How Much Does It Cost To Rewire A House?

Safety is the main reason as to why your property needs to be rewired. As property’s age, their wiring systems can easily become weakened and damaged due to continued energy usage and weathering. If not properly inspected and maintained by a professional electrician. Old wiring systems can easily pose a significant fire hazard and electrocution hazard. Moreover, as electrical standards have changed in recent times, the older wires often cannot handle the demand for power. Factors, such as multiple extension cords with extra plugs, can increase the risk of a fire and overload the system. Therefore, having older houses rewired is often the best option, if deemed necessary by an electrician. Your current appliances and growing family can now be supported by the up-to-date wiring and the chance for overloading is significantly decreased. This will also save you more money on your power bill.

There are many signs that can occur in the home that are clear indicators that rewiring needs to happen:

• Having small electrical shocks from plugin an appliance
• Burning smells or smoke originating from power outlets
• Blown fuses being common
• Lights flickering or dimming frequently
• Lights being constantly replaced because they stop working
• An electrical panel being over-fused
• Switch plates, plugs or cords becoming hot or changing colour
• Sparks sometimes appear when plugging appliances in the outlet

If these are a common occurrence within your home the smartest and safest option is to first contact an emergency electrician. If your home has vir cables, cotton cloth wiring or old black rubber cables, then rewiring should be done earlier than later. As they are of old technology and usually really old, replacing them is crucial for the safety of the home. Home rewiring should also occur every 20 years. This is because systems and technologies are constantly changing, therefore, new wiring needs to be included to support this.

When deciding which electrician to hire it is important to know specific qualities and factors. These include:

• They are fully licensed, with a Level 2 Electrician of higher qualification
• When working they are insured
• They can easily give you references
• Before working they provide you a quote for the job
• They know the area and are well liked/ established by the community
• After working they give you a compliance certificate
• They follow the ‘Wiring Rules’ (AS/NZS 3000:2018, Electrical installations – Standards Australia) when working

A compliance certificate is necessary as it shows you that they follow the Australian Standards and know the legal rulings with the trade. Moreover, in the rare case something went wrong they can come back and work to repair for free.

Moreover, when deciding on which quote to take, the more experienced the electrician is, the better the quote is. Often inspecting the property is needed for a firm quote to occur, as well as past jobs can help the electrician to know how much it should cost. There could be other factors which can influence the final quote, like how many outlets there are and the size of the building. Nevertheless, choosing the lowest quote is always never encouraged as the more experienced the electrician, the higher chance that the trade will be done correctly and safely.

Simply, the process will be the removing of any old and outdated wires in the home then replacing them with current/ newer ones. There can also be upgrades within the whole process, for example having new power-points added or the sockets being replaced.

Depending on where the wires are, a few different methods can be applied to rewire the home. Some methods are used as a last resort as they will often increase the price range of the whole process. There are many ways to run wires behind walls in difficult areas. However, if they cannot be done, then drilling holes through timber or removing some cladding might need to happen. Therefore, the cost will increase as repairs on the walls will need to be done. Sometimes rewiring can occur from outside of the home, but there are still other factors, like the cladding, which can limit the method.