kitchen help request

[Sharpend]

If you have purchased the flat, how/why are the council still involved? Or is it a shared purchase/rent scheme you have purchased with?

 

[sellers]

Have a search on google for 'mother killed while mopping kitchen floor'

I imagine you don't own any test equipment and no idea how to use it.

 

[phil.m]

1. Electrical inspection

Examine and test the condition of the existing electrical installation complete. Provide the Council

 

[wicksy]

Phil as I read it the council are paying for the work so just get a qualified spark to carry out the work

 

[ParkySparky]

Somebody put a full cable calc up for him lmao

 

[Andy™]

no i dont know the max z's of circuit and do not have equipment to test

i'm not entirely sure what safe zones are, can you tell me ?

What do you mean "other methods" of protection ?

Can you tell me how to calculate cable size ?

I will get any work i do tested and certified, which the council will porobably insist on if they are paying for it. But i'll do that for my own peace of mind anyway.

forget it. just go ahead and do the job regardless. your going to anyway.

hopefully when you **** up, its you that gets killed and not some innocent person. although in reality it probably will be someone else who dies for your incompetence

 

[paul b b]

Phil, no one is going to test and cert your work!!! We pay 500 a year plus insurance..calibration...100 on regs books!! Why would any decent spark risk his lively hood on signing a cert ?

 

[Sharpend]

I still don't get why he will not allow the council to pay for a proper spark? Surely Phil you could come to an arrangement with the chosen spark to assist him by doing the chasing and fitting of back boxes?

Some people are not able to be helped.

 

[Badger]

1. Electrical inspectionExamine and test the condition of the existing electrical installation complete. Provide the Council

 

[phil.m]

all this just for asking a perfectly straightforward question.

where have i given the impression i can't be helped.

some of you guys give a strong impression you're just queueing up to have a pop at anyone who gives even a slight hint that they, as some of you keep putting it, "don't know what they're doing" it begs the question why would anyone ask for advice if they knoew 100% what needed doing.

part of the reason i want to save a bit of cash is that strictly speaking its not so much a grant as a loan. in that you have to pay it back if you ever sell the property. and as has been said, the council will only stand for surface mounted. hence my chasing in preoccupation.

 

[Andy™]

there is a lot more to electrics that throwing cable in anywhere and sticking a socket on the end of it. there is a reason why an apprenticeship takes 4 years. its impossible to get you enough information over the internet to be able to complete the work yourself with the little knowlegde you already have

 

[sellers]

Phil, let me explain something,

When attempting DIY I would say you work at a 60% rate compared with a professional. Myself included!

I can plaster a wall, paint a wall, hang a door but compared to a professional my work would be 60% to their standard. Now many people are happy with an averagely painted or plastered wall. But if you take the same principle with electrical work no one would want a 60% effort. As sparks we work to the rules and regulations and anyone that's doesn't reach 100% is working to dangerous potentially fatal practices.

There is so much to being an electrician than people think.

I know you are stubborn about doing this work yourself and at the end of the day it's your call. We've offered our help it's just not the help you were expecting.

 

[NozSpark]

all this just for asking a perfectly straightforward question. where have i given the impression i can't be helped.

some of you guys give a strong impression you're just queueing up to have a pop at anyone who gives even a slight hint that they, as some of you keep putting it, "don't know what they're doing" it begs the question why would anyone ask for advice if they knoew 100% what needed doing.

part of the reason i want to save a bit of cash is that strictly speaking its not so much a grant as a loan. in that you have to pay it back if you ever sell the property. and as has been said, the council will only stand for surface mounted. hence my chasing in preoccupation.

Phil, don't get me wrong but this work (as stated by others) is so far above your competence level that you shouldn't be doing it.

From your posts it seems like you know about 10 to 20% of the why and wherefores of doing this work, while we don't mind helping people out filling that 80 - 90% gap in your knowledge is just impractical and therefore the advice of "get a professional in" is all that any self respecting professional will give.

It may not be the advice that you want, but it is the advice that many of us have given you independently.

 

[meridian911]

Sometimes I wonder why we as supposedly professional people come on to the these forums and give advice knowing that it's damaging our livelihood.

As not only will this guy try and follow our advise but others who read the forum in years to come will also do the same.

When there's nothing left of our trade as the recession has forced more & more people in to doing their own work or their "mate from the pub" then we can all become gas fitters as no one touches that "cos it's dangerous innit" .

I've been in this game a long time and I would say that the trade is dying on its feet at the moment, we need to beef up the "legal regs" to stop the sale of electrical items to unqualified and/or untrained sparks. (rant over sorry).

Jas

 

[wicksy]

Well said we are just going to make things worse he needs a qualified spark end of

 

[betty swollocks]

I can't believe we've reached page 4 when reply 3 was the correct answer and should have ended the thread with a big full stop .

The op isn't an electrician(not his fault)

He doesn't really know what he is doing (not his fault)

He want to save some cash (not his fault)

He, I assume wants the job doing right (hence the original question)

The safe answer has to be pay a sparks

He will know what he is doing

The install will be tested and safe

Many many years of peace of mind for op and his family

Can't put a price on that

 

[paul b b]

Agree with the above. And if you cannot afford it then save up until you can!

 

[phil.m]

ok thanks. thats all been genuinely helpful on reflection.

i've just had my electrical condition report returned to me by a contractor who took it away with him and now dosent wish to do the job. [ dont say; i'm not surprised ; -) ]

can anyone tell me what the following means and how serious it is. and whether a new consumer unit, ie the wylex skeleton unit suggested earlier, will remedy this;

"TAILS ARE UNDERSIZED FOR OVERCURRENT PROTECTIVE DEVICE"

thanks.

 

[betty swollocks]

can anyone tell me what the following means and how serious it is. and whether a new consumer unit, ie the wylex skeleton unit suggested earlier, will remedy this;

"TAILS ARE UNDERSIZED FOR OVERCURRENT PROTECTIVE DEVICE"

thanks.

Quite common in older installations

Any electrician replacing the consumer unit would be expected to make an assessment on the tail size and replace if necessary

How serious?

depends on what size they are?

What the property loading is?

I think I would be more worried about why the contractor declined the job than what the size of the tails!

 

[Doc Hudson]

i'm a "competant" enough diy'er but i've never tackled this extent of electrical work before. so really i'm not sure what connection boxes to use to start the circuit off.

Contradiction in terms surely, Competent at what? flat pack furniture, decorating, gardening. Quite clearly from the thread content no competence at designing, installing and testing safe electrical circuits. I have to say that I am inclined to agree with Betty's summation of the problem in his last two posts. (#59 & #56) Stop beating about the bush and get three independent quotes for the work you want doing, then do it properly and you will save cash because you will not be spending more money in 18months - 2years, to put right all of the bits you got wrong and you will save on the LABC notification & compliance testing costs.

Doc H..