Licenced & Insured Electricians for Electrical Rewiring of Your House
Have Your Whole House Safely Rewired Room by Room Across Sydney
When is rewiring of your whole house necessary? How do you find the right electrician? Rewiring houses and buildings increase safety, better support modern appliances and equipment and if you are selling, showing that the buyer does not need to budget a whole house rewire could be a great selling point.
Rewire to increase:
• Safety.
• Efficiency.
• The amount of money in your pocket.
Rewiring before old and faulty wires cause damage will save you money. Be proactive with the electricity running through your home, office, or workplace.
We recently completed a total rewire of a home in Marrickville that was without power. Scroll down to find out what had happened and how we got our clients back up and running.
The best-case scenario if something goes wrong with old wiring is that the structure’s lights flicker on or off or the building loses power. The worst-case scenario – and one that is not uncommon, is preventable and tragic, is a fatality(*1).
Complete Rewiring of Commercial and Industrial Buildings
Rewiring does not stop with houses. All buildings, factories and warehouses must be regularly inspected and have rewiring completed when necessary. Even Buckingham Palace has had their old and dangerous Vulcanised Indian Rubber (VIR) wiring replaced!(*2).
NB: The video of Buckingham Palace’s rewiring clearly shows VIR which may be helpful for people reading this blog. Video link: https://youtu.be/XH1sGlo3s2o
When is Rewiring the Whole House Necessary?
The first thing you should consider when working out if your house needs rewiring is when it was built. If it was built in the 1980s or earlier, it is definitely worth getting a licenced electrician to review the wiring. This is because:
- Newer types of wiring are safer and longer-lasting.
- The coating around old wiring degrades over time. This means that the wires may no longer be insulated.
- Some old installation methods placed wires on beams inside roof cavities. This means, if you or a tradesman need to go up into the roof, they could knock the wires or be electrocuted if they are worn(*1).
If you are purchasing a property, ask the seller or real estate if there are any ‘certificates of compliance of electrical work’ available for you to view(*3). If there are, you will be able to clearly see what electrical installations and rewiring have and have not been done.
How do You Find the Right Electrician?
Experience: When researching electricians, be sure to check or ask if they have experience doing whole-house rewiring. Ask them questions about the process, how long they expect the job to take and what you can do to prepare the house before they arrive.
Licencing: Electricians working on your property must be licenced(*4). You can ask them for their licence number and check it on the NSW Service website.
Insured: Always ask your electrical contractor, if they hold insurance.
Marrickville Home Without Power
We were asked to inspect a property in Marrickville urgently, as the client had no power. Our team promptly went to investigate the property. Upon arrival, we noticed that the overhead power lines (providing mains power) were not intact where they entered the house.
Upon speaking with the client, they informed us that electrical contractors were onsite the previous night working to rectify the problem. They did not reconnect the power to the house and informed the client they would need to find a local electrician to inspect and install new wiring where needed.
Inspection
Once inspected, it came to our attention that the cables were around 50 years old! The connections to the house were also ancient, which explained why there had been the incident.
A Dangerous Combination
The storm from the night before had made for the perfect conditions for water to get into the connections and cause them to explode.
Providing a Solution
We shared what we had found with the client and explained that it was no simple task of just re-joining the cables. They would have to be upgraded to today’s standards. We supplied a price that they were happy with and we started immediately.
Getting the Job Done
The old mains were pulled out, along with the outdated switchboard which uncovered more of the hazardous cable. During the rewiring process, we discovered this cable was running the power for the whole house.
We replaced the old mains with new ones and had the client up and running with power by the end of the day. However, the worst was not yet over. We have a duty of care which we take very seriously to ensure all our clients are safe. In this situation, the cable running the house was not optimal for a safe environment.
We undertook some mandatory testing, and unsurprisingly, the cables did not pass the tests. They were just waiting for a time to a fault – just like the mains to the house. The client agreed that it was best to replace the cables, and so that is what we did.
Rewires of old houses are generally quite arduous. However, this required urgent attention once we discovered the horrific state of the cables.
A Successful and Safe Completion
We systematically went through replacing every cable, every light, switch, and PowerPoint. By the end of the project, the client had a completely new electrical installation. It was now safe for us to leave the premises knowing that everything was safe, secure and in perfect working order.
Projects like this make us proud to be the electrician of choice for Sydney residents.
Contact us today to have your house or business wiring looked at.
References *1. Coroners Court of Victoria. Inquest Into the Death of David William Herbert Spence. File No. 801/2010. 2010. *2. The Royal Family. Rewiring Buckingham Palace. YouTube video. 2018. *3. NSW Fair Trading. Electrical Compliance Requirements. NSW Government. 20201. *4. Service NSW. Check a Builder or Tradesperson Licence. NSW Government. 2021.
