Cost of rewiring and putting in central heating

[MrsH]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a house that is 1800 sq feet and 3 beds but needs complete rewiring and central heating put in. Does anyone have a ballpark figure of how much it might cost to do this for a house this size? The rest of the house seems to be in pretty good nick, just need to get these things done - the rest I'll do as I go along!

Thanks.

 

[build4less]

Hi,

It is very hard to comment on something like this without seeing the house but I will have a stab at it and base my prices on everything else being in order.

To rewire the house (just rewire no stripping of old cables) You could be talking about €3500 depending on how many sockets and switches there are.

To put in central heating this is alot harder to calculate as I dont know what the plumber will be encountering when he is drilling threw walls for pipes and such like. But to put a stab at it again roughly €4000- €5000 maybe more.

Also it sounds like an old house so it will need to be re insulated too, so Id do that now while you have the chance before you move in.

I hope this is of some help to you.

Build4less.ie

 

[onq]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a house that is 1800 sq feet and 3 beds but needs complete rewiring and central heating put in. Does anyone have a ballpark figure of how much it might cost to do this for a house this size? The rest of the house seems to be in pretty good nick, just need to get these things done - the rest I'll do as I go along!

Thanks.

Without knowing the age of the house or the type of construction any estimate is a guesstimate.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem be thinking of buying a house without getting it properly surveyed.
There may be a lot of other issues that could affect the purchase price, such as

• the age and condition and type of heating system
• the plumbing
• the drainage
• drainage leaks and groundwater movement leading to settlement
• water ingress from gutters and parapets or behind downpipes
• Wet rot or dry rot infestation
• condition of the doors and windows
• the BER rating of the house and whether its insulated
• the condition of the chinneys - cracked liner, missing flues, repointing.
• condition of walls and roof generally - settlement, re-slating/tiling, repointing, re-rendering.

If you're planning to stay in the house until you get older, and its not a recent building, the matter of access for persons of limited mobility arises and this raises questions on

• the size of the downstairs WC,
• the approach to and width of the front door,
• whether the drive is gravelled or not,
• whether the main gates are automatic or not.

Quite apart from these basics, certificates should be sought for any recent work done on the property to ensure it was carried out compliantly.
Opinions of Exemption from Planning Permission should be sought for any exempted development work as well as written confirmations of when it was carried out.
Opinions of Compliance with Planning Permission and Building Regulations should be sought for any work that required approvals.
You should also seek any guarantees, commissioning manuals or certificates the contractor may have left.

Little things like this can usually be easily sorted out before any purchase, but seem to be impossible afterwards.
The above is just an outline of what to look for and is by no means exhaustive.


ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

 

[MrsH]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses.

Onq:
I've made an offer subject to a full structural survey so won't be buying it if there's anything wrong with it. I'll be dotting all the i's with my solicitor re any work done on the house previously etc. This will be the third house I've bought in my life so I've got my head round all the various bits that need to be thought of on the buying front! Thanks for the advice though.

What I haven't done though is rewire or put in central heating, I've always bought houses that didn't need this.

Build4less:
It's a late georgian period house so made of brick. I imagine we'd want to strip out all the existing wires. I was also wanting to get an idea of the building costs really as I know the actual rewiring bit isn't that expensive but I was under the impression it's the ripping through the walls and floors to get to all the wires (and then making everything good afterwards) that costs the money. Likewise with installing central heating.

It's not insulated at all so I'm going to do that everywhere too - floors, roof and walls - as much as I can afford really. I'm going to try and get a grant to pay for some of it.

If this helps you give me any more of an idea of costs for the whole job then that would be great, otherwise I spose I'll just have to get people in there to quote when/if I get the house!

Thanks.