House Rewire - Things to Do and things to avoid?

[danlightbulb]

So what you are saying is that because he has less space, things should be less well connected and thought through, for now and in the future.

We don't know how big his house is. If its a typical UK 3 bed, then yeah I think there is no need to spend all that money adding huge CUs, patch panels and extra wiring for the minor inconvenience of running an extension lead out the door from time to time. It depends on his activities and lifestyle, and size of the place.

Why is having outdoor sockets a bad idea? What has that got to do with the size of a house. If I want to plug in my pressure washer it goes in to an IP65 rated socket either at the front or back of the property, or if I want to work with non-battery power tools outside then I can plug them in safely without having windows and doors open.

Does he do those things though (he hasn't said). If you regularly work with power tools outside then sure, if not, run an extension lead for the couple of times a year you need it.

Why is Cat6 a bad idea for PoE cameras? Why have battery powered or mains powered cameras if you are having network cabling put in anyway.

What I was getting at with this one is why it needs a sparky to wire it? When you install the camera (presumably up near the roof eaves), drill a hole in the facia and run the power and cat6 into the loft right next to it. Why do you need to pre-wire that with a sparky?

Why is having cable run in a ceiling for future use a bad idea? Or would you prefer to pay someone twice to do the same job, the cable is cheap, the labour isn't.

Its a waste of money if it never gets used. If he is having a big media centre then sure, if its a normal UK living room then he probably isn't and a TV unit with the cables behind it is what 99% have got and its fine.

Why wouldn't you have a patch panel somewhere if you are using Cat6 in the house, what is wrong with a loft space?

Again comes down to size of property doesn't it? He hasn't said. The only thing you really need cat 6 for is for a PC gaming or file server. How many PCs is he going to have upstairs? I would say a file server in the loft is a pretty good idea, but can be run off a simple freestanding network switch box connected to the main router. If he's got a big house then he might need a wifi extender or 2nd network upstairs, but again only one ethernet point would be needed to connect that to the main router.

I have a plant/utility room in a 'small' house - it contains the CU(s), solar PV/house inverter, house batteries, and other electrical switching, all network gear (sans modem for now), all the gubbins for hot water storage, water tank, and the control area for my soon to be fitted heat pump, it has the washer/drier and a sink on the plumbed side

Sounds like your 'utility room' is bigger than the rest of your house to have that lot in it. I live in a typical UK 3 bed small house - it doesn't even have a utility room. It has a kitchen, and a hallway, and a combi boiler in the kitchen.

The costs to implement aren't great if it is though out in advance, and it allows a much greater scope in your property. May I ask when the last time you had a property rewired was, or indeed did it yourself?

Never had a house rewired, the most Ive done is added sockets in bedrooms, converted singles to doubles, and added outlets in the kitchen for appliances. Ive got a NAS, its next to the router. If I was to move it into the loft I'd just run an ethernet point up the outside wall and into the eaves. Simple.

 

[Journey]

Sounds like your 'utility room' is bigger than the rest of your house to have that lot in it. I live in a typical UK 3 bed small house - it doesn't even have a utility room. It has a kitchen, and a hallway, and a combi boiler in the kitchen.

No I converted the back half of my attached garage, my house is below average for a 3-bed, we don't even have a hallway

Never had a house rewired, the most Ive done is added sockets in bedrooms, converted singles to doubles, and added outlets in the kitchen for appliances. Ive got a NAS, its next to the router. If I was to move it into the loft I'd just run an ethernet point up the outside wall and into the eaves. Simple.

I suggest you investigate the cost to have a once in a generation (20+ years) re-wire done to a property (of any size) and then come back and say running a couple of hundred quid of extra wires, and installing a few out door socket's is a big deal, on a bill that will be £4k+ easily. Do you also think having solar fitted is a waste of time too as there is an upfront cost with that?

 

[sovietspybob]

When we built our house for the cost of a drum of cat6 cable it added hardly anything to the cost of the electrical work as they're pulling all the wires through anyway so for the sake of future convenience i don't see why you wouldn't. Can be cheaper if you terminate it all yourself, i just got them to put in deep back boxes and leave the cables hanging out and did that all myself afterwards.

 

[danlightbulb]

Its not just the cables though, its knocking holes in walls for the backboxes, chasing out walls for cabling. Lets say you choose to have cat6 put in most of the rooms - it means you have extra wall plates - what if you don't want them in the place you put them in the future?

I can understand the cost argument if it doesn't cost much extra why not just do it, but it means more planning where you want everything, more sockets on display everywhere etc.

And still in the future when the sparky has gone you might decide you need an extra plug somewhere.

 

[jonneymendoza]

When we built our house for the cost of a drum of cat6 cable it added hardly anything to the cost of the electrical work as they're pulling all the wires through anyway so for the sake of future convenience i don't see why you wouldn't. Can be cheaper if you terminate it all yourself, i just got them to put in deep back boxes and leave the cables hanging out and did that all myself afterwards.

That's Exactly What I'm doing

 

[413x]

Can't imagine there will be much need for wired solutions for the average person.

Granted if someone specifically needs it and its a long term house I get it. But if you don't need it now, can't imagine needing it in future

 

[jonneymendoza]

Can't imagine there will be much need for wired solutions for the average person.

Granted if someone specifically needs it and its a long term house I get it. But if you don't need it now, can't imagine needing it in future

But if you have the floor boards up and already doing the rewire then why not?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I used to subscribe to the school of run as many cables as you dare but not so much these days. Having good WiFi everywhere is so much more important.

For me, must haves for being hard wired are access points, desktop computers, NAS and anything you want to run on POE like cameras if that is your thing.

Outside of that pretty much everything you’ll find in a house is designed to be used on WiFi.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

As far a the consumer unit goes get look into getting an RCBO board instead of a split load board. It will means an earth leakage fault won't cause several circuits to trip out.

Check what brand of board the electrician is planning to fit. The bigger brands are a good idea especially if you're planning to make changes in the future since bits are easier to get. Hager are very good in this respect.

If you're thinking of getter an EV in the future it's worth thinking about where you're going to site your charger. If it's an awkward location it might be worth running the cable in while the house is in bits.

 

[Mysterae_]

Lots of great ideas have already been suggested and debated. On the network front I'm a wifi mesh network convert, couldn't be bothered with all the network sockets and cables that'll never be in the position you want it.

If you are of the sort that likes or needs to monitor your power usage then I'd suggest getting a big enough consumer unit to fit a Emporia Smart Home Energy Monitor or similar system.

What are your floors made from? If it's wooden floor boards then your sparky will easily lift them up to run the multitude of cables required. If it's big sheets of plywood then consider how they will access underneath - mandate that they use a Trend Routabout to make the holes in the floor otherwise they'll hack the floor with a jigsaw and it'll never be level again, or they could opt for this:

 

[thezappa]

If I had my time again I would get a media plate installed behind the tv. You can set it up how you like with 3 doubles and a blank modular space for tv, sky, network etc.
Would also get a grid switch plate in the kitchen for all the appliances to be switched from one location (apart from the oven).

 

[LuckyBenski]

TV/Satellite cables? TV aerial can be split to multiple endpoints but satellite has to be direct runs from the LNB if you have multiple TVs.

The point of running 2 network cables to each point isn't to add devices later... It's redundancy for if/when one gets damaged somehow If you need 1, run 2. If you need 2, run 3, etc.

Personally the tweak I've added has been an extra cat6 to deliver some power to a tablet for smart home stuff in the hall (Home Assistant).

You could also consider if you plan to have any wall lights as those will need chasing in.