Rewiring a period home: what to expect

Why period homes in Edinburgh and the Lothians often need rewiring

If your home is a Victorian villa in Morningside, a Georgian flat off the New Town, a stone-built cottage in East Lothian or a tenement flat in Marchmont, there is a good chance the wiring has grown in layers over the decades. A few sockets added in the 1980s, a shower spur in the 1990s, a kitchen circuit replaced more recently. Individually, much of that work may be sound. Taken together, though, the underlying installation is often rubber-insulated or lead-sheathed cable that has long passed its useful life, a rewireable fuse box with no residual current protection, and lighting circuits running without an earth.

An inspection report is the sensible first step. If it flags code C1 or C2 issues, or the installation simply predates the current wiring regulations, a full rewire is usually the honest answer rather than another round of patching. It is rarely a surprise: period properties ask a great deal of their services, and the electrics are usually the last thing to be brought up to date.

What a rewire actually involves

A full rewire is not a case of pulling new cable through old conduits. In practice it means:

• Lifting floorboards and, in some rooms, sections of flooring to route new cable along joists.
• Chasing shallow channels into walls for socket, switch and light drops, then filling and making good.
• Removing the old consumer unit and fitting a new one with modern circuit protection, typically RCBOs on each circuit.
• Running new circuits for sockets, lighting, immersion or boiler, cooker, shower and any outbuildings or garden supply.
• Installing or upgrading main protective bonding to gas and water services, and supplementary bonding in bathrooms where required.
• Fitting interlinked mains smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms to meet Scottish standards.

Most of the disruption comes from the first two items. Cables have to go somewhere, and in a solid-walled property there is no cavity to hide them in.

The Edinburgh factor: stone, lath and plaster, and tenements

Building stock here throws up challenges you would not meet in a modern estate. External walls are often solid sandstone or whinstone, which means chases have to be cut with care and depth is limited. Internal walls may be lath and plaster, which crumbles readily; cutting in is straightforward, but patching needs a plasterer rather than a tub of filler. Ceilings in older flats can be ornate, and cornicing, ceiling roses and panelling all need protecting or working around.

Tenement flats bring their own quirks. Risers, shared access to roof spaces, and neighbours below and above mean coordination and a bit of diplomacy. If your building is listed, or sits in a conservation area, external alterations, meter boxes and any cabling run on the outside of the building may need listed building consent or planning permission before work starts. It is far cheaper to ask first than to unpick it later.

Living through the work

Expect the property to be a building site for the duration. As a rough guide, a one or two-bedroom flat typically takes two to three weeks, a three-bedroom tenement flat three to four weeks, and a large detached villa with outbuildings six weeks or more. The house will not be without power for all of that, but there will be days when circuits are down and you will want to plan around them.

A few practical points make a real difference:

• Clear rooms in advance, including lofts, cupboards and under-stair spaces, so boards can be lifted without a fight.
• Move fragile furniture, artwork and anything valuable out of the way of dust, which travels further than you expect.
• Decide early where you want sockets, data points, TV points and outdoor supplies. Changes after first fix are expensive and slow.
• Budget separately for redecorating. A rewire disturbs plaster and paint on almost every wall and ceiling it touches.
• If possible, sequence the rewire before a kitchen or bathroom renovation rather than after, so new finishes are not opened up twice.
• If the property is empty, do it now. Working in an unoccupied house is faster, cheaper and far less stressful.

Costs and getting the paperwork right

Costs vary widely with size, access, the amount of making good required, and whether you want extras such as garden supplies, an electric vehicle charger or a heat pump ready supply. Get at least three itemised quotes so you can compare like for like, and be wary of a price that does not mention making good, certification or testing.

On completion you should receive an Electrical Installation Certificate, and any work in Scotland that falls under the building standards system may require a building warrant and completion certificate. Keep the certificate, the test schedules and any photographs of cable routes before the floors went back down. They are gold dust if you sell, remortgage or need to trace a fault years later.

Done properly, a rewire is one of the least glamorous but most valuable jobs you can do to a period home. It makes the house safer, easier to live in, and ready for whatever the next few decades of heating, cooking and charging demand.