You don't need to take all the plaster back to brick, unless it is blown away from the wall, much cheaper to just get the walls re skimmed over the top, it's just a thin coat that smooths the walls out and looks like new, it's an acceptable method in older homes
Considering the cost of a total home rewire I don't think having concerns and wanting to discuss them is unreasonable. Nor is wanting to know what is going on.
Do not forget: plastering is the easiest job to learn and do on your own And it does not take much time once you have learned the basics. And you can improve your skills and achieve what you are expecting if you simply take your time. It is easy to learn and does not take much time. Btw: there are cheap diamant wall channel cutters you can get from lidl and others . You cut 2 vertical lines 4 cm deep and take the chisel to add those lines you later find missing. Then you do the plaster job again. That wall channel cutter are essential cause they save a lot of time - but create some kind nice layers of red dust. I did not know that such wall cutters exist, when I did it first with hammer and chisel, but once I found out I loved those to use cause it saves an awfull lot of time. 1 line are 2 cuts in 5 minutes, then you need to chisel down about 10 minutes and the most work will be collecting those stone pieces from the floor and putting them into the trash can. You can trust me that is the most work. If you want to avoid the dust nightmare there is only one chance. Use a plastic foil and build a 2 x 2 m cabin out of it by taping them onto the ceiling and close everythig really tight. Use eye glasses and close the nose, cause you will face the full amount of dust in your small cabin. Therefore avoid a smaller one cause you neede the 2x2 m space to work and breathe cause in 1x1 m the concentration of dust gets to high. Yes, it takes time to prepare that cabin but it saves a lot of cleaning cause the diamant cutter will cause the finest dust you can imagine. I had not done it once and since then I always use these foils to build a cabin and clean it afterwards. You can use the cabin also for chiseling cause the stones and pieces will not fly so far and you only have to clean the wall and the 2x2 floor with a vaccuum cleaner. Do not forget to use it instantly afterwards so prepare the cleanter. Once the cabin is torn apart the dust starts moving everywhere. You should be able to get the whole plastering done on 2 or 3 days on a weekend, maybe 4 or even less with a help of some friends just for cleaning or carrying the stone pieces out of the house. Did 3 houses already and it works out better when you learn to do it yourself - and it is a very good feeling afterwards cause you created something real, not virtual like code on a computer. It is like creating a piece of art, your own art house. You know the best what you would like to see and what not as the introduction had shown with the big amount of cables not laying in that channel. They simply would have to chisel a wider or and deeper channel and purchase such plastic open channels you can put a plastic cover on. Then you put the plaster on and everything is fine. But that looked more or less like they had been running out of time and or had no such cabel channel that would fit for the whole amount. Interesting to see the complete different architecture and structure of a british house, even though some things are simliar at least for house from that era. Good luck for the right choice for your plasterer and his teaching skills.
Don't worry about the back boxes not being level(to an extent)... they have adjustable lugs so when the faceplate it on it will be level. The bit you don't like is rough as ass.100% I would have chased it deeper and put "capping" over the cables. Also, they shouldn't really be running you networking cables with your power cables... it will be fine, but it is a deviation from regulations.
The oval capping is fine, not necessary, but it can make things easier in the future. There's no requirement for any conduit etc. and the bundle of wires going upstairs would be fine except they are not in prescribed zones so completely not compliant with BS7671. The cables on the opposite side of the wall for the socket in the hall and for the outside socket are also not in prescribed zones.
It was the cables going up a wall without an indication of location from a socket that was the main concern for me, that and the bonded Cat5 cable just doesn’t seem right to me, but then I work in warehousing and study mechanical, not electrical so what fo I know 😅
@@almostanengineer Normally you'd run those cables in line and behind another accessory to keep them in prescribed zones (or bring them up in a cupboard or something). The cables buried directly in plaster is fine however.
Really enjoying these updates, nice to see large projects like this from start to finish. Most of the work looks decent although I too would be a bit worried about that run to upstairs - not necessarily the lack of conduit, that's permitted, however the cables should be running inside a "prescribed zone" i.e. within 150mm of a corner or in-line with an existing accessory which is so that in the future once the walls are plastered it is possible to predict where a cable might be when drilling into a wall. They've run them past the light switch but the switch is off to the side which doesn't really count in my mind. To comply they either should have run them within 150mm of the corner of the room or have installed a socket on that wall so the cables run vertically in line with it.
In Ontario, Canada, I don't think that bundle of wires running to the upper floor would pass inspection. They have no nail protection, and aren't spaced enough per code. I would have run a couple of conduits myself.
There's no requirement here for protection against nails, spacing etc. All circuits are required to have 30 mA RCD protection so this has negated the need for any mechanical protection where cables run within prescribed zones.
I heard a builder say: At the beginning, the builder has the experience and the customer has the money. By the end, the customer has the experience and the builder has the money.
It would be fine except it's not in a prescribed zone. It would need to be >50 mm deep from the finished surface, or in earthed steel conduit >1.6mm wall thickness.
Enter the RU-vid Commenteer Electricians to tell you all the mistakes...!! But another great video! I'm in the middle of a rewire in my garage office - plug by plug as I make a ring main. Keep 'em coming David, and let me know if you need some help!! 💪🏻🙋🏻♂️
Great to see it progressing, David - winter's the worst time to be without electricity and lights and whatever, isn't it? :( Dunno if you're happy to share, but how much is the rewire costing you, because my house is in need of a complete re-wire too (a three-bed semi of similar age to yours) and I've been quoted £3k and £5k and I've no idea whether either of those figures is "reasonable"?
5:20 looks worse - we have such flat cable channels as they called just to get access or replace one afterwards if needed. A lot looked good but that channel did not look well. Lovely guys does not help if they do not work in the expected or way told. At the end it is a question of trust and countersteering in time cause they learn what you are looking at to avoid that you are disappointed. Try the plastering yourself in a simple way: take of a day and follow your plasterer for the first rooms and learn from him. He will for sure show you a lot tricks to get it right as a bloody plaster amateur. I bet you get that done cause it is easy I would say. But it takes time, do not hurry and lend or buy the tools needed new or used - ask you plasterer cause quite often they are willing to sell some stuff and get the newest or hottest. Start slowly and patient, avoid to do in just 1 run cause it is easier as a beginner to start with small gaps, get them close to the current wall level and then later add a second layer with thinner plaster which you can also wash aways with water and cotton pieces. If it had dried already and is too thick then sandpaper helps. Plastering is the easiest job and if you hire one for the first few rooms you can learn a lot from him soon and you might call him later to check what you had achieved and where you could improve. Otherwise the whole yt should be full, but a personal advice from someone living not far away and willing to visit what you had achieved is a better, more reliable way. Lot to do, step by step will work out and the longer you learn about the house the more you learn how things were done back then and why. Reverse engineering, a kind of.
The cables being beside the boxes worries me because they should be directly above/below. Once all is plastered you would have no reason to believe there is a cable behind there let alone 100s. Hopefully these are just power and not ethernet and power, I would be worried about the signal integrity after being around those wires. Plus thermal load on all those wires in the wall. You should try to catch the eye of ru-vid.comvideos or similar for a youtube collab on your wiring!
I guess it's the difference between: It's technically acceptable, vs it's ok, vs it's good. This definitely looks more like the barely technically acceptable end of the spectrum.
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think that's 100% to regs, If you know anyone in the family or friend of a friend who is an electrician, then I think dropping them a £20 to pop round and have a look and advise may be beneficial, That would clue you up on whether the work is up to standard, without them having to be directly involved, This builder probably employs part P cowboys... Beware
