Full rewiring: old wires left in

[jummp]

Hello,
I'm having a full rewiring done by a professional.

He's just removed all the old wires and lights (after installing the new ones) but I was surprised that there are still plenty of the old wires visible and the metal casings for the sockets are left there. One ceiling light has just been trimmed rather than pulled out.

Is this normal? And the builder just fills in the holes with plaster or whatever. Or is this a bit shoddy?

Thanks

 

[Andy™]

well if you want the place destroyed even more to rip all the old cables out then you could. usually would be cut back though

 

[binky]

normal, your old cables are plastered into the wall, so the only way they can be taken out is create another scar in the plaster work.

 

[Murdoch]

FWIW I would remove all I can but sometimes it’s simply not feasible to remove all without extra destruction and cost

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Hello,
I'm having a full rewiring done by a professional.

He's just removed all the old wires and lights (after installing the new ones) but I was surprised that there are still plenty of the old wires visible and the metal casings for the sockets are left there. One ceiling light has just been trimmed rather than pulled out.

Is this normal? And the builder just fills in the holes with plaster or whatever. Or is this a bit shoddy?

Thanks

A key requirement of anyone working to BS76761 wiring regulations is to protect people property and livestock from any dangers associated with electrical installations e.g. shock/fire etc..

Once a cable has been disconnected from a source of supply it cannot present any danger, so from a professional safety point of view, they have not left any non-compliant and/or dangerous wiring.

Dependant upon installation methods used for the old wiring, some cables may be easy to remove, but others would cause too much damage to the fabric of the building. And as old copper cables do have some cash-in value at a metal recyclers, any easily removed cables are not often left during a rewire.

There are many situations where old materials may be left as its neater, quicker, more cost effective.. e.g. old pipes left in place, new plasterboard fitted over old lathe & plaster ceilings/stud-walls, re-tile over old wall tiles etc..

 

[ExArmy]

whenever I find loads of old wiring under the floorboards I've taken up, I always think to myself "wow scrap copper must not have been worth much when this was rewired" and I take whatever I can easily for my own scrap pile
I think the best way is to remove all the old stuff even from walls, thats not always possible but it's the best way. I always remove old backboxes though,
has anybody ever tried to add an extra socket neatly in an already plastered and decorated room, drilled through a wall from another socket in an adjacent room and hit an old back box that had been fillered over and blasted a 30cm wide patch out of the wall? I have twice, it was a bit of a nuisance both times. thats one of the main reasons I always like to get shot of the old stuff

 

[jummp]

thanks all - that's good to know. I was pretty disappointed when I saw it but didn't know whether it was standard practice or not.

There are already holes all over the place from where the new wires are put in so it didn't seem like it a few more would hurt. I might get the builders to rip some of it out when they patch up the rest.

 

[400Hz]

As previously talked about on this thread it basically boils down to time and therefore cost. To completely strip out all of the old wiring and fittings in a property can be very time consuming. It is therefore more practical to isolate and cut back old circuits accordingly. Done properly it shouldn't present any hazzards in the future. It can however cause headaches for electricians (and other trades) in the future who have to work around the old wiring, as described by ExArmy above.

I'm in a (lucky) situation where I am completely renovating my property and have recently finished completely stripping out all of the old wiring and fittings - reasonably easy when everything is stripped back to the bare minimum, but still took a lot of time and effort. All scrap metal recycled and a huge pile of cable to weigh in at some point.

What happens when a property reaches its 3rd, 4th, 5th rewire? Won't affect any of us but somebody will at some point have to sort out the mess.

 

[UNG]

What happens when a property reaches its 3rd, 4th, 5th rewire? Won't affect any of us but somebody will at some point have to sort out the mess.

It's possible they might have wireless electricity by then