Wire Test Company

On average, there are around 25 people killed in the UK every year as a result of an electrically related accident at home. Many hundreds more are injured. Sometimes the reason for the accident is a faulty appliance, and sometimes it is the fixed wiring that it at fault. Most of the time, there is little or no warning before an accident happens. Minimizing the risks is clearly a common sense approach, but how many people go the trouble of having their electrical installations checked out? Out of sight is out of mind, right? Wrong! By it's very nature, a fixed wiring system is hidden out of sight, the cables run under floors, in walls, in roof spaces, underground, etc. All the time it's sitting there and being used, it is degrading. Over the years, people add things to the original plan, extra lights, sockets, a new shower, garden electrics...all on the original consumer unit and all on the original wiring. Then you may notice one day that plugs are getting hot, lights are blowing frequently, equipment fails to work properly. What is the next step? Well if your house is up to 15 years old, you should consider getting it's electrical works tested for safety. If your house is up to 20+ years old, it might be worth considering having it rewired. Many, many houses in the UK are over 40 years old and still running on the original wiring installed when it was built all those years ago. Furthermore, it's a 21st century lifestyle that is running on a system that was designed for 20th century living when consumer electronics were not even heard of let alone prevalent. We now have so many different devices in our homes we can't imagine life without them, but older installations were not designed to cater for all this equipment. It is popular these days to have the consumer unit changed to a modern type, (see consumer units), but a new CU will not fix an inherently faulty wiring system, if anything, it will highlight it because newer fuseboards are more sensitive. But isn't a rewire a messy job? Well, yes it is, there is no escaping the fact that installing cable into walls and under floors is quite disruptive, but which would make more mess, a rewire or a house fire? There is a certain mind set that believes the spending of three or four thousand pounds on a rewire is a waste of money purely because it isn't something the neighbours can come in and be impressed by, unlike having new carpets or a new car perhaps. At the end of the day, it's all about how much you value your property and how much you would trust the advice of an electrical installer if you were to have your wiring tested. Rewiring has many advantages. Extra sockets can be added where they are needed, this may not be safe to do on existing wiring. Extra lights can also be added, and systems designed for special lighting effects in kitchens and bathrooms for example. Lighting circuits will be earthed, allowing the use of class one (metal) light fittings and switch plates. The Consumer unit will be RCD controlled, affording greater safety in the event of electrical fault. And, while the floorboards are up, ethernet cables can be installed allowing internet connections in any room where they may be required, the same goes for intruder alarm cables, these can be installed while the work is ongoing allowing a neat and invisible installation of a burglar alarm.

Wire Test Company offers a rewiring service and we would be happy to offer you any advice and answer any questions you may have. As all properties and requirements differ, we tailor quotes to suit individual needs and as such can only give 'ballpark' figures for rewiring costs on this page. As an average, the standard 3 bed semi detached rewired with white accessories would be around Ł2800-Ł3000. Two bed properties would be in the region of Ł2200-Ł2700 and four bed properties come in at around Ł3500-Ł4000. Clearly a more or less sophisticated rewire would cost proportionally more or less. We always discuss your needs fully and provide individual quotes based on what you tell us you need.