Hi. about to in the next couple of weeks get some quotes on a new switchboard and potentially house rewire (im not sure of the current state of it as dont know much about wires etc!).
What do i need to have ready for them if i need a rewire? Id like the old stuff replaced obviously and new stuff put in possibly depending on price.
Is it much more to put in the odd extra outlet in rooms whilst its being done? Also with replacing old wiring, whats the likely hood of it being done without holes in walls etc?
sorry all dumb questions probably but never done before. Anything else I need to check with them to make sure they are okay, apart from certification etc, or to make sure everything on quote covers it all?
Thanks!
mrfxit,
Jan 11, 7:39pm
Take a LONG time wondering around each room thinking about where you can plug in appliances. Testing with a portable stereo/ radio is a good idea for cable length This will give you a better idea of where & how many power points you need in each room. Also check that your ceiling lighting is what you want (bright enough/ well placed etc) Make ALL power points 'double socket' units & consider replacing ALL light fittings. Make sure ALL light switches are currently where you want them, (easy reach & right height etc) Does the hallway have or NEED extra powerpoints & light switches connected (2 / 3/ 4 way switching from all or more door ways then currently)
Sparky will need easy access to the roof space/ under floor - house & current switchboard area plus where ever the mains cable enters the house.
AND, thats just for the quote to get the job done. Well worth the effort.
christin,
Jan 11, 7:44pm
Thanks. i have already had a thought about where I want extra stuff. I have a floor plan, I was thinking of highlighting current outlets in one colour, and then extra ones in another?
Lights will all need to be changed, as old dcrappy ones.
All the wiring is up in the roof, so pretty easy access. So assume its just a matter of dragging up new wire from the current socket rather than bashing holes everywhere for existing stuff?
Will the extra points add on much more? only asking as if its going to cost heaps more will cut them down a bit. Some rooms are spare rooms that i dont really use and have manage with the points as they are for years, so thinking if it costs more than i expect, i may get those done future (i know its easier now, but being careful on the $$$$)
thanks.
pauldw,
Jan 11, 8:43pm
If you are very lucky. I've got a place where the original holes bored for cable aren't lined up well and are very tight. The cable won't move in either direction.
christin,
Jan 11, 9:33pm
fingers crossed then!
half of it is newer wiring as the kitchen, lounge etc are an extension so built later. so possibly just bedroom etc, though may be better to get the lot done.
budgel,
Jan 12, 1:16am
As above, make all power outlets doubles, SIDE BY SIDE DOUBLES!
So many sparkies still put over and under double powerpoints in, that are often useless the way modern plugs are configured.
christin,
Jan 12, 1:37am
Thanks. will do. also considering USB ones here and there. Have a lot of devices. Are they worth putting in (saves on adapters!). Im figuring with kindles, ipads, phones, etc etc may be worth it?
shanreagh,
Jan 12, 2:30am
Good point. Also a rule of thumb that i was told was that if you find when you go all round the rooms and say you need 15 extra plugs then double it ie got the 30 new plugs not 15. We did this. House rewired 1990 and not run out of plugs yet but we would have had we gone by my calculations. USB sounds good too.
elect70,
Jan 12, 2:49am
If putting new switches power outlets ask what brand they propose . Some use Arlec junk as its cheap .& what size cables using . There is plenty of short cuts sparkies use to get the job , then try to make it up in extras . Get it all in writing fixed price contract . Get cert of compliance too
christin,
Jan 12, 3:24am
What size cables should they use?
Hopefully if I ask questions they will know not to try rip me off lol, I'm always worried about that being female as have mechanic try doing in the past (I sussed them out,!).
I know lots of tradies don't do that but just being cautious and right questions help, as although I'm prob more technical than a lot of people due to my job, electrical isn't my thing ????
skin1235,
Jan 12, 3:42am
I'm going to ask what stud height you have and what wall linings you have the older 10ft stud match lined with scrim were often dwangless, and more frequently just had gib smacked over the matchlining dwangless means unhindered from top to bottom, which means a lot when rewiring and adding new plugs
whereas a few years ago you could draw all the cables yourself, this is now frowned upon - but you can still cut all holes outlets etc and screw the boxes in etc, and drill the plates and drag mouse lines too, yourself you may even have a sparky who will tell you where he would want the wires to exit etc, so you can have it all setup for when he arrives, drags the wires and gets out of there asap
christin,
Jan 12, 4:54am
I have tall celings. 1930s bungalow. I think just gib boarded walls. How dan you tell if you have scrim brhind it? Prob dumb question but walls are plastered as far as i can tell. Only one ive seen behind is in the extended area so def not scrim there!
annies3,
Jan 12, 5:07am
Ours is a 1930s bungalow and had scrim over sarking we removed the scrim and wallpaper and lined with Gib the walls are as described without dwangs so clear from top to bottom, the sarking is timber lining over the frame, so makes a good rigid wall very strong, and easy to rewire, but easier if you know it is there, we did put some dwangs in the walls which we rebuilt, so your newer area could have the dwangs, good luck.
marte,
Jan 12, 5:31am
I put most of my wiring in myself, you can do that if you are the owner. (But it may have changed, from what I read above) They can use the old wiring to pull new cables thru the walls and that make it easyer and quicker. Use double outlets like mentioned above, but 'back to back' them, one double outlet on both sides of the wall. Watch for different skirting board heights. ! I drilled a hole above the skirting board, but it was lower than the one on the other side, so I ended up drilling directly thru the middle of the taller skirting board (drilled from one side only.) The sparkey was able to get better prices than me for the sockets too, by a few $, also they like to obtain their own outlets etc as they have to do a lot of paperwork concerning the batch# and such. They may replace the earthing post and will do a megger test before reconnecting the power, also earthing any metal benchtops and such.
sboydnz,
Jan 12, 5:36am
1930 Bungalow. The job will be straight forward for an experienced Electrician. Did 6 rewires last year , typical 3 bedroom villas, all cost between $7-9K. All wiring, all switches plugs etc, new meter box, new switchboard including multiple RCD's , new mains cable & main earth fitted, complete wiring upgrades. Your house is probably similar so you could expect a similar cost, anything over $10K would be suspect. Bear in mind if you change the light fittings the cost, depending on what you selected could sky rocket. The above costing was based on the owner supplying the light fittings themselves. GST was included & Certificates were supplied.
christin,
Jan 12, 5:45am
Thanks. I have four bedrooms but aprt from that pretty similar i gess.
I dnt think i need anew meter box? I have oneof the newer ones, also think at one stage it was moved from the front of the house as there used to be an empty box there.
Gives me an idea of what to expect though thanks. I may see if a phone jack can be moved but thats the only extra.
Im hoping in getting a few quotes ill get honest what needs done ie if i dnt need a new mains etc etc.
Will sort out some quotes when im off work soon!
toymit,
Jan 12, 8:17pm
I would've thought it would be mandatory for sparkies to issue a cert of compliance after the job or do you have to ask for it?
christin,
Jan 12, 9:12pm
thats what i originally thought too! but what do i know ? :-)
tigger8,
Jan 12, 9:30pm
they charged for CoC many years ago not sure now, subject of wire size- a true sparky will use the correct size by law and when CoC issued it will come back on them if not correct
annies3,
Jan 12, 9:50pm
Ours was issued automatically signed off by the sparkie, but believe it or not the HWC was all wired up but for the last connection, we have a very efficient wet back stove and we never knew the cylinder was not on the power till we had visitors who were helping to paint the roof so we never lit the Wagener ! low and behold with the extra people the water went cold, called in the sparky (a different one ) who discovered it had never been connected for the couple of years since installation ! amazing.
russ18,
Jan 12, 10:32pm
Depending on the work done the sparky is usually required to issue an electrical safety certificate and often a certificate of compliance. Technically a straight forward rewire only needs the safety cert, extra sockets etc needs a COC.
elect70,
Jan 13, 2:34am
As a retired ex sparky ,, ill tell you . Many buy M10 or red shed cheap stuff no warranty , they can use 1mm for all the points on 1X15 amp RCD not illegall but should use 1.5 mm or 2.5 mm & 2 +circuits , no boxes just a frame that pushes onto the gib board as much wiring run horizontaly, through walls -saves cable ,. Luckily NZ didnt get that chinese made crap cable they had in Aussie that thousands now find has to be ripped out at owners expense( like our leaky homes fiasco , no ones accepts responsiblity for allowing it to be used) as found it wasnt compliant other wise youd have that in as well . Cowboys in every industry . I got out of the trade over decade ago., couldnt compete with the big boys tricks .
mrfxit,
Jan 13, 5:59am
Is that the rubbish wire that produces green slime out the sockets
johotech,
Jan 13, 6:34am
No that was just some batches from the '80s-'90s. Nothing actually wrong or dangerous with that cable. Just annoying if it leaks out switches. It can cause some brands of switches to fail.
The Australian cable problem is just one brand where the insulation becomes brittle and can fall off if the cable is moved. Somewhere around 40,000 houses affected in Australia. I was never sold in NZ.
marte,
Jan 13, 7:01am
If you are confident about putting most of the wiring in yourself you will save a lot of money. Also there's two different prices for the wiring cable, 'OTC price' and 'Trade price', there's a big difference. But yeah, get the quotes, see what you can do as well to bring the price down (running cables) and what size cables and where. My place is a villa, I put new cables in in places for 7(back to back) outlets, a porch light, and got him to connect it all up along with the earth cable to kitchen bench and HW cylinder plus earth pole and it was about $800 all up (in 1999) for the sparky and the hardware he needed. It'd be a lot more now. Some stuff I was worried about turned out to be unimportant, and I didn't know about the earthing cab!e. I didn't have any oven or HW cylinder wiring done.
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