Round-pin sockets, rubber or fabric-covered cable, a fuse box with no RCDs, or a house where half the rooms run off one circuit and everything trips together. Wiring has a service life like anything else, and once the insulation on the original cable starts breaking down there is no repair for it, so the cable has to be replaced.
Why this comes up
A property still on its original wiring after fifty or sixty years.
Rubber, fabric, or early PVC cable that has gone brittle and cracks when it is disturbed.
A recent purchase where the survey or inspection report flagged the wiring.
A renovation opening up walls, which is the cheapest moment a rewire will ever happen.
A landlord or vendor needing the installation brought up to a certifiable standard.
Too few circuits for how the house is actually used, so everything trips at once.
How we handle it
Test and inspect the existing installation first. A partial rewire is often enough, and finding that out is worth the visit on its own.
Agree the scope room by room, including where new sockets and lighting points go while the walls are open.
First fix: old cable removed where it is accessible, new cable run, new consumer unit position agreed.
Second fix: accessories fitted, board changed over, every circuit tested individually.
Certify the installation and hand over the paperwork, with the board clearly labelled circuit by circuit.
What to expect
A full rewire on an average home is usually several days to a couple of weeks, driven far more by access than by floor area: a property with a suspended timber floor and a decent loft runs much faster than a solid-floor house where cable has to be chased into walls. Power goes off in sections rather than all at once wherever that is possible. Expect making good afterwards: chased walls and lifted floorboards are part of the job, and it is worth agreeing upfront who is handling plastering and decorating.
What it costs
Quoted after seeing the property, never over the phone. The real cost drivers are access, the number of circuits and accessories you actually want, and whether making good is in our scope or your builder’s. Doing it while a renovation already has walls open is dramatically cheaper than a rewire as a standalone job.
Common questions
Do I definitely need a full rewire?
Often not. A test and inspection tells you whether the whole installation has failed or only part of it, and a partial rewire on the failed circuits is a far smaller job. We test before recommending either way.
Can I stay in the house during a rewire?
Usually yes, on an occupied property we work room by room and keep power on elsewhere. It is disruptive rather than impossible.
How old does wiring have to be before it needs replacing?
Age alone does not decide it. Condition does. Cable from the 1960s in a dry, undisturbed loft can be sound, while newer cable that has been overheated or gnawed is not. That is what the inspection is for.
Will you make good the walls afterwards?
We patch what we cut, but plastering and decorating to a finished standard is usually a separate trade. We agree who is doing what before starting so nobody assumes the other is covering it.
Can a rewire be done in stages?
Yes, and on a larger property it often is: upstairs one visit, downstairs the next. Each stage is tested and certified as it completes.
Do I get a certificate at the end?
Yes. A rewire is certified on completion and you receive the paperwork, which is what a future buyer, insurer, or letting agent will ask to see.
Should the consumer unit be replaced at the same time?
Almost always. A new installation on an old board with no RCDs wastes most of the benefit, and doing both together is cheaper than two separate jobs.