given that older houses had less in the way of electrical gadgetry.

Many old systems can be successfully uprated by changing the fuse box to new style MCBs and this can done relatively cheaply because one is only poking around with one area of the system, but other than that modification further upgrade work probably warrants changing all of the old cabling and associated fittings. Most of the cost in doing this is electrician labour - can't be avoided, I'm afraid.
If you get quotes, ask why the guy is suggesting a re-wire to elucidate which of these (or other factors) he thinks is important enough.

[mrs.chappie]

Thank you very much, buildersmate.

[heathfield]

You could tell the electrician that you simply want an inspection report as it's a condition from the building society before they'll give you a re-mortgage.

[mrs.chappie]

Thanks heathfield. The property only has two electric sockets in the kitchen and two in the main living room,and only one in one of the bedrooms, so there is definitely some electrical work required, even if it's not rewiring.

[alzheimer]

I was in a similar position a few years ago when my ancient (150+ year old ) cottage had to be re-wired - if for no other reason than I had run out of plugs for all today's modern equipment! It had been last done in 1953
I had it totally done - but interestingly the wiring was lead coated and was absolutely in mint condition!
However as one other has commented - the bakelite fittings were very brittle and as I was correctly advised - if anything had gone wrong - the insurance company would have refused to cough up - worth remembering!!!

[mrs.chappie]

Thanks alzheimer. The sparky has given me the inspection report and I was surprised that it didn't need a full rewire. He said he was surprised too - and reckons it should last for another 20 years.

A lot of electrical work is still needed though, about £3,000 worth. [:o(

The good news is that we may be able to get the seller to split the bill 50/50 with us.

[dizmouk2009]

Sheesh £3000? who did you have estimate that?
What work do you need doing that will cost that?
Where abouts do you live?
The reason I ask is because my brother is a qualified electrician.