Electrical
Signs Your House Needs Rewiring (and What to Do About It)
Short answer
Signs that a house may need rewiring include frequently tripping breakers, warm or discoloured sockets, burning smells, flickering lights, buzzing from the board, no earth connection, old rubber or cloth-covered cable and rewirable fuses. These are safety warnings, so have a qualified electrician inspect the installation.
Warning signs
- Breakers trip often. See why your breaker keeps tripping.
- Warm, scorched or discoloured sockets and switches. This points to loose connections or overloaded wiring.
- Burning or fishy smell near sockets or the board.
- Flickering or dimming lights when appliances start.
- Buzzing or crackling from sockets or the distribution board.
- Mild shocks from appliances or metal fittings, which can mean missing or faulty earthing.
- Old cable: brittle, cracked, cloth or rubber insulation.
- Old board: rewirable fuses or no RCD protection.
- Too few sockets: extension leads and multi-plugs everywhere.
Why old or poor wiring is dangerous
Cable insulation ages, connections loosen and loads grow. Wiring that was fine for a few lights and a TV can overheat when it now feeds a fridge, microwave, washing machine and several phones. Overheating can start a fire, and missing earthing raises shock risk.
What to do first
- If you smell burning or see scorching, switch off that circuit and stop using it.
- Do not replace a breaker with a larger one or bypass it.
- Do not try to fix wiring yourself.
- Have a qualified electrician inspect and test the installation.
What a rewire involves
An electrician plans circuits for your current and future loads, installs new cable, sockets, switches and a distribution board with proper protection, and tests every circuit. Work can be done in stages so you can stay in the house. Cost depends on the number of points, cable routing and finishes, and is best quoted after a site visit.
Partial or full rewire
Sometimes only part of the installation is poor, such as a kitchen, an extension or the distribution board. A test report shows which circuits are safe and which need replacing.
Common questions
How often should wiring be inspected?
Have it inspected when you buy or rent a property, before major renovations, after any electrical fault, and periodically in older buildings.
How long does a rewire take?
A typical house takes days to a couple of weeks depending on size and finishes.
Can I stay in the house during a rewire?
Often yes, if the work is staged, though power will be off to parts of the house at times.